Thanksgiving Quotes
We have collected and put the best Thanksgiving Quotes. Enjoy reading these insights and feel free to share this page on your social media to inspire others.
May these Thanksgiving Quotes inspire you to never give up and keep working towards your goals. Who knows—success could be just around the corner.
Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in the United States, Canada, some of the Caribbean islands, and Liberia. It began as a day of giving thanks and sacrifice for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. Similarly named festival holidays occur in Germany and Japan. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States, and around the same part of the year in other places. Although Thanksgiving has historical roots in religious and cultural traditions, it has long been celebrated as a secular holiday as well.
See also: Thanksgiving, Thankfulness Quotes, Gratitude Quotes, Prayers of Thanksgiving, The Duty of Thanksgiving, and What Is Importance Of Thanksgiving?
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Thanksgiving Quotes
Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude. – Nigel Hamilton
Thanksgiving is a time for celebrating everything you love. – Robin Kite
Thanksgiving is good, but ‘thanksliving’ is better. – Author Unknown
Thanksgiving is a time to give, a time to love, and a time to reflect on the things that matter most in life. – Danielle Duckery
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite American traditions. I quickly picked it up when I moved to the U.S. from Sweden. – Marcus Samuelsson
Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday – it’s a day that’s American to the core and it’s a day that’s all about what and how we eat. – Marcus Samuelsson
Thanksgiving is a season that is very much in accord with the themes and teachings of Jesus Christ. – John Clayton
Thanksgiving is a very important holiday. Ours was the first country in the world to make a national holiday to give thanks. – Linus (Charlie Brown)
Thanksgiving is a joyous invitation to shower the world with love and gratitude. – Amy Leigh Mercree
Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life… a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year — and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. –
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are. –
Thanksgiving is America’s favorite holiday because it’s a time when we put aside our cares, much as the struggling Pilgrims did nearly four centuries ago, and eat a gut-busting meal without worrying about the ‘out years.’ –
Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often. – Johnny Carson
Thanksgiving is a celebration of a harvest, and it is common all over the world. – Rodney Miles
Thanksgiving is the end of all human conduct, whether observed in words or works. – J. B. Lightfoot
Thanksgiving is a special day, a day we share the joy. We come before a lavish meal, one we quite enjoy. – Julie Hebert
Thanksgiving is the expression of an attitude, or a philosophy of life. The thankful person is a person who looks at life from a unique perspective, and, therefore, sees what the ungrateful do not see. – Steve Pease
Thanksgiving is a day to be thankful for all of our blessings, and may we never forget to give thanks for the freedom we enjoy. – Catherine Pulsifer
Thanksgiving is an act. Hence, it is not enough to have the feeling in our hearts; it is important to express it so that the party to whom we are giving thanks sees and knows that we are truly grateful for the good that we have received. – Joseph A Iyongo
Thanksgiving is the expression of gratitude, an acknowledgement of favors or divine goodness. It is an act of appreciation, often directed to God for all He has done or is doing in our lives. – Joseph A Iyongo
Thanksgiving is a fun, family holiday that is celebrated every year! Families get together and, in their own way, give thanks for the Blessings that they enjoy. – Leanne Annett
Thanksgiving is about a lot of things. It’s about being grateful for all of our blessings. It’s about family and friends coming together, sometimes for the first time in a long time. time. It’s about slowing down; it’s about heritage and kindness. – Arnie Lightning
Thanksgiving is coming to the life-altering understanding that truly precious things can’t be owned anyway. And the wonder of it all is not only realizing that we can’t own them, but it’s realizing that we don’t have to expend the energy in the maintenance of them in order to enjoy them. – Craig D. Lounsbrough
My Thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. –
Thanksgiving creates abundance. – Ann Voskamp
Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day. – Robert Caspar Lintner
It is one thing to be grateful. It’s another to give thanks. Gratitude is what you feel. Thanksgiving is what you do. – Tim Keller
Overeating at Thanksgiving is a case in point. It’s a national tradition. –
Superficial social niceties are far different from the deep emotion of thanksgiving. – Alexandra Katehakis
He who thanks but with the lips, thanks but in part; the full, the true Thanksgiving, comes from the heart. – J.A. Shedd
Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Thanksgiving Quotes
Patient of labor when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off’rings, and a thankful strain. – Alexander Pope
So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart. – Arthur Guiterman
As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. – John Fitzgerald Kennedy
I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. – Henry David Thoreau
We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction. – Harry Ironside
There should be a parallel between our supplications and our thanksgivings. We ought not to leap in prayer, and limp in praise. – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God for unrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoy now. – A.W. Tozer
I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder. – G.K. Chesterton
The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings. – Henry Ward Beecher
The Christian who walks with the Lord and keeps constant communion with Him will see many reason for rejoicing and thanksgiving all day long. – Warren W. Wiersbe
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. – Melody Beattie
Careful for nothing, prayerful for everything, thankful for anything. – Dwight L. Moody
Each day is a gift from God. What you do with it is your gift to Him. – T.D. Jakes
God wants to see prayers that are filled with genuine praise and thanksgiving for what He has done in the past. He wants our hearts to be filled with awe and gratitude for His blessings. He wants us to set up memorials in our hearts testifying to the provisions He has given us. – Michael Youssef
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
The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings! – Henry Ward Beecher
As you keep your mind and heart focused in the right direction, approaching each day with faith and gratitude, I believe you will be empowered to live life to the fullest and enjoy the abundant life He has promised you! – Victoria Osteen
Of all the characteristics needed for both a happy and morally decent life, none surpasses gratitude. Grateful people are happier, and grateful people are more morally decent. – Dennis Prager
Isn’t it peculiar, Charlie Brown, how some traditions just slowly fade away? – Lucy (Charlie Brown)
But Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by Thanksgiving, Charlie Brown. – Marcy (Charlie Brown)
In the year 1621, the Pilgrims held their first Thanksgiving feast. They invited the great Indian chief Massasoit, who brought ninety of his brave Indians and a great abundance of food. Governor William Bradford and Captain Miles Standish were honored guests. Elder William Brewster, who was a minister, said a prayer that went something like this: ‘We thank God for our homes and our food and our safety in a new land. We thank God for the opportunity to create a new world for freedom and justice. – Linus’ Thanksgiving prayer (Charlie Brown)
Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. – 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
The Lord has done it this very day; let us rejoice today and be glad. – Psalm 118:24
Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever. – Psalm 136:1
Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. – James 1:17
Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation. – Psalm 50:23
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever, his faithfulness continues through all generations. – Psalm 100
Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings. – William Arthur Ward
Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. – E.P. Powell
God is glorified, not by our groans, but by our thanksgivings. – Edwin Percy Whipple
Thanksgiving: giving Him thanks for what He has done and how He has revealed Himself to you. – Tony Watson
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
There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. – O. Henry
At Thanksgiving, I always start at the top of my list and say I’m grateful for friends, family, and good health. Then I get more superficial… like being thankful for my Louboutins. – Christie Brinkley
An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day. – Irv Kupcinet
Thanksgiving
Often I’ll speak my thanksgiving aloud. Hearing the long list of good gifts God has given me is usually just what I need to restore my joy. – Lori Hatcher
If you made a list of all the things you could be thankful for, the list would undoubtedly be longer than your misfortunes. – Catherine Pulsifer
Over and over I marvel at the blessings of my life: Each year has grown better than the last. – Lawrence Welk
An attitude of gratitude brings great things. – Yogi Bhajan
The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest. – William Blake
We are blessed in so many ways; many things we take for granted but we should stop and be thankful each and every day. – Catherine Pulsifer
Over the Thanksgiving holiday I took time to reflect on what is most important to me and realized I need to find a way to put the fun back into racing. – Kurt Busch
When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around. – Willie Nelson
I think that is a better thing than thanksgiving: thanks-living. How is this to be done? By a general cheerfulness of manner, by an obedience to the command of Him by whose mercy we live, by a perpetual, constant delighting of ourselves in the Lord, and by a submission of our desires to His will. – Charles Spurgeon
I’m thankful for every moment. – Al Green
Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song. – Konrad von Gesner
If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share. – W. Clement Stone
I give thanks to my Creator for this wonderful life where each of us has the opportunity to learn lessons we could not fully comprehend by any other means. – Joseph B. Wirthlin
To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do. – Victor Hugo
Drink and be thankful to the host! What seems insignificant when you have it, is important when you need it. – Franz Grillparzer
Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it. – William Arthur Ward
I’m not a big turkey fan, but my husband loves it. Thanksgiving is his favorite meal. – Ruth Reichl
Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse. – Henry Van Dyke
Every Thanksgiving, we all write down three things we’re thankful for and put them in a hat. Then we pass the hat around the dinner table and everyone has to guess who wrote what! – Debby Ryan
No one has ever become poor by giving. – Anne Frank
My fondest memories are generally the day after Thanksgiving. I get the total decorating Christmas itch. – Katharine McPhee
Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving. – Amy Grant
Thanksgiving just gets me all warm and tingly and all kinds of wonderful inside. – Willard Scott
That’s one of the great things about Thanksgiving: Football’s on! – Michael Strahan
Christians were instructed to serve others, and the thanksgiving was for the grace of God and the fact that God offered a way for man to return to a positive relationship with Him. – John Clayton
There was a time, in the not so distant past, that if you didn’t have what you needed on Thanksgiving, you were pretty much going to have to wait until Friday. Not anymore! – Monica Johnson
I’ve always had fond memories of cooking Thanksgiving. – Wylie Dufresne
If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken. – Ina Garten
Homemade stuffing is my favorite thing about Thanksgiving. I wish people served it more than just once a year. b
The simple act of practicing gratitude, consistently, is your invitation to a new life. Accepting the invitation is now up to you. – Josie Robinson
Gratitude is one of the most powerful human emotions. Once expressed, it changes attitude, brightens outlook, and broadens our perspective. – Germany Kent
To become a better you, remember to be grateful to people who have contributed to making you who you are today. – Israelmore Ayivor
Ultimately, we have just one moral duty: to reclaim large areas of peace in ourselves, more and more peace, and to reflect it toward others. – Etty Hillesum
No matter what the situation is…close your eyes and think of all the things in your life you could be grateful for right now. – Deepak Chopra
Silent gratitude isn’t very much to anyone. – Gertrude Stein
Things turn out best for people who make the best of the way things turn out. – John Wooden
Gratitude is a feedback loop that will show you where you are thriving. – Danielle LaPorte
In life, one has a choice to take one of two paths: to wait for some special day—or to celebrate each special day. – Rasheed Ogunlaru
Gratitude for the seemingly insignificant—a seed—this plants the giant miracle. – Ann Voskamp
Look at everything as though you were seeing it for the first or the last time, then your time on earth will be filled with glory. – Betty Smith
I’m a very positive thinker, and I think that is what helps me the most in difficult moments. – Roger Federer
Thankfulness creates gratitude which generates contentment that causes peace. – Todd Stocker
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
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. – Eric Hoffer
We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. – Thornton Wilder
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
When I force myself to utter the awkward phrase, ‘I am grateful,’ I actually start to feel a bit more grateful…It’s basic cognitive behavioral therapy: Behave in a certain way, and your mind will eventually catch up with your actions. – A.J. Jacobs
All sanity depends on this: that it should be a delight to feel the roughness of a carpet under smooth soles, a delight to feel heat strike the skin, a delight to stand upright, knowing the bones are moving easily under the flesh. – Doris Lessing
Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude. – Denis Waitley
When you are joyful, when you say yes to life and have fun and project positivity all around you, you become a sun in the center of every constellation, and people want to be near you. – Shannon L. Alder
Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance. – Eckhart Tolle
Can you see the holiness in those things you take for granted—a paved road or a washing machine? If you concentrate on finding what is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul. – Rabbi Harold Kushner
The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention. – Oscar Wilde
Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life. I can choose to sit in perpetual sadness, immobilized by the gravity of my loss, or I can choose to rise from the pain and treasure the most precious gift I have—life itself. – Walter Anderson
I think that real friendship always makes us feel such sweet gratitude, because the world almost always seems like a very hard desert, and the flowers that grow there seem to grow against such high odds. – Stephen King
We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives. – John F. Kennedy
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
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
Too often, we forget to thank the people who are closest to us. They are easy to take for granted, and we can expend all our patience and niceties on strangers and have only leftovers to give our family. – Kent Brantly
Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others. – Marcus Tullius Cicero
We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count. – Neal A. Maxwell
In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich. – Dietrich Bonhoeffer
I am one of the happiest gals you know because I choose it every single day. I choose to practice gratitude; I choose to surround myself with things and people who support positivity. – Rachel Hollis
‘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
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
The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart. – Helen Keller
The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able to do, and the more genuine may be one’s appreciation of fundamental things like home, and love, and understanding companionship. – Amelia Earhart
Live a life full of humility, gratitude, intellectual curiosity, and never stop learning. – GZA
Happiness already exists in your life. All you need to do is tune into it. And you can start doing that right now. – Anthon St. Maarten
You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. – Sarah Ban Breathnach
If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we’d all be much happier. – John Wooden
Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart. – William Wordsworth
When you practice gratefulness, there is a sense of respect toward others. – Dalai Lama
When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed. – Maya Angelou
If you count all your assets, you always show a profit. – Robert Quillen
Everything changed when I switched from saying ‘I have to do this’ to ‘I GET to do this.’ – Charlotte Eriksson
Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart. – Roy T. Bennett
Happiness is a quality of the soul…not a function of one’s material circumstances. – Aristotle
An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality. – Brian Tracy
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.
When you give and carry out acts of kindness, it’s as though something inside your body responds and says, ‘Yes, this is how I ought to feel.’ – Rabbi Harold Kushner
There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. – Ralph H. Blum
Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet. – Thich Nhat Hanh
Be mindful. Be grateful. Be positive. Be true. Be kind. – Roy T. Bennett
Thanksgiving Quotes
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
The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not. – Seneca
He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has. – Epictetus
Forget yesterday – it has already forgotten you. Don’t sweat tomorrow – you haven’t even met. Instead, open your eyes and your heart to a truly precious gift – today. – Steve Maraboli
You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance. – Kahlil Gibran
Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well. – Voltaire
What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude. –
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
Be thankful for your allotment in an imperfect world. Though better circumstances can be imagined, far worse are nearer misses than you probably care to realize. – Richelle E. Goodrich
It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack. – Germany Kent
When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take thing for granted or take them with gratitude. – G.K. Chesterton
The roots of all goodness lie in the soil of appreciation for goodness. – Dalai Lama
Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It liberates us from the prison of self-preoccupation. – John Ortberg
Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. – Henry Clay
I have learned over a period of time to be almost unconsciously grateful — as a child is — for a sunny day, blue water, flowers in a vase, a tree turning red. I have learned to be glad at dawn and when the sky is dark. Only children and a few spiritually evolved people are born to feel gratitude as naturally as they breathe, without even thinking. – Faith Baldwin
Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things. – Robert Brault
Because gratitude is the key to happiness, anything that undermines gratitude must undermine happiness. And nothing undermines gratitude as much as expectations. There is an inverse relationship between expectations and gratitude: The more expectations you have, the less gratitude you will have. – Dennis Prager
This is a wonderful day. I’ve never seen this one before. – Maya Angelou
Being in the habit of saying ‘Thank you,’ of making sure that people receive attention so they know you value them, of not presuming that people will always be there—this is a good habit, regardless…make sure to give virtual and actual high-fives to those who rock and rock hard. – Sarah Wendell
Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. – Charles Dickens
Gratitude always comes into play; research shows that people are happier if they are grateful for the positive things in their lives, rather than worrying about what might be missing. – Dan Buettner
They do not love, that do not show their love. – William Shakespeare
The soul that gives thanks can find comfort in everything; the soul that complains can find comfort in nothing. – Hannah Whitall Smith
Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses. – Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr
Expectation has brought me disappointment. Disappointment has brought me wisdom. Acceptance, gratitude and appreciation have brought me joy and fulfillment. – Rasheed Ogunlaru
Embrace every new day with gratitude, hope and love. – Lailah Gifty Akita
Got no checkbooks, got no banks. Still I’d like to express my thanks. I’ve got the sun in the mornin’ and the moon at night. – Irving Berlin
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is. –
I only own something because someone somewhere sacrificed in order to create the situation where I have the opportunity to own it. And therefore, the more I own the more I owe. – Craig D. Lounsbrough
