History and 100 Thanksgiving Quotes

100 Thanksgiving Quotes


Happy Thanksgiving Day. Celeberate Thanksgiving with this amazing collection of quotes that will inspire and motivate your tables with gratitude.


1.) The more we express ourgratitude to God for our blessings, the more he will bring to our mind otherblessings. The more we are aware of to be grateful for, the happier webecome. Ezra Taft Benson

2.) Gratitude is not only thegreatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. -- Cicero

3.) Would you know who is thegreatest saint in the world: It is not he who prays most or fasts most, it isnot he who gives most alms or is most eminent for temperance, chastity orjustice; but it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills everything thatGod wills, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness and has aheart always ready to praise God for it.-William Law

4.) I have learnt silence fromthe talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind;yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. --Kahlil Gibran

5.) The Pilgrims made seven timesmore graves than huts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who,nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. --H.U. Westermayer

6.) Thank God every day when youget up that you have something to do that day which must be done whether youlike it or not. Being forced to work and forced to do your best will breed inyou temperance and self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulnessand content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know. -- BasilCarpenter:

7.) Gratitude unlocks thefullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denialinto acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal intoa feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes senseof our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.--Melody Beattie

8.) Feeling gratitude and notexpressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it --William ArthurWard

9.) How wonderful it would be ifwe could help our children and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an earlyage. Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child's personality. A child isresentful, negative—or thankful. Thankful children want to give, they radiatehappiness, they draw people. -- Sir John Templeton

10.) Courtesies of a small andtrivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful andappreciating heart. --Henry Clay

11.) You say grace before meals.All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace beforethe play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace beforesketching, painting, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing andgrace before I dip the pen in the ink. --G.K. Chesterton

12.) God gave you a gift of 86,400seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" --William A.Ward

13.) O Lord that lends me life,Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness! -- William Shakespeare

14.) Not what we say about our blessings, but how weuse them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser

15.) Got no check books, got no banks. StillI'd like to express my thanks - I got the sun in the morning and the moon atnight. ~Irving Berlin

16.) The Pilgrims made seven times more graves thanhuts. No Americans have been more impoverished than these who,nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving. ~H.U. Westermayer

17.) 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, The First Thanksgiving

18.) As we express our gratitude, we must neverforget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live bythem. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

19.) 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

20.) Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year;to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude willallow. ~Edward Sandford Martin

21.) He who thanks but with the lips

Thanks but in part;

The full, the true Thanksgiving

Comes from the heart.

~J.A. Shedd

22.) Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours toprepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times taketwelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck

23.) The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies;but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds theiron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings! ~HenryWard Beecher

24.) An optimist is a person who starts a new diet onThanksgiving Day. ~Irv Kupcinet

25.) What we're really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourthThursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they callit Thanksgiving? ~Erma Bombeck, "No One Diets on Thanksgiving,"26 November 1981

26.) It has been an unchallengeable American doctrine that cranberry sauce, a pinkgoo with overtones of sugared tomatoes, is a delectable necessity of theThanksgiving board and that turkey is uneatable without it. ~AlistairCooke

27.) There is one day that is ours. There isone day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home toeat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pumplooks than it used to. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purelyAmerican. ~O. Henry

28.) We can only be said to be alive in those momentswhen our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~Thornton Wilder

29.) Heap high the board with plenteous cheer and gather to the feast,

30.) And toast the sturdy Pilgrim band whose courage never ceased.

~Alice W. Brotherton

31.) It is literally true, as the thankless say, thatthey have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thanklessfor the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save inappreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. Buta thankful heart hath a continual feast. ~W.J. Cameron

32.) Thanksgiving is America's national chow-downfeast, the one occasion each year when gluttony becomes a patriotic duty. ~Michael Dresser

33.) To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, toenact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touchHeaven. ~Johannes A. Gaertner

34.) But see, in our open clearings, how golden themelons lie;

Enrich them with sweets and spices, and give us the pumpkin-pie!

~Margaret Junkin Preston

34.) I have strong doubts that the first Thanksgivingeven remotely resembled the "history" I was told in secondgrade. But considering that (when it comes to holidays) mainstreamAmerica's traditions tend to be over-eating, shopping, or getting drunk, Isuppose it's a miracle that the concept of giving thanks even surfaces atall. ~Ellen Orleans

35.) Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand uponyour feet. Believe in man. Soberly and with clear eyes, believe inyour own time and place. There is not, and there never has been a bettertime, or a better place to live in. ~Phillips Brooks

36.) Happy We-Stole-Your-Land-and-Killed-Your-PeopleDay! ~Thanksgiving toast, from the movie Sweet November

37.) None is more impoverished than the one who hasno gratitude. Gratitude is a currency that we can mint for ourselves, andspend without fear of bankruptcy. ~Fred De Witt Van Amburgh

38.) The funny thing about Thanksgiving, or any hugemeal, is that you spend 12 hours shopping for it and then chopping and cookingand braising and blanching. Then it takes 20 minutes to eat it andeverybody sort of sits around in a food coma, and then it takes four hours toclean it up. ~Ted Allen

39.) For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves,we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did notspread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts ofthe banquet.... Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to ourHost, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long? ~RebeccaHarding Davis

40.) God gave you a gift of 86,400 secondstoday. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~William A.Ward

41.) Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. Itturns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial intoacceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal intoa feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makessense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision fortomorrow. ~Melody Beattie

42.) For hearts that are kindly, with virtue andpeace, and not seeking blindly a hoard to increase; for those who are grievingo'er life's sordid plan; for souls still believing in heaven and man; for homesthat are lowly with love at the board; for things that are holy, I thank thee,O Lord! ~Walt Mason

43.) Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once ayear. And then discover once a year is way too often. ~JohnnyCarson

44.) Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated inNew England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that theyreally had something to be thankful for - annually, not oftener - if they hadsucceeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previoustwelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, theIndians. Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in thecourse of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that theexterminating 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 itand extend the usual annual compliments. ~Mark Twain

45.) Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad andreverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for Hisgoodness. ~Robert Casper Lintner

46.) You say, 'If I had a littlemore, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not contentwith what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. --CharlesHaddon Spurgeon

47.) Gratitude ... goes beyond the"mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life isa pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneousresponse to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitudecan also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the expliciteffort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love,a gift to be celebrated with joy. --Henri J. M. Nouwen

48.) Not what we say about ourblessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. --W.T.Purkiser

49.) As we express our gratitude,we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, butto live by them. --John Fitzgerald Kennedy

50.) We can only be said to bealive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.--Thornton Wilder

51.) If I have enjoyed the hospitality of the Host ofthis universe, Who daily spreads a table in my sight, surely I cannot do lessthan acknowledge my dependence. ~G.A. Johnston Ross

52.) O Lord that lends me life,

Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness.

~William Shakespeare

53.) And though I ebb in worth, I'll flow in thanks. ~John Taylor

54.) Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is likewrapping a present and not giving it. ~William Arthur Ward

55.) Gluttony and surfeiting are no proper occasionsfor thanksgiving. ~Charles Lamb, 1821

56.) Small cheer and great welcome makes a merryfeast. ~William Shakespeare

57.) Turkey: A large bird whose flesh, when eaten on certain religious anniversarieshas the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude. ~AmbroseBierce, The Devil's Dictionary

58.) Thanksgiving-day, I fear,

If one the solemn truth must touch,

Is celebrated, not so much

To thank the Lord for blessing o'er,

As for the sake of getting more!

~Will Carleton

59.) It is delightfully easy to thank God for thegrace we ourselves have received, but it requires great grace to thank Godalways for the grace given to others. ~James Smith

60.) Thanksgiving is so called because we are all sothankful that it only comes once a year. ~P. J. O'Rourke

61.) We can always find something to be thankful for,and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even thosedispensations which appear dark and frowning. ~Albert Barnes

62.) he unthankful heart...discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, asthe magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenlyblessings! --Henry Ward Beecher

63.) To know the value ofgenerosity, it is necessary to have suffered from the cold indifference ofothers. --Eugene Cloutier

64.) When our perils are past,shall our gratitude sleep? --George Canning

65.) If you count all your assets,you always show a profit. --Robert Quillen

66.) Thanksgiving to God is anexuberant response to giving me HIS everything . . . by giving Him MYeverything. –Martha Kilpatrick

67.) From too much love of living, Fromhope and fear set free, We thank with brief thanksgiving Whatever gods may beThat no life lives for ever; That dead men rise up never; That even theweariest river Winds somewhere safe to sea. Algernon Charles Swinburne

68.) If you count all your assets, you always show a profit. ~Robert Quillen

69.) Grace isn't a little prayeryou chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live. --Jackie Windspear

70.) I love Thanksgiving turkey. It's the onlytime in Los Angeles that you see natural breasts. ~Arnold Schwarzenegger

71.) Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. ~Aesop

72.) If the only prayer you said in your whole lifewas, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart

73.) Thanksgiving Day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be carefulthat you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude. ~E.P. Powell

74.) Remember God's bounty in the year. Stringthe pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they arebreaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, togratitude! ~Henry Ward Beecher

75.) For each new morning with its light,

For rest and shelter of the night,

For health and food, for love and friends,

For everything Thy goodness sends.

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

76.) For flowers that bloom about our feet;

For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;

For song of bird, and hum of bee;

For all things fair we hear or see,

Father in heaven, we thank Thee!

~Ralph Waldo Emerson

77.) Thou hast given so much to me,

Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;

Not thankful when it pleaseth me,

As if Thy blessings had spare days,

But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.

~George Herbert

78.) Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in asingle day. ~Robert Caspar Lintner

79.) Thanksgiving comes to us out of the prehistoricdimness, universal to all ages and all faiths. At whatever straws we mustgrasp, there is always a time for gratitude and new beginnings. ~J.Robert Moskin

80.) Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simplelife... 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 thedeep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker(David Grayson)

81.) Dear Lord; we beg but one boon more:

Peace in the hearts of all men living,

peace in the whole world this Thanksgiving.

~Joseph Auslander

82.) Let us remember that, as much has been given us,much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart aswell as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. ~Theodore Roosevelt

83.) Lord, 'tis Thy plenty-dropping hand

That soils my land,

And giv'st me for my bushel sowne

Twice ten for one.

All this, and better, Thou dost send

Me, to this end,

That I should render, for my part,

A thankful heart.

~Robert Herrick

84.) Give thanks for unknown blessings already ontheir way. ~Native American Saying

85.) Grace isn't a little prayer you chant beforereceiving a meal. It's a way to live. ~Attributed to JacquelineWinspear

86.) Coexistence: what the farmer does with theturkey - until Thanksgiving. ~Mike Connolly

87.) Thanksgiving is possible only for those who taketime to remember; no one can give thanks who has a short memory.

88.) Perhaps it takes a purer faith to praise God forunrealized blessings than for those we once enjoyed or those we enjoynow. ~A.W. Tozer

89.) Thanksgiving, after all, is a word ofaction. ~W.J. Cameron

90.) On Thanksgiving Day, all over America, familiessit down to dinner at the same moment - halftime.

91.) On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge ourdependence. ~William Jennings Bryan

92.) A thankful heart is not only the greatestvirtue, but the parent of all the other virtues. ~Cicero

93.) God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and theother in a meek and thankful heart. ~Izaak Walton

94.) Nothing is more honorable than a grateful heart. ~Seneca

95.) All that we behold is full of blessings. ~William Wordsworth

96.) For what I give, not what I take,

For battle, not for victory,

My prayer of thanks I make.

~Odell Shepard

97.) Not what we say about ourblessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. --W.T.Purkiser

98.) I have learnt silence fromthe talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind;yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. --Kahlil Gibran

99.) Some complain that roses havethorns—others rejoice that thorns have roses.

100.) When our perils are past,shall our gratitude sleep? --George Canning