50 Appreciate What You Have Quotes For A Higher Quality Of Life

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published October 23, 2023

Learn more about how your gratitude determines your latitude with our appreciate what you have quotes.

Gratitude is a powerful force that can transform lives.

Check out our appreciate what you have quotes below to learn how.

Why should I appreciate what I have?

Gratitude has been proven to:

Positively impact life span.
Strengthen bonds between people.
Increase mental and physical wellness.

Appreciate what you have to make room for what you want

Some life lessons seem like they should be obvious, but some of us insist on making simple things challenging.

Appreciating what we have aligns us with the energy of what we prefer and gives us more of what we want.

Focusing on what we do not have leaves us in a perpetual state of lack, never reaching contentment.

With two decades of experience as a middle school educator, I have met my fair share of people who do not appreciate what they have.

It is a very fulfilling experience to help students increase their awareness of things they can show gratitude for.

Why is it hard for teenagers to appreciate what they have?

The belief systems we carry as adults are rooted in our childhood.

When teachers are polled and asked which is their least favorite grade to teach, 7th grade is the most popular response.

Children do not always have the wisdom to recognize the power of gratitude, and in some instances, this is developmentally appropriate.

Why is 7th grade so challenging to teach?

Well, gratitude is one reason.

We experience several psychological, physiological, and emotional transitions in middle school.

Middle-school-aged people struggle with impulse control, peer pressure, and gratitude.

Middle school students are still on the precipice of maturity and being children.

Their bodies resemble young adults, but their mindsets are still childlike.

They are prone to emotional outbursts, channel emotions differently, and struggle with appreciation.

However, the fulfillment an educator feels when they help middle schoolers expand and develop their gratitude is satisfying.

To learn more, check out our appreciate what you have quotes.

Short appreciate what you have quotes for achieving higher levels of gratitude

We begin our sojourn of appreciation with these short quotes.

1. “You don’t have to know anything about art to appreciate it or to look at it.” — Keith Haring

2. “Be thankful for what you have. Appreciate the small and simple things.” — Kyle Carpenter

3. “I think to really appreciate anything, you have to be at both ends of the spectrum.” — John Elway

4. “If you didn’t have bad times, then you wouldn’t appreciate the good moments.” — Scarlett Moffatt

5. “Reflecting on where I came from helps me to appreciate and balance what I have now.” — Meghan Markle

6. “When one’s expectations are reduced to zero, one really appreciates everything one does have.” — Stephen Hawking

7. “We don’t appreciate what we have until it’s gone.” — Boris Yeltsin

8. “Unless you have bad times, you can’t appreciate the good times.” — Joe Torre

9. “Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.” — Ralph Marston

10. “Learn to appreciate what you have and where and who you are.” — Wayne Dyer

The top appreciate what you have quotes to gain perspective

Sometimes, knowing what could be gives us the view we need to appreciate what is.

11. “The abduction of a child is a tragedy. No one can fully understand or appreciate what a parent goes through at such a time unless they have faced a similar tragedy.” — John Walsh

12. “I am from a middle-class family, and everything I have achieved in life I have only appreciated.” — Sushmita Sen

13. “I deeply appreciate all the support and encouragement I have received from people all across India.” — Satya Nadella

14. “As an immigrant, I appreciate, far more than the average American, the liberties we have in this country.” — Gloria Estefan

15. “Time and health are two precious assets that we don’t recognize and appreciate until they have been depleted.” — Denis Waitley

16. “I have had the pleasure of knowing Mitt Romney for several years now. There’s so much to appreciate about him.” — Nikki Haley

17. “You have to put in many, many, many tiny efforts that nobody sees or appreciates before you achieve anything worthwhile.” — Brian Tracy

18. “I have come to regard November as the older, harder man’s October. I appreciate the early darkness and cooler temperatures.” — Henry Rollins

19. “I think you need to go through some stuff to really appreciate life and understand what it means to persevere, overcome, and have faith..” — Judith Hill

20. “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

The best appreciate what you have quotes for peace of mind

Check out these cool appreciate what you have quotes.