Every time we decide to be grateful it will be easier to see new things to be grateful for. Gratitude begets gratitude, just as love begets love. – Henri J.M. Nouwen
Piglet noticed that even though he had a Very Small Heart, it could hold a rather large amount of Gratitude. – A.A. Milne
Summoning gratitude is a sure way to get our life back on track. Opening our eyes to affirm gratitude grows the garden of our inner abundance, just as standing close to a fire eventually warms our heart. – Alexandra Katehakis
If you think of all the people you know, you will not be able to name one who is ungrateful and happy. The two are mutually exclusive. – Dennis Prager
There are bound to be problems and life is not perfect but we can be grateful for all the pieces of life that are happy and harmonious. The other pieces will have their own way of falling into place. – Donna Goddard
When you drink from the stream remember the spring. – Chinese proverb
Even the smallest shift in perspective can bring about the greatest healing. – Joshua Kai
I don’t have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness—it’s right in front of me if I’m paying attention and practicing gratitude. –
Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. – Aesop
I try to start every day and end every day by taking a moment to be grateful. – Olivia Wilde
‘Enough’ is a feast. – Buddhist proverb
In the end, though, 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
It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness. – Charles Spurgeon
No matter what our circumstances, we can find a reason to be thankful. – David Jeremiah
I’m just thankful for everything, all the blessings in my life, trying to stay that way. I think that’s the best way to start your day and finish your day. It keeps everything in perspective. – Tim Tebow
Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…It’s something we make inside ourselves. – Corrie Ten Boom
If you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain. – Dolly Parton
Appreciation can make a day—even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. – Margaret Cousins
Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echoes are truly endless. – Mother Teresa
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
Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it. – Sharon Salzberg
I’m thankful for the challenges early on in my life because now I have a perspective on the world and kind of know what’s important. – America Ferrera
The little things? The little moments? They aren’t little. – Jon Kabat-Zinn
When we get too caught up in the busyness of the world, we lose connection with one another – and ourselves. – Jack Kornfield
So for tonight we pray for what we know can be. And on this day we hope for what we still can’t see. It’s up to us to be the change. And even though we all can still do more, there’s so much to be thankful for. – Josh Groban
Life is a dance. Mindfulness is witnessing that dance. – Amit Ray
Thanksgiving Quotes
I am grateful for what I am and have.
My thanksgiving is perpetual…
O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches.
No run on my bank can drain it
for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment. – Henry David Thoreau
Nature happens, but sometimes, if you’re not told just how special it is, you take it for granted. The same can be true with people. – Julieanne O’Connor
If you attain fame and fortune, and do not attain gratitude along with it, the chances are that you will not enjoy that fame or that fortune. – Napoleon Hill
Embrace life’s lessons with gratitude and appreciation and then move forward with an open heart and mind. – Ron Baratono
Grateful for each hand we hold, gathered round this table. – Mary Chapin Carpenter
The celebration of a life is recognizing all that we were blessed with, and feeling so very grateful. – Ajahn Brahm
It is through this practise of gratitude that I discovered something quite profound: shyness doesn’t survive when your cup is overflowing with gratitude. It doesn’t matter if you’re grateful for things that have happened or things that have yet to come to fruition, gratitude grows Quiet Confidence. – Joel Annesley
Gratitude tends to attract the things for which we are grateful in advance. – Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Stop counting your losses and start counting your blessings. Only then will you discover the losses are always easier to point out and count than blessings. And that your blessings will always outnumber your losses, for they are truly immeasurable. – Suzy Kassem
Count your blessings, not your problems. Count your own blessings, not someone else’s. Remember that jealousy is when you count someone else’s blessings instead of your own. – Roy T. Bennett
Live your truth. Express your love. Share your enthusiasm. Take action towards your dreams. Walk your talk. Dance and sing to your music. Embrace your blessings. Make today worth remembering. – Steve Maraboli
Every single time I gave gratitude, even for the littlest thing, I felt I touched a presence greater than myself. – Josie Robinson
When we lose one blessing, another is often most unexpectedly given in its place. – C.S. Lewis
You have to participate relentlessly in the manifestation of your own blessings. – Elizabeth Gilbert
Those born to wealth, and who have the means of gratifying every wish, know not what is the real happiness of life, just as those who have been tossed on the stormy waters of the ocean on a few frail planks can alone realize the blessings of fair weather. – Alexandre Dumas
Those blessings are sweetest that are won with prayer and worn with thanks. – Thomas Goodwin
Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. – Marcel Proust
Sometimes we focus so much on what we don’t have that we fail to see, appreciate, and use what we do have! – Jeff Dixon
Some people come in our life as blessings. Some come in your life as lessons. – Mother Teresa
Count your blessings. Focus on what you’ve got. Spread the positive vibes. – Jyoti Patel
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow. – Helen Keller
Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. – Willie Nelson
Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power. – William James
Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. – Winston Churchill
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be. – George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1789
Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don’t unravel. – Unknown
Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way. – Native American Saying
Showing gratitude is one of the simplest yet most powerful things humans can do for each other. – Randy Pausch
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. – Melody Beattie
What if, today, we were grateful for everything? – Charlie Brown
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 the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough. – Meister Eckhart
Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all. – William Faulkner
Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot. – Hansa Proverb
Pie makes everybody happy. – Laurie Halse Anderson
Forever on Thanksgiving Day the heart will find the pathway home. – Wilbur D. Nesbit
Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving. – W.T. Purkiser
Be present in all things and thankful for all things. – Maya Angelou
I love November and the American tradition of Thanksgiving. But in reality, every day should be Thanksgiving. – Sharon Jaynes
