Thankfulness and appreciation are central keys to living a happy and fulfilled life. Without gratefulness, discontent begins to slowly emerge from deep inside our hearts. As a result of feeling dissatisfied, we seek to pursue ever more while never being fully satisfied with what we already have. Gratitude, however, can help you to break free from the vicious circle of an unhealthy, non-appreciative, and excessively materialistic lifestyle. By learning to be grateful for what you already have, you begin to see your life from a much brighter perspective. It helps you to be more aware of all the little wonders that make your existence so worthwhile. To celebrate the powerful impact of thankfulness, we’ve created a selection of the best gratitude quotes. These are the quotes that empower you to shift your focus from that which you lack to the beauty that is already in your life.
Gratefulness can have a profound impact on your life. In fact, it can beneficially alter the way you think and behave.
“Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
Charles Dickens
The beauty about gratitude is that it invites happiness, contentment, and simplicity into your life. If you are fully aware of all the wonders of your existence, you are less likely to be trapped in the rat race of continuously seeking more.
Similarly, thankfulness helps you to become more aware of the gifts that are already present in your life. As such, your happiness becomes less dependent on outside influences.
What makes reading gratitude quotes so powerful is that they help you to focus on the good things you already have. It makes you more appreciative, which in turn can significantly increase your overall happiness. Let’s have a look at these wonderful gratitude quotes that help you to realize what a precious gift your life already is.
100 Thoughtful Gratitude Quotes
Numerous gratitude quotes are truly remarkable. This is because a lot of them stem from some of the wisest men and women that have ever lived on this planet. As such, these extraordinary individuals can provide a wonderfully refreshing perspective to life in general and gratefulness in particular. Even more so, the vast life experiences of these people have allowed them to draw remarkable conclusions about the powerful effect of gratitude.
Here are these wonderful gratitude quotes:
1.
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.“
Thornton Wilder
2.
“Do not indulge in dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess, and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.“
Marcus Aurelius
3.
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.“
Cicero
4.
“Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough“
Oprah Winfrey
5.
“We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.“
H.A. Ironside
6.
“The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains can find comfort in nothing.“
Hannah Whitall Smith
7.
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.“
Marcus Aurelius
8.
“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.“
Ralph Waldo Emerson
9.
“Every day that dawns is a gift to me and I take it in that way. I accept it gratefully without looking beyond it. I completely forget my physical suffering and all the unpleasantness of my present condition and I think only of the joy of seeing the sun rise once more and of being able to work a little bit, even under difficult conditions.“
Henri Matisse
10.
“Gratitude is a vaccine, an antitoxin, and an antiseptic.“
John Henry Jowet
11.
“To witness miracles unfold in your experience, count your blessings and be thankful. Perceived small blessings accumulate to be the most powerful.“
T.F. Hodge
12.
“Sometimes we focus so much on what we don’t have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have!“
Jeff Dixon
13.
“The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.“
Ralph Waldo Emerson
14.
“Sometimes we spend so much time and energy thinking about where we want to go that we don’t notice where we happen to be.“
Dan Gutman
15.
You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you“
Sarah Ban Breathnach
16.
“We pray for the big things and forget to give thanks for the ordinary, small (and yet really not small) gifts.“
Dietrich Bonhoeffer
17.
“In order to complete our amazing life journey successfully, it is vital that we turn each and every dark tear into a pearl of wisdom, and find the blessing in every curse.“
Anthon St. Maarten
18.
“Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful!“
Elif Shafak
19.
“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.“
Epicurus
20.
“Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.“
Alphonse Karr
21.
“One of the main reasons that we lose our enthusiasm in life is because we become ungrateful… we let what was once a miracle become common to us. We get so accustomed to his goodness it becomes a routine..“
Joel Osteen
22.
“Rest and be thankful.“
William Wordsworth
23.
“Thankfulness creates gratitude which generates contentment that causes peace.“
Todd Stocker
24.
“Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.“
Eckhart Tolle
25.
“Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.“
John Henry Jowett
26.
“Happiness simply forms like a rainbow in the kindest and most grateful hearts.“
Richelle E. Goodrich
27.
“Joy is thankfulness, and when we are joyful, that is the best expression of thanks we can offer the Lord, Who delivers us from sorrow and sin.“
Thaddeus of Vitovnica
28.
