Ellen Key

No one who passively endures an injustice against himself has the material in him to struggle for the rights of others. The one who patiently forbears becomes an accessory to the injustice done to others. He who resists the injustice which he himself meets can open up the way to a higher right for others.

Swedish Writer

Robert Kennedy

When our forbears - yours and mine - came to America, they came because this country promised them something. It promised them an opportunity, nourished by education, not merely to grind for a bare living, but to strive for a good life.

American Politician

Eric Liu

Republicans say they want citizenship to truly mean something. Let's be equal-opportunity about it and test everyone, including those very Republicans and others whose forbears came here generations ago.

American Writer

Robert Louis Stevenson

Give us grace and strength to forbear and to persevere. Give us courage and gaiety and the quiet mind, spare to us our friends, soften to us our enemies.

Scottish Writer

James H. Douglas, Jr.

Our forbears worked hard this difficult land, and their reward was the freedom and independence of self-sufficiency.

Epictetus

The two powers which in my opinion constitute a wise man are those of bearing and forbearing.

Greek Philosopher

Samuel Smiles

The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.

Scottish Author

Edmund Waller

Could we forbear dispute, and practise love, We should agree as angels do above.

English Poet

Samuel Johnson

If pleasure was not followed by pain, who would forbear it?

English Writer

Shows one's ability to control their impulses or actions.

Self-control

Often used in formal contexts implying professional restraint.

Professional Decorum

Can suggest emotional detachment when avoiding a reaction.

Emotional Distance

Highlights silent tolerance of a situation or behavior.

Quiet Endurance

Can imply strength in patience, often admired in many cultures.

Strength of Character

Emphasizes a choice to give up or avoid something willingly.

Voluntary Restraint

Can be a strategy for resisting immediate desires for future benefits.

Delayed Gratification

When used as a noun, often refers to ancestors or predecessors.

Historical Figure

As a noun, it's rarely used in modern English and sounds old-fashioned.

Archaic Usage

 It's the same theory of gravity. So he said that this principle of nature, "This principle of nature being very remote from the conceptions of philosophers, I forbore to describe it in that book,

Forbear