What would happen in my own life if thanksgiving became the main thing for me? – John Juneman
Indeed, it is hard if not impossible to take God out of the picture when discussing the true meaning of Thanksgiving. – Stefan Saxin
You shouldn’t allow people who hurt you to occupy a fraction of your heart. Forgive and move on, especially in this season of thanksgiving. – Assegid Habtewold
Thanksgiving offers us an annual pause from the pace of life return to places we do not often visit and gather with people we do not often see. – Jay Milbrandt
So once in every year we throng upon a day apart, to praise the Lord with feast and song in thankfulness of heart. – Arthur Guiterman
I love Thanksgiving because it is a time of year when families come together. It is a time of year when the days are shorter, the nights are colder, but you feel warmed by the love of those around you. – Sarah Spencer
When someone gives you a gift that he’s already sacrificed and paid for, you don’t try to pay him back; you just receive the gift with thanksgiving and spontaneously lavish love on the giver. – Ron Larson
Giving thanks to you. My friends, neighbors, and family. Remembering that every day you fill my life with joy. – Allison Waggoner
One of the most meaningful days of the year is Thanksgiving Day; a day full of gratitude and turkey surrounded by the love of family and friends. – Catherine Pulsifer
….. everyone should have a heart of thanksgiving as soon as they open their eyes. If being able to take another breath and having the ability to open your eyes in the morning isn’t the biggest blessing, I don’t know what is. – Moe Alodah
A day to give thanks, and receive lots of love,
A day to spend with everyone you can think of. – E. Perez
The Pilgrims displayed another virtue, one they practiced every day and which stood at the heart of the First Thanksgiving. Cicero called it the greatest of the virtues and the parent of all the rest: gratitude. – Melanie Kirkpatrick
For whoever comes into your home, whoever you invite, whoever invites himself, whoever needs to be invited, whoever’s there: Thanksgiving ought to be the best holiday of the year. – Sam Sifton
Thanksgiving creates abundance; and the miracle of multiplying happens when I give thanks – take just one loaf, say it is enough, and give thanks – and He miraculously makes it more than enough. – Ann Voskamp
Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet…. There is not, and there never has been, a better time or a better place to live in. – Phillips Brooks
There is no racial or ethnic involvement in Thanksgiving, and people who may be very distant from the Christian system can see the beauty and the positive spirit that comes from the holiday. – John Clayton
The blessings of harvest time can be found at Thanksgiving. – Theodore W. Higginsworth
… we can be thankful even for trials because they serve a greater purpose. – Jennifer McAlister
We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count. – Neal A. Maxwell
In all things give thanks. – 1 Thessalonians 5:18
Of all of the food filled holidays, Thanksgiving reigns king in the United States. – Gia Scott
He (God) encourages us to let our requests be made known to Him in a spirit of thanksgiving. – John Stange
Forever on Thanksgiving Day the heart will find the pathway home. – Wilbur D. Nesbit
Thanksgiving – Show appreciation for all God has given you. – Max Lucado
God is glorified, not by our groans, but by our thanksgivings. – Edwin Percy Whipple
This most of all is the message of Thanksgiving: everything really will be all right. – Sam Sifton
I invite you to be grateful, at Thanksgiving or any other time – for you. – Noelle C. Nelson
Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. – W. J. Cameron
The more my heart is parked in a place of thanksgiving and rejoicing, the less room I have for grumpiness. – Lysa TerKeurst
For every complaint you might say or think, try to replace it with words and thoughts of thanksgiving. – Rhovonda L. Brown
Simple blessings are all around us. Once we receive them with thanksgiving and appreciation, we experience true joy. – Krystal Kuehn
Have an attitude of gratitude. – Be thankful for your health now. Don’t wait till Thanksgiving. – Joshua Tongol
Every year at Thanksgiving time North Americans make a great show of their gratitude, most often expressed as gratitude to God. – Devin D. Thorpe
The best of all blessings is to give thanks for at a family gathering is the family and the gathering. – Pedro Carvalho
Don’t let autumn and its season of gratitude get lost in the blur of Christmas fanfare. Let Thanksgiving have its day – and its attitude – in your heart. – Author Unknown
Thanksgiving Day is a perfect day to share the love and companionship of family and friends at the Thanksgiving table. – Cheryl Leonard
What I love about Thanksgiving is that it’s purely about getting together with friends or family and enjoying food. It’s really for everybody, and it doesn’t matter where you’re from. – Daniel Humm
Thanksgiving marks the beginning of the holiday season, and represents food, family and moments of sharing and professing gratitude. – Sarah Moore
Thanksgiving Day has a history attached to it. Like the Latin word virtue, – it is a history which runs through the entire life of a people. – William Adams
Thanksgiving Grace – The humble act of saying thanks is what this day is all about. – Leslie Barker Garcia
As the years have passed and one Thanksgiving after another has come and gone, I have begun to think about why Thanksgiving has been reserved to one day out of the year. I began to wonder why many people don’t take the time to count the blessings of each day. – Daniella Whyte
Nevertheless, the highest form of thanksgiving is when we express gratitude for things that are not pleasant; and for things that are difficult to identify as blessings. – Joseph A Iyongo
But most importantly Thanksgiving, is a day to remember. Be grateful for all you have all year, January straight through to December. – Julie Hebert
On faith – I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know Who holds tomorrow, so I approach it with confidence and thanksgiving. – Zig Ziglar
One of the ways we express our thanksgiving to God is by treating others with gratitude and kindness. – Dr. David Jeremiah
Oh Lord that lends me life, lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! – William Shakespeare
There is no better opportunity to receive more than to be thankful for what you already have. Thanksgiving opens the windows of opportunity for ideas to flow your way.– Jim Rohn
If you want a challenge, just try to get through an entire day without uttering one word of complaint. Develop an attitude of thanksgiving in every situation. – Joyce Meyer
God makes us rich in every way so we can be generous on every occasion, which will result in thanksgiving to God. In other words, God doesn’t bless us to provide for our own needs; he blesses us so we can be generous. – Rick Warren
It’s one thing to celebrate Thanksgiving Day every year. It’s another to live on Gratitude Street all the time. People who intentionally count their blessings, express their thanks, and cultivate the quality of finding thanksgiving items in every circumstance – those are the people who live on Gratitude Street. – Dr. David Jeremiah
Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off’rings, and a thankful strain. – Alexander Pope
Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him and bless His name. – Psalm 100:4
I could choose to believe that and give up trying.
