Our Favorite Quotes About Being Thankful

Last year around this time, we realized that every November we present a significant amount of content about “beating Black Friday consumerism” and that it can sound, well, a little bit negative. In fact, we adore the holidays and Thanksgiving in particular. Starting last year, we decided to try to make a point of that by making our list of things that we’re thankful for at Postconsumers an annual tradition. But it also dawned on us that around this time of year, with the crush of holiday consumerism beginning to rear its ugly head, a person may need a little extra motivation to get into the spirit of being thankful. So we decided to help out anybody who may find themselves in that position by compiling our list of our favorite quotes about being Thankful. No matter how jaded you may find yourself feeling, we assure you that there will be something in this list that will “hit home” with you and get you focused on being Thankful. After all, when you look at the big picture, most of us have plenty to be thankful for.

“I don’t need a holiday or a feast to feel grateful for my children, the sun, the moon, the roof over my head, music, and laughter, but I like to take this time to take the path of thanks less traveled.” Paula Poundstone

“Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.” Ralph Marston

“In everyone’s life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” Albert Schweitzer

“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

“If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.” Frank A. Clark

“Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.” Melody Beattie

“Often people ask how I manage to be happy despite having no arms and no legs. The quick answer is that I have a choice. I can be angry about not having limbs, or I can be thankful that I have a purpose. I chose gratitude.” Nick Vujicic

“’Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” Alice Walker

“Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining – it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn’t solve any problems.” Zig Ziglar

“Keep your eyes open to your mercies. The man who forgets to be thankful has fallen asleep in life.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.” Melody Beattie

“Strive to find things to be thankful for, and just look for the good in who you are!” Bethany Hamilton

“Every day I’ve got to be thankful that I am alive, and you never know – the cliche is, I guess, you could get hit by a bus tomorrow, so you’d better be at peace with whatever you got going at the moment.” Joseph Gordon-Levitt

“We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning.” Albert Barnes

“Gratitude is the sign of noble souls.” Aesop

“Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” William Arthur Ward

Did we miss a quote about being thankful that you want to share with us? If so, just tell us about it on one of the social media channels below.

Photo Credit: SnoShuu via Flickr