21 Quotes for Letting Go of the Past

Much has been said about the benefits of letting go of the past. Resentment, for example, has been labeled as a toxic poison of sorts. Trying to recreate old memories always leads to disappointment in an ever-changing environment and the past can also carry heavy baggage that can weigh on our body, mind and spirit.

When we let go of the past we make room for the new – and with forgiveness in your heart and positive intentions – it can get better and better. Here are 21 quotes to help you let go of anything that doesn’t serve you anymore.

1. Anything I cannot transform into something marvelous, I let go. – Anais Nin
2. Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure.—Oprah Winfrey
3. Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. – Raymond Lindquist
4. Everybody’s got a past. The past does not equal the future unless you live there– Tony Robbins
5. Forgiveness means letting go of the past. – Gerald Jampolsky
6. Holding on is believing that there’s only a past; letting go is knowing that there’s a future. – Daphne Rose Kingma
7. I demolish my bridges behind me…then there is no choice but to move forward.—Fridtjof Nansen
8. I realize there’s something incredibly honest about trees in winter, how they’re experts at letting things go. —Jeffrey McDaniel
9. If you didn’t love him, this never would have happened. But you did. And accepting that love and everything that followed it is part of letting it go.—Sarah Dessen
10. In the process of letting go you will lose many things from the past, but you will find yourself. – Deepak Chopra
11. It’s hard to be clear about who you are when you are carrying around a bunch of baggage from the past. I’ve learned to let go and move more quickly into the next place.—Angelina Jolie
12. Let go of your attachment to being right, and suddenly your mind is more open. – Ralph Marston
13. Let go. Why do you cling to pain? There is nothing you can do about the wrongs of yesterday. It is not yours to judge. Why hold on to the very thing which keeps you from hope and love?–Leo Buscaglia
14. Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.—Deborah Reber
15. Letting go helps us to live in a more peaceful state of mind and helps restore our balance. It allows others to be responsible for themselves and for us to take our hands off situations that do not belong to us. This frees us from unnecessary stress. – Melody Beattie
16. Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny. —Steve Maraboli
17. Never love something so much that you can’t let go of it. —Ginni Rometty
18. Nirvana means to extinguish the burning fires of the Three Poisons: greed, anger, and ignorance. This can be accomplished by letting go of dissatisfaction. - Shinjo Ito
19. Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over.—Guy Finley
20. Open your arms to change, but don’t let go of your values. – Dalai Lama
21. Pain will leave you, when you let go.—Jeremy Aldana