I could stay at home and wait for others to take care of me.
Instead, I choose to believe that I can do anything,
and I always try to do things my own way.
I choose to be happy.
I am happy because I am always thankful. – Nick Vujicic
Even if you don’t live in the U.S. or Canada, we hear enough about the Thanksgiving holiday that the month of November has come to mean a time to contemplate what we are thankful for. – Maya Green
As a die-hard foodie, my ultimate holiday is of course Thanksgiving. I wait for this day for 364 days, and the moment it’s over I begin running ideas through the back of my head for the next one. – Jan Charles
At this time of year we are reminded of how much we have to be thankful for. My wish for you this Thanksgiving is that you find yourself surrounded by those you love. – Kate Summers
On this day I am thankful and grateful you are in my life, you are a special person who has made a positive difference in my life. – Ann Cathy
Practicing gratitude is a very powerful tool to shift your attention on the things you don’t have to the things you do have and this alone will make you feel better. – Noelia Aanulds
So often, we stop to give thanks only when something exceptionally good has happened, on holidays, or during other celebrations. Giving thanks seasonally is a wonderful thing to do, but what you really want is to be grateful every day. – Daniella Whyte
Thanksgiving (giving Him thanks for what He has done and how He has revealed Himself to you). – Tony Watson
A day for Thanksgiving was set aside as a holiday so that we, as a nation, could collectively give thanks to God for all of His blessings – to express our gratitude for His love and protection and provision. – Warren B. Smith
At Christmas, gift giving is another factor – all the excitement, the stuff, the things. At Thanksgiving, it’s not as cluttered. The focus is on people coming together, sharing food from many places, remembering to be thankful, remembering what it is we’re thankful for. – Sister Patricia Ridgley
Many families begin the Thanksgiving meal by allowing each person at the table to list the reasons they are thankful. Every guest, young and old, takes a moment to give thanks. – Lou Pappas
Remember that everything you have received is a blessing. Remember to delight in your life, in the fruits of your labor. Remember to stop and offer thanks for the wonder of it. – Wayne Muller
My favorite meal is turkey and mashed potatoes. I love Thanksgiving, it’s just my favorite. I can have Thanksgiving all year round. – Cindy Margolis
Thanksgiving Day is the day that your kitchen is going to turn into the most wonderful beautiful place in the world. – Polly Ann Lewis
A lot of Thanksgiving days have been ruined by not carving the turkey in the kitchen. – Kin Hubbard
I don’t like turkey. I mean, I do. But I don’t like it on Thanksgiving. I don’t need it. There are about 20 other dishes that get put on a table or a counter or that stay warming on the stove that I’d rather eat than turkey. – Wesley Morris
Thanksgiving – when the people who are the most thankful are the ones who didn’t have to cook. – Melanie White
A new survey found that 80 percent of men claim they help cook Thanksgiving dinner. Which makes sense, when you hear they consider saying that smells good to be helping. – Jimmy Fallon
It’s not the minutes spent at the table that put on weight, it’s the seconds. – Unknown
Thanksgiving, man! Not a good day to be my pants. – Kevin James
Coexistence: What the farmer does with the turkey – until Thanksgiving. – Mike Connolly
If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken. – Ina Garten
My mom makes something called green pie, which I thought was a delicacy that many people only had at Thanksgiving, but it turns out it was just Jello with whipped cream on it. And it’s delicious. – Bobby Moynihan
Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-times take 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence. – Erma Bombeck
The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don’t think so. – Nora Ephron
Good mashed potato is one of the great luxuries of life – Lindsey Bareham
Thanksgiving Quotes
Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves. –
Our rural ancestors, with little blest, Patient of labour when the end was rest, Indulged the day that housed their annual grain, With feasts, and off’rings, and a thankful strain. –
Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. – Erma Bombeck
He who thanks but with the lips Thanks but in part; The full, the true Thanksgiving Comes from the heart. –
Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. –
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. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow. –
Remember God’s bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude! –
On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence. –
The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. –
I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage. –
Appreciation can change a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. – Margaret Cousins
It has been an unchallengeable American doctrine that cranberry sauce, a pink goo with overtones of sugared tomatoes, is a delectable necessity of the Thanksgiving board and that turkey is uneatable without it. –
Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoric dimness, universal to all ages and all faiths. At whatever straws we must grasp, there is always a time for gratitude and new beginnings. –
There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. –
I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land. –
Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of your life. Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have. –
All across America, we gather this week with the people we love to give thanks to God for the blessings in our lives. – George W. Bush
Almighty God, who hast given us this good land for our heritage; We humbly beseech Thee that we may always prove ourselves a people mindful of Thy favor and glad to do Thy will. –
When asked if my cup is half-full or half-empty my only response is that I am thankful I have a cup. –
Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants. –
I like football. I find its an exciting strategic game. It’s a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving. –
Thanksgiving reminds us that no matter what befalls us in life, we can take the charred remnants and we can reconstruct a life unimaginably richer than that from which the shards and pieces fell. –
Although Thanksgiving comes but once a year, every day should be a day of Thanks. Among all the challenges that we face as people with hearing loss there are certainly brighter moments in every day – moments that deserve to be recorded in our Gratitude Journal. –
Real ballplayers pass the stuffing by rolling it up in a ball and batting it across the table with a turkey leg. –
You shouldn’t just give during Christmas and Thanksgiving you should be giving all the time. –
Thanksgiving, our eminent moral holiday, doesn’t have much for children. At its heart are conversation, food, drink, and fellowship – all perks of adulthood. –
But see, in our open clearings, how golden the melons lie; Enrich them with sweets and spices, and give us the pumpkin-pie! –
What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? –
Coexistence: what the farmer does with the turkey — until Thanksgiving. – Mike Connolly
Thanksgiving
In November, people are good to each other. They carry pies to each other’s homes and talk by crackling woodstoves, sipping mellow cider. They travel very far on a special November day just to share a meal with one another and to give thanks for their many blessings – for the food on their tables and the babies in their arms. – Cynthia Rylant
Thanksgiving – fall’s finale. Best damn holiday of the year in my worldly estimation. – Carew Papritz
I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast. – Charlie Brown in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Quotes
Quotes from Wikiquote
-
Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our conscience; now, I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the day time, on Thursday, November ye 29th of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty-three, and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor, and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings. – William Bradford.
