No matter what life throws at you—good, bad, big, little—it’s important to express gratitude. To give thanks for yesterday, today and tomorrow and all that you’ve experienced because each up and every down you face is a landmark on your journey that makes you who you are.
Appreciate all that you have in your life, and don’t fret about the things that you don’t. Count your blessings instead of your troubles. And, most importantly, remember to always be grateful. Seeing life as a gift can change everything.
So, what are you thankful for? Let these 38 gratitude quotes inspire your thoughts and bring you joy this holiday season.
Quotes about gratitude to help you get through the day
1. “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”
— Gilbert K. Chesterton
2. “The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”
— Henry Ward Beecher
3. “Gratitude doesn’t change the scenery. It merely washes clean the glass you look through so you can clearly see the colors.”
— Richelle E. Goodrich
4. “Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”
5. “Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.”
— Doris Day
6. “Learn to be thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.”
— Jim Rohn
7. “It’s not possible to experience constant euphoria, but if you’re grateful, you can find happiness in everything.”
— Pharrell Williams
8. “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.”
— John F. Kennedy
9. “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
10. “Never take anything for granted.”
— Benjamin Disraeli
11. “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
— William Arthur Ward
12. “‘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
13. “The trick is to be grateful when your mood is high and graceful when it is low.”
— Richard Carlson, author of Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff
Gratitude quotes to live by
1. “Appreciation can make a day—even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.”
— Margaret Cousins
2. “Gratitude unlocks all that’s blocking us from really feeling truthful, really feeling authentic and vulnerable and happy.”
— Gabrielle Bernstein
3. “Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
— Henri-Frédéric Amiel
4. “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.”
— Robert Brault
5. “[Gratitude] turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion into clarity… Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
— Melody Beattie
6. “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.”
— William Arthur Ward
7. “If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.”
— W. Clement Stone, author of Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
8. “The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.”
— Charles Schwab
9. “When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.”
— Kristin Armstrong
10. “ The chief idea of my life is the idea of taking things with gratitude, and not taking things for granted.”
— Gilbert K. Chesterton
11. “No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.”
— Alfred North Whitehead
12. “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.”
— Willie Nelson
13. “Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to effect change in your life—this I know for sure.”
— Oprah Winfrey, author of What I Know For Sure
Quotes on gratitude to remind yourself of the little things
1. “The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness.”
— Dalai Lama
2. “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.”
— William Blake
3. “There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.”
— Ralph H. Blum
4. “Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul.”
— Henry Ward Beecher
5. “Reflect upon your present blessings—of which every man has many—not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.”
— Charles Dickens
6. “To let gratitude be the pillow / Upon which you kneel to / Say your nightly prayer.”
— Maya Angelou, author of Celebrations: Rituals of Peace and Prayer
7. “There is something that happens when you are grateful: You continue to keep receiving blessings. So I will always be grateful.”
— Chrissy Metz
8. “None is more impoverished than the one who has no gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.”
— Fred De Witt Van Amburgh
9. “Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.”
— Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
10. “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.”
— Eckhart Tolle
11. “Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe. You open the door through gratitude.”
— Deepak Chopra
12. “The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.”
— Robert Holden, author of Be Happy! Release the Power of Happiness in YOU
This article was originally published in November 2016 and has been updated. Photo by Halfpoint/Shutterstock.com
Madison Pieper is the Multimedia Content Producer for SUCCESS. With a degree in journalism from Southern Methodist University, she has a passion for creative storytelling both on and off the camera. Outside of work, Madison loves figure skating, fashion and spending time with her friends and family.
Lydia Sweatt is a freelance writer, bookworm, and bass guitar enthusiast. When she goes outside, a bicycle goes with her.
