Not only does expressing gratitude help you stay grounded, but it's also got serious mental and physical benefits. In fact, one study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology found that people who kept weekly gratitude journals were more likely to exercise on a regular basis, report fewer negative physical symptoms, and were more optimistic than those who recorded hassles or neutral life events.
If you're looking for a way to start giving thanks more often, we've rounded up the best gratitude quotes ever written. Use these gratitude quotes to express thanks, to repeat at the dinner table, or just to quietly reflect. Our list of inspiring gratitude quotes will help you stay thankful for all of life's blessings, both big and small.
Inspiring gratitude quotes
Shutterstock- “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, Celebrations
- “Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” — Leroy Satchel Paige
- "Maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it's wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.” ― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love
- “Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.” – Henri Frederic Amiel
- “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.” — Zig Ziglar
- “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
- “Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” ― Marcel Proust
- “The most beautiful moments in life are moments when you are expressing your joy, not when you are seeking it.” ― Jaggi Vasudev
- “The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” — Richard Bach
- “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, The Light in the Heart
- “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” ― Alphonse Karr, A Tour Round My Garden
- “True forgiveness is when you can say, 'Thank you for that experience.'” ― Oprah Winfrey
- “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
- “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” ― Eckhart Tolle, A New Earth
- “I cannot pretend I am without fear. But my predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written." ― Oliver Sacks, Gratitude
- “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” — Cicero
- “So much has been given to me; I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied.” — Helen Keller
- “When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out, and the tide of love rushes in.” — Kristin Armstrong
- "Gratitude turns what we have into enough." ― Aesop
- “Our favorite attitude should be gratitude.” — Zig Ziglar
Feel-good quotes about gratitude
Shutterstock- “Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude.” ― A.A. Milne, Winnie-the-Pooh
- "A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.” ― Seneca
- “The more grateful I am, the more beauty I see.” – Mary Davis
- “It's a sign of mediocrity when you demonstrate gratitude with moderation.” — Roberto Benigni
- “The root of joy is gratefulness.” David Steindl-Rast
- “At times, our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” ― Albert Schweitzer
- “Learn to be thankful for what you already have, while you pursue all that you want.” — Jim Rohn
- “My gratitude for good writing is unbounded; I’m grateful for it the way I’m grateful for the ocean.” ― Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird
- "In every circumstance that comes my way, I can choose to respond in one of two ways: I can whine or I can worship!" ― Nancy Leigh DeMoss, Choosing Gratitude
- “Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” ― Lionel Hampton
- “What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.” ― Brene Brown
- “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton
- “'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
- “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” ― William Arthur Ward
- “'Enough’ is a feast.” — Buddhist proverb
- “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
- “The struggles we endure today will be the ‘good old days’ we laugh about tomorrow.” ― Aaron Lauritsen, 100 Days Drive: The Great North American Road Trip
- “Find the good and praise it.” — Alex Haley
- “The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.” — Thornton Wilder
- “The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.” — Robert Holden
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