- This kind of isolation is one of the unspoken tragedies of the elderly, who are now being told ‘don’t see your family at Thanksgiving’ . For many people, this is their final Thanksgiving believe it or not.”
- Dr w:Scott Atlas, member of the White house Coronavirus taskforce, in Trump adviser Scott Atlas criticizes plans to avoid seeing elderly for Thanksgiving [https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/526332-trump-adviser-scott-atlas-criticizes-plans-to-avoid-seeing-elderly-for published November 17, 2020
- In 1863, Abraham Lincoln declared two Thanksgivings. One was held in August. The second, held in November, was to give thanks for the nation’s blessings. This fall celebration caught on and has been a tradition ever since.
- Linda Bozzo in: Corny Thanksgiving Jokes to Tickle Your Funny Bone, Enslow Publishers, Inc., 1 January 2013, p. 18
- Thanksgiving is a time for families and friends to gather together and express gratitude for all that we have been given, the freedoms we enjoy, and the loved ones who enrich our lives. We recognize that all of these blessings, and life itself, come not from the hand of man but from Almighty God.
- George W. Bush, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (21 November 2008)
- Thanksgiving provides a formal context in which to consider the instances of kindness that have enlightened our lives, for moments of grace that have gotten us through when all seemed lost. These are fine and sentimental subjects for contemplation.
- Jon Carroll, San Francisco Chronicle [1] (24 November 2005)
- We have come far on our American journey since that early Thanksgiving. In the intervening years, we have lived through times of war and peace, years of poverty and plenty, and seasons of social and political upheaval that have shaped and forever changed our national character and experience. As we gather around our Thanksgiving tables again this year, it is a fitting time to reflect on how the events of our rich history have affected those we care about and those who came before us. As we acknowledge the past, we do so knowing that the individual blessings for which we give thanks may have changed, but our gratitude to God and our commitment to our fellow Americans remain constant.
- Bill Clinton, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (25 November 1999)
- You may have heard of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. There’s another day you might want to know about: Giving Tuesday. The idea is pretty straightforward. On the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, shoppers take a break from their gift-buying and donate what they can to charity.
- Bill Gates in: Shaun Green Inside the Mind of Bill Gates, Shaun Green, 22 September 2014, p. 35
- [Thanksgiving is] my favorite holiday, I think. It’s without a doubt my favorite American Holiday. I love Christmastime, Chanuka etc. But Thanksgiving is as close as we get to a nationalist holiday in America (a country where nationalism as a concept doesn’t really fit). Thanksgiving’s roots are pre-founding, which means its not a political holiday in any conventional sense. We are giving thanks for the soil, the land, for the gifts of providence which were bequeathed to us long before we figured out our political system. Moreover, because there are no gifts, the holiday isn’t nearly so vulnerable to materialism and commercialism. It’s about things — primarily family and private accomplishments and blessings — that don’t overlap very much with politics of any kind. We are thankful for the truly important things: our children and their health, for our friends, for the things which make life rich and joyful. As for all the stuff about killing Indians and whatnot, I can certainly understand why Indians might have some ambivalence about the holiday (though I suspect many do not). The sad — and fortunate — truth is that the European conquest of North America was an unremarkable old world event (one tribe defeating another tribe and taking their land; happened all the time) which ushered in a gloriously hopeful new age for humanity. America remains the last best hope for mankind. Still, I think it would be silly to deny how America came to be, but the truth makes me no less grateful that America did come to be. Also, I really, really like the food.
- Jonah Goldberg, The Corner on National Review (24 November 2004)
- Lord, for the erring thought
Not into evil wrought:
Lord, for the wicked will
Betrayed and baffled still:
For the heart from itself kept,
Our thanksgiving accept.- William Dean Howells, A Thanksgiving
- Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens.
- Abraham Lincoln in: Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (3 October 1863)
- Thanksgiving is not an anachronism whose time is past. It is much more than a holiday to celebrate a meal shared between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. It is a time to reflect and be thankful for what we have–not for what we cherish, desire or envy.
- Ted Nugent, America Rocks (28 November 2002)
- During the “first Thanksgiving” at Plymouth, Wampanoag Indians – including a Patuxet Indian named Squanto – helped teach Pilgrims how to farm, fish, and hunt and shared the bounty of that first feast. A tradition that continues today and Jesus and 9/11.
- Patton Oswalt in: Zombie Spaceship Wasteland: A Book by Patton Oswalt, Simon and Schuster, 4 January 2011, p. 116
- Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labor when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off’rings, and a thankful strain.- Alexander Pope in: Vicesimus Knox Elegant Extracts: Or, Useful and Entertaining Passages, from the Best English Authors and Translations, Volume 5, Benjamin B. Mussey, 1842, p. 160
- Thanksgiving has become a day when Americans extend a helping hand to the less fortunate. Long before there was a government welfare program, this spirit of voluntary giving was ingrained in the American character. Americans have always understand that, truly, one must give in order to receive. This should be a day of giving as well as a day of thanks…Let us recommit ourselves to that devotion to God and family that has played such an important role in making this a great Nation, and which will be needed as a source of strength if we are to remain a great people.
- Ronald Reagan, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation’ (12 November 1981)
- Marcie: Don’t feel bad, Chuck. Peppermint Patty didn’t mean all those things she said. Actually, she really likes you.
Charlie Brown: I don’t feel bad for myself, I just feel bad because I’ve ruined everyone’s Thanksgiving.
Marcie: But Thanksgiving is more than eating, Chuck. You heard what Linus was saying out there. Those early Pilgrims were thankful for what had happened to them, and we should be thankful, too. We should just be thankful for being together. I think that’s what they mean by ‘Thanksgiving,’ Charlie Brown.- Charles Schultz, in A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, originally aired in 1973
- The Christian who walks with the Lord and keeps constant communion with Him will see many reason for rejoicing and thanksgiving all day long.
- Finis Steelman in: Sermon Messages from God’s Man, Finis Steelman, iUniverse, 30 November 2006, p. 176
- Shall we not have reason to conclude, that other planets besides our own are inhabited by living creatures? All the planets resemble our earth; like it enjoy the light and genial warmth of the sun, have the alternation of night and day, and the succession of summer and winter: but what end would all these phenomena answer unless the planets were inhabited? Considering them as so many peopled worlds, what a sublime idea we conceive of the grandeur of God, and the extent of his empire! How impossible to fathom his bounty, or penetrate the limits of his power! His glory, reflected from so many worlds, tills us with amaze, and calls forth every sentiment of awe, veneration and gratitude. Supposing that his praise is celebrated in all the worlds which roll above and round us, let us not be surpassed in our adoration, but in holy emulation mingle our hymns with those of the inhabitants of these numerous worlds, and celebrate the Lord God of the universe with eternal thanksgiving!|
- Christoph Christian Sturm in March XXX, of Reflections on the works of God, as translated by Robert Balfour (1810), p. 167
- I am grateful for what I am & have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite — only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next 1000 years, & exhaust it. How sweet to think of! My extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it — for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.
- Henry David Thoreau, in a letter to Harrison Gray Otis Blake (6&7 December 1856), as published in The Correspondence of Henry David Thoreau (1958), p. 444; also published in Letters to Various Persons (1865), p. 145, but with a line within this appearing in what has become its most quoted form as “I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it.”
- I encourage all Americans to gather, in homes and places of worship, to offer a prayer of thanks to God for our many blessings.
- President Donald Trump in PRESIDENT ENCOURAGES THANKSGIVING GATHERINGS… SCOTUS Paves The Way published on American thanksgiving day, 2020
- Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for — annually, not oftener — if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians. Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in the course of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man’s side, consequently on the Lord’s side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual annual compliments.”
- Mark Twain, in Mark Twain’s Autobiography, Kartindo.com, p. 258
- In the original language, “he gave thanks” reads “eucharisteo.” . . . The root word for eucharisteo is ‘charis’, meaning “grace.” Jesus took bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks.”
- Ann Voskamp in: Jessica Wrobleski The Limits of Hospitality, Liturgical Press, 1 January 2012, p. 94
- WHEREAS it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favour; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me “to recommend to the people of the United States a DAY OF PUBLICK THANKSGIVING and PRAYER, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
- George Washington, The First Presidential Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (3 October 1789)
Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922)[edit]
Quotes reported in Hoyt’s New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 785-786.
- Thanksgiving-day, I fear,
If one the solemn truth must touch,
Is celebrated, not so much
To thank the Lord for blessings o’er,
As for the sake of getting more!- Will Carleton, Captain Young’s Thanksgiving
- And taught by thee the Church prolongs
Her hymns of high thanksgiving still.- John Keble, The Christian Year; St. Luke the Evangelist, St. 18
- Great as the preparations were for the dinner, everything was so contrived that not a soul in the house should be kept from the morning service of Thanksgiving in the church.
- Harriet Beecher Stowe, Oldtown Folks, p. 345
- Ah! on Thanksgiving day, when from East and from West,
From North and South, come the pilgrim and guest,
When the gray-haired New Englander sees round his board
The old broken links of affection restored,
When the care-wearied man seeks his mother once more,
And the worn matron smiles where the girl smiled before.
What moistens the lips and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich pumpkin pie?- John Greenleaf Whittier, The Pumpkin
- And let these altars, wreathed with flowers
And piled with fruits, awake again
Thanksgivings for the golden hours,
The early and the latter rain!- John Greenleaf Whittier, For an Autumn Festival