“I’ve never before been so aware of the thousands of little good things, the thousands of things that go right every day.“
A.J. Jacobs
29.
“Gratitude paints little smiley faces on everything it touches.“
Richelle E. Goodrich
30.
“Be savagely thankful, and continuously in awe of the power you possess. You are alive. Inside of an endless cosmos with the freedom that shines brightest in the dark…”
Shane L. Koyczan
31.
“Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.“
Maya Angelou
32.
“Just an observation: it is impossible to be both grateful and depressed. Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. And even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up.“
Steve Maraboli
33.
“All happy people are grateful, and ungrateful people cannot be happy. Become grateful and you will become a much happier person.“
Dennis Prager
34.
“It is only normal that people count losses with their minds, and ignore to count blessings with the graciousness of their hearts.“
Suzy Kassem
35.
“Being grateful does not mean that everything is necessarily good. It just means that you can accept it as a gift.“
Roy T. Bennett
36.
“When you have an attitude of gratitude, frustrating troubles will fall by the wayside.“
Dana Arcuri
37.
“Because thankfulness is the tonic that always cures the cancers of greed, envy and jealousy, it should be taken in liberal doses daily.“
Craig D. Lounsbrough
38.
“Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.“
Roy T. Bennett
39.
“We find it hard to be thankful. To see the gift each day brings us. It is from this lack of true gratitude that we become sad.“
S.R. Crawford
40.
“To live, to truly live, one must consider each and every thing a blessing.“
Kamand Kojouri
41.
“God gave us minds to think with and hearts to thank with. Instead, we use our hearts to think about the world as we would like it to have been, and we use our minds to come up with rationalizations for our ingratitude.“
Douglas Wilson
42.
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love—then make that day count!“
Steve Maraboli
43.
“Expressing thankfulness energizes, enhances, and empowers.“
Skip Prichard
44.
“You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.“
Kahlil Gibran
45.
“Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart.“
Roy T. Bennett
46.
“Walk together. Feel the heart beats. Experience the presence. This is how to be thankful.“
Amit Ray
47.
“A grateful mindset can set you free from the prison of disempowerment and the shackles of misery.“
Steve Maraboli
48.
“Be thankful for your allotment in an imperfect world. Though better circumstances can be imagined, far worse are nearer misses than you probably care to realize.“
Richelle E. Goodrich
49.
“If the only prayer you said was thank you, that would be enough.“
Meister Eckhart
50.
“You want to become a better person? Just give thanks. Give thanks for all of it.“
Kamand Kojouri
51.
“Ingratitude to God does not rely only on our refusal to give the verbal thanksgiving due to Him, but also resides in our inability to appreciate his gifts and potentials in us by leaving them untapped.“
Israelmore Ayivor
52.
“Enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.“
Mandy Hale
53.
“When you appreciate what you have, and feel enthusiasm for life, you move in the direction of your natural state.“
Hina Hashmi
54.
“Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayer and worn with thanks.“
Thomas Goodwin
55.
“Entitlement is such a cancer, because it is void of gratitude.“
Adam Kirk Smith
56.
“One may suffer the long-term in order to grow in appreciation for the small things. For in short-term suffering, one only notices the large.“
Criss Jami
57.
“Grumbling and gratitude are, for the child of God, in conflict. Be grateful and you won’t grumble. Grumble and you won’t be grateful.“
Billy Graham
58.
“Always be grateful for the small things because they are the beginning of bigger and better things to come.“
Edmond Mbiaka
59.
“Thankfulness is an attitude of possibilities, not an attitude of liabilities.“
Craig D. Lounsbrough
60.
“Forget yesterday – it has already forgotten you. Don’t sweat tomorrow – you haven’t even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift – today.“
Steve Maraboli
61.
“Gratitude is a powerful trait.“
Auliq-Ice
62.
“In moments of surprise we catch at least a glimpse of the joy to which gratefulness opens the door.“
David Steindl-Rast
63.
“One single gift acknowledged in gratefulness has the power to dissolve the ties of our alienation.“
David Steindl-Rast
64.
“Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.“
Marcel Proust
65.
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.“
Anne Bradstreet
66.
“Great things happen to those who don’t stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.“
Roy T. Bennett
67.
“To savor the simple privilege that every day I have a sunrise to bathe in, a storehouse of opportunities to romp through, the thick wrap of relationships to keep me warm, a God who meticulously tends to every detail round about me, and it all costs me not a dime. What madness would keep me from being eternally thankful for all that?“
Craig D. Lounsbrough
68.
“Be mindful. Be grateful. Be positive. Be true. Be kind.“
Roy T. Bennett
69.
“Piglet noticed that even though he had a very small heart, it could hold a rather large amount of gratitude.“
A.A. Milne
70.
“The problem that we have with a victim mentality is that we forget to see the blessings of the day. Because of this, our spirit is poisoned instead of nourished.“
Steve Maraboli
71.
“This is the Lord’s doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes.“
Elizabeth I
72.
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.“
Voltaire
73.
“Live your life as a gift, not a given.“
Margaret Moss Painter
74.
“When one has a grateful heart, life is so beautiful.“
Roy T. Bennett
75.
“Gratitude enables you to be fearless, and to never shy away from reveling in every moment of your life.“
Janice Anderson
76.
“Only having valued a thing, can you truly be thankful. You can not be sincerely thankful for what you have not valued.“
TemitOpe Ibrahim
77.
“It’s funny, but have you ever noticed that the more special something is, the more people seem to take it for granted? It’s like they think it won’t ever change. Just like this house here. All it ever needed was a little attention, and it would never have ended up like this in the first place.“
Nicholas Sparks
78.
“The road to happiness starts with a deep breath and an awareness of the many blessings tied to that single breath.“
Richelle E. Goodrich
79.
“I cannot imagine how much I must’ve suffered in my previous lives to be fortunate enough to have parents like you in this life.“
Kamand Kojouri
80.
“To be grateful is to recognize the Love of God in everything He has given us – and He has given us everything.“
Thomas Merton
81.
“Be happy with who you are and what you do, and you can do anything you want.“
Steve Maraboli
82.
“We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued with each other, because of many kindnesses, because of luck. But part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness. „
Ellen Goodman
83.
“It is better to trade your bitterness with gratefulness.“
Lailah Gifty Akita
84.
“My expectations were reduced to zero when I was 21. Everything since then has been a bonus.“
Stephen Hawking
85.
“I live with thanksgiving, overwhelmed and overjoyed by grace. This path seems to lead us to a place of needing to be noticed less often, and being less concerned with how we’re thought of.“
Phil Callaway
86.
“Life is also filled with colors and that makes it beautiful. Along this path of darkness, there’s always light waiting to be seen by our daunted hearts. Our heart is gifted to see this light.“
Chanda Kaushik
87.
“It’s easy and natural to be thankful when your expectations are met. The real test of your faith is when things don’t go your way, or when you are in pain.“
Maddy Malhotra
88.
“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite – only a sense of existence.“
Henry David Thoreau
89.
“Cultivate and nurture being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. Remembering that In daily life we must see that it is not happiness that makes us grateful, but gratefulness that makes us happy.“
Angie karan
90.
“Don’t over-focus on the negatives and under-focus the positives in your life.“
Lalah Delia
91.
“We thrive with thankfulness.“
Lailah Gifty Akita
92.
“True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.“
Seneca
93.
“At the end of each day, write down three things from the day you feel grateful for, and you will attract positive things into your life.“
Farshad Asl
94.
“Gratefulness heightens awareness.“
A.D. Posey
95.
“She taught me that life goes on and that I had a choice. To lament what I no longer had or be grateful for what remained.“
Louise Penny
96.
“The more you are grateful for what you have the more you can live fully in the present. When you live in the present moment the greater you can build stepping stones for a brighter future.“
Dana Arcuri
97.
“Those who have the ability to be grateful are the ones who have the ability to achieve greatness.“
Steve Maraboli
98.
“Even the smallest blessing on earth is enough reason to be thankful for your life.“
Edmond Mbiaka
99.
“Gratitude is an overflow of the pleasure filling your soul.“
Raheel Farooq
100.
“Finding happiness should not be seen as finding a needle in a haystack. Happiness is within. Each day is a blessing that brings an abundance of happiness. Therefore, finding happiness should be like finding a gift in a stack of gifts.“
Steve Maraboli
I hope you enjoyed reading this collection of gratitude quotes. How do you remind yourself to think about all the things in your life you can be grateful for?
Stay victorious!