Let’s choose today to quench our thirst for the “good life” we thinks others lead by acknowledging the good that already exists in our lives. We can then offer the universe the gift of our grateful hearts.
—Sarah Ban Breathnach (b.1947) American Self-help Author
Whoever is not in his coffin and the dark grave, let him know he has enough.
—Walt Whitman (1819–92) American Poet, Essayist, Journalist
What a miserable thing life is: you’re living in clover, only the clover isn’t good enough.
—Bertolt Brecht (1898–1956) German Poet, Playwright, Theater Personality
The only people with whom you should try to get even are those who have helped you.
—Mae Maloo
He who is greedy is always in want.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Gratitude to God makes even a temporal blessing a taste of heaven.
—William Romaine (1714–95) English, Calvinist Preacher
Pride slays thanksgiving, but an 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.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
There must be more to life than having everything.
—Maurice Sendