This collection of quotes about being grateful will help you reframe your thinking.
Life deals each of us a unique hand and it is up to every one of us to make of it what we can. There is little else we can do but be grateful for what we have. When we focus on what we don’t have instead of being grateful, the negativity can get in the way of accomplishing more for ourselves.
What can you be grateful for in your life?
If you have your health, your family, good friends, a job, a home, a beloved pet, an education, or anything else positive, start by being grateful for the things you have. You don’t have to be religious to count your blessings. Being able to identify what is working in your life is a great starting point for taking the next steps to improve other areas.
Below is our selection of inspirational, wise, and thought-provoking grateful quotes and sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.
Don’t forget to also read these gratitude quotes celebrating life, love and friends.
Grateful quotes to appreciate life and simple things
1.) “This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before.” – Maya Angelou
2.) “Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.” – Buddha
3.) “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.” – Oscar Wilde
4.) “My socks may not match, but my feet are always warm.” – Maureen McCullough
5.) “So much has been given to me; I have no time to ponder over that which has been denied.” – Helen Keller
6.) Stop now. Enjoy the moment. It’s now or never.” – Maxime Lagacé
7.) “As long as this exists, this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad?” – Anne Frank
8.) “The best way to pay for a lovely moment is to enjoy it.” – Richard Bach
9.) “The world gives you way more than you ever give it.” – Kamal Ravikant
10.) “Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation.” – John Ortberg
11.) “Gratitude is the memory of the heart.” – Jean Baptiste Massieu
12.) “Forget injuries, never forget kindnesses.” – Confucius
13.) “Ingratitude is monstrous.” – William Shakespeare
14.) “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not.” – Epicurus
Grateful quotes about expressing your gratitude
15.) “Silent gratitude isn’t very much to anyone.” – Gertrude Stein
16.) “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” – James Allen
17.) “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward
18.) “There is as much greatness of mind in acknowledging a good turn, as in doing it.” – Seneca
19.) “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” – John F. Kennedy
20.) “Giving thanks for abundance is greater than the abundance itself.” – Rumi
21.) “We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.” – Neal A. Maxwell
22.) “The essence of all beautiful art is gratitude.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
23.) “May the work of your hands be a sign of gratitude and reverence to the human condition.” – Mahatma Gandhi
24.) “Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, and spend without fear of bankruptcy.” – Fred De Witt Van Amburgh
25.) “Train yourself never to put off the word or action for the expression of gratitude.” – Albert Schweitzer
26.) “Gratitude is the most exquisite form of courtesy.” – Jacques Maritain
27.) “Find the good and praise it.” – Alex Haley
28.) “Giving is an expression of gratitude for our blessings.” – Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen
29.) “True forgiveness is when you can say, ‘Thank you for that experience.’” – Oprah Winfrey
Grateful quotes about the importance of being thankful
30.) “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Aesop
31.) “Gratitude is the fairest blossom that springs from the soul.” – Henry Ward Beecher
32.) “Gratitude is riches. Complaint is poverty.” – Doris Day
33.) “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
34.) “There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy.” – Ralph H. Blum
35.) “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton
36.) “An attitude of gratitude brings great things.” – Yogi Bhajan
37.) “Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” – Voltaire
38.) “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” – William Blake
39.) “Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe. You open the door through gratitude.” – Deepak Chopra
40.) “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.” – Melody Beattie
41.) “The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.” – William James
42.) “Our favorite attitude should be gratitude.” – Zig Ziglar
43.) “If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.” – W. Clement Stone
44.) “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” – Marcus Tellius Cicero
Grateful quotes about gratitude and keeping things in perspective
45.) “Gratitude is what you feel when you want what you already have.” – James Clear
46.) “A sense of blessedness comes from a change of heart, not from more blessings.” – Mason Cooley
47.) “When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton
48.) “We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses.” – Alphonse Karr
49.) “Hardship is a blessing when it spurs effort and development; ease is a curse when it increases complacency and self-indulgence.” – Muso Kokushi
50.) “I was complaining that I had no shoes till I met a man who had no feet.” – Confucius
51.) “There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.” – Albert Einstein
52.) “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” – Epictetus
53.) “There are always flowers for those who want to see them.” – Henri Matisse
54.) “Gratitude is a duty which ought to be paid, but which none have a right to expect.” – Jean-Jacques Rousseau
55.) “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” – Tony Robbins
56.) “Every blessing ignored becomes a curse.” – Paulo Coelho
How can being grateful for what you have transform your life?
Being grateful for what you have magnifies the good while minimizing the bad. It allows you to take a positive perspective that enables you to make room for more good to come into your life.
When you focus on what’s working by being grateful, you can see more clearly how to bring the rest of your life into order. Conversely, if you focus on the difficulties and trauma you may have experienced instead of being grateful for that which is good, you may find yourself stuck in a rut of negativity. We can all have our moments, but whenever you can take control, it’s best to choose to be grateful!
What’s your biggest takeaway from these grateful quotes and sayings? Do you have any other favorite quotes to add? Let us know in the comment section below.
