"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.

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

Apology is not for the faint of heart, but then, neither is life.

Apology sends the clearest signal that we have the strength of character to reconcile ourselves with the truth.

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.

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

Apology is both transactional, in that it restores what has been broken to what it was before, and transformational, in that it creates opportunities that didn't exist before.