21. “We know that our greatness comes from when we appreciate each other’s strengths when we learn from each other. We’re all in this together. We always have been.” — Michelle Obama

22. “My belief is that we were put into this world of wonders and beauty with a special ability to appreciate them, in some cases to have the fun of taking a hand in developing them.” — Robert Baden-Powell

23. “I have always said I will try to answer questions honestly. I think people appreciate that about me.” — Rory McIlroy

24. “There are those who stay clean, just appreciate things. At breakfast, they have milk and juice at night.” — Gary Snyder

25. “I always want people to expect the unexpected, to hear me in records that have nothing to do with bachata. ‘Golden’ is the golden opportunity for them to appreciate me on other records.” — Romeo Santos

26. “There’s something about being amid the chaos and the horror of a war that makes you appreciate all you don’t have.” — Tim O’Brien

27. “Movies are so rarely great art that if we cannot appreciate great trash, we have very little reason to be interested in them.” — Pauline Kael

28. “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the oppressor’s side. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” — Desmond Tutu

29. “Life has to be everything. It can’t be all sad. It can’t be all peaches and cream. Because the lows have you appreciate the highs.” — Sterling K. Brown

30. “[The underdog] opens doors and creates opportunities and enlightens and permits things that might otherwise have seemed unthinkable.” — Malcolm Gladwell

Appreciate what you have quotes and sayings about increasing your quality of life

This selection reminds us that we have to work hard and remain patient on our road to appreciation.

31. “When I was younger, I was managing a career and trying to have a good year. And then as I got older, and then I had my kids and everything, I began to appreciate a great Wednesday.” — Albert Brooks

32. “I like being surrounded by people who have very little fear and very little respect for the past. They appreciate everything that’s been done, but they constantly look for how to do it better.” — Dan Rosensweig

33. “It’s a time to reflect and appreciate all the contributions that others have made to my career and my life.” — Karen Kain

34. “Maids in India have egos. So while training them to do things your way, speak gently, and when they do it right, appreciate it.” — Karisma Kapoor

35. “You just have to appreciate those kinds of things. Being body positive is really important to your overall happiness.” — Sabrina Carpenter

36. “My surname Volkanovski comes from my father’s side, so I have many Macedonian supporters, and I really appreciate it.” — Alexander Volkanovski

37. “If we fail to appreciate the soul that Easternism gives us, then what we have is a disconnected, Greco-Roman, Western, egocentric, compartmentalized, reductionist, fragmented, linear thought process that counts on cleverness.” — Joel Salatin

38. “I will appreciate what I have and not whine about what I don’t have.” — Bernie Siegel

39. “If you have the opportunity to play this game of life, you need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don’t appreciate the moment until it’s passed.” — Kanye West

40. “When you work for something, you appreciate it more. So what are y’all going to do with all the opportunities you inherited that you didn’t have to work for? “ — Tavis Smiley

Famous appreciate what you have quotes about life

We close our list with these appreciate what you have quotes to live by.

41. “I appreciate my own space and the world I create for myself, my family and friends.” — Kylie Minogue

42. “To bare our souls is all we ask, to give all we have to life and the beings surrounding us. Here, the nature spirits are intense, and we appreciate them, make offerings to them.” — Alex Grey

43. “It means that people appreciate what you do. Every award I have received is a confirmation of something I have done, and that motivates me to push a little harder.” — Wadada Leo Smith

44. “I do believe that if you haven’t learned about sadness, you cannot appreciate happiness.” — Nana Mouskouri

45. “As always, I appreciate all the love and support people have sent and continue to send my way.” — Patrick Swayze

46. “It’s possible that you have been told a time or ten that you don’t appreciate how tough your elders had it.” — Gail Collins

47. “You have to be able to overcome adversity in order to succeed and appreciate the simple things life has to offer.” — Elliott Yamin

48. “When you have all that taken away from you, your daily activity becomes a lot more subtle, and you appreciate it all a lot more.” — Tony Stewart

49. “Now, instead of having dessert, I’ll have a can of diet soda. Putting a limit on how often I can drink it has helped me appreciate it more.” — Kaley Cuoco

50. “I appreciate subtlety. I have never enjoyed a kiss in front of the camera. There’s nothing to it except not getting your lipstick smeared.” — Hedy Lamarr