Gratitude Quotes

Wally Lamb's "I cried because I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet," conveys a simple message: count your blessings.
Often, you fail to appreciate simple pleasures and little blessings. You keep your eyes peeled for the big prize. A fancy car? Of course, you want it. An exotic vacation in the Far East? Sounds wonderful! A bigger house uptown? Sure. But what about the things you already have? Are you not grateful for that blessing called life?
You can go on and on adding items to your wishlist; little realizing the precious seconds you waste by agonizing over unfulfilled dreams. When you see your wealthy neighbor show off his brand new Porsche, you may feel that yours is a life half lived. But instead of focusing on your object of envy, try focusing on the goodness of life. Material desires come and go, what remains with us is our ability to enjoy life and make the most of it.

Ambition Is Not Bad, Greed Is

It is not wrong to have ambition. By all means, keep your lofty goals in sight. Your ambition can be fueled by your passions, dreams, and desires. But don't fuel your ambition with greed. The hunger for success is not the same as the greed for fame. Greed is a selfish need to achieve one's objectives, even at the cost of others. Ambition propels you to innovate while living by the rules of fair play. Ambition is good for you; greed only makes you less grateful.

Learn to Be Grateful

As Joseph Addison rightly said, "Gratitude is the best attitude." It takes more than humility to be grateful. Gratitude is ingrained into your psyche through social conditioning. Parents and teachers teach kids the magic words: "I'm sorry," "please," "thank you," "excuse me," and "you're welcome" in preschool. As you mingle with others in social situations, you learn social etiquette that deems it necessary to express gratitude at appropriate occasions.

Are you a Grateful Person?

However, mere expressions of gratitude may not reveal whether a person is truly grateful. It could simply be lip service, or politeness, conveying nothing about the person's true feelings. If you are a grateful person, you can convey your appreciation in more than just words.

Did your mom help you when you were sick? After you get well, celebrate your good health with your mother. Did your friend lend you the money you needed to set up shop? Repay the loan not only with interest but also with kindness. Did your friend help you get over a breakup? Hug your friend while saying, "thanks," and promise to stick together in good and bad times. Make sure to live up to that promise.

Express Thanks With Grateful Quotes

Why stop at "thank you," when you can say more? With grateful quotes, your words will tug at heartstrings. The listener will feel overpowered with the emotion contained in these quotes. Your generous words will win over friends.
Richard Carlson
"People who live the most fulfilling lives are the ones who are always rejoicing at what they have."
Anthony Robbins
"When you are grateful fear disappears and abundance appears."
Marcel Proust
"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
Nancy Leigh DeMoss
"The grateful heart that springs forth in joy is not acquired in a moment; it is the fruit of a thousand choices."
Seneca
Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart.
Elizabeth Carter
"Remember that not to be happy is not to be grateful."
Edgar Watson Howe
"Nothing tires a man more than to be grateful all the time."
Francois Rochefoucauld
"We seldom find people ungrateful so long as it is thought we can serve them."
John Milton
A grateful mind
By owing owes not, but still pays, at once
Indebted and discharged.
Henry Ward Beecher
"A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves."
Robert South
"The grateful person, being still the most severe exacter of himself, not only confesses but proclaims his debts."
George Herbert
"Thou who hast given so much to me, give me one more thing... a grateful heart!"
Steve Maraboli
"Those who have the ability to be grateful are the ones who have the ability to achieve greatness."
Mary Wright
"When you say thank you it makes me feel like everything is good!"
Henry Clay
"Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart."
Lionel Hampton
"Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind."
Marcel Proust
"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
Melody Beattie
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more."
Chinese Proverb
"When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them.”
Mary Wright
"There is only one way to say thank you and that's just too straight up say, “Thank you.""
G. K. Chesterton
"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder."
Sarah Ban Breathnach
"Every time we remember to say “thank you”, we experience nothing less than heaven on earth."
Albert Schweitzer
"Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude."
Benjamin Crump
"Your presence today spoke volumes. Thank you all for the support."
Jill Griffin
"Learn to say thank you every time."