“When forbearance is mischievous, to pardon is weakness.”
History of the Caliphs, p. 263
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As-Saffah 6
First Abbasid caliph 722–754Related quotes

“But when the strong were too weak to hurt the weak, the weak had to be strong enough to leave.”
pg 71
Source: The Unbearable Lightness of Being (1984), Part Two: Soul and Body

Section 42
The Passionate State Of Mind, and Other Aphorisms (1955)
Context: It has often been said that power corrupts. But it is perhaps equally important to realize that weakness, too, corrupts. Power corrupts the few, while weakness corrupts the many. Hatred, malice, rudeness, intolerance, and suspicion are the faults of weakness. The resentment of the weak does not spring from any injustice done to them but from the sense of inadequacy and impotence. They hate not wickedness but weakness. When it is their power to do so, the weak destroy weakness wherever they see it.

“Repentance deserveth Pardon.”
The Sayings of the Wise (1555)

“If this be not love, it is madness, and then it is pardonable.”
Act IV, scene x
The Old Bachelor (1693)