You can't talk your way out of a situation you acted you way into.

"I would like to apologize" may sound like an apology, but it is no more an actual apology than saying "I would like to lose weight" makes you suddenly slimmer.

Apology may start as a feeling, a desire to make matters right, but it requires a commitment to move that desire into practice, to actually take on the great courageous task of showing compassion to others.

Apology is the most courageous gesture we can make to ourselves.

When we apologize we end our struggle with history.

When I accept an apology it means that the part in me that honors our relationship honors the part in you that honors our relationship.

An effective apology contains within it the answer to the question, "How am I to be held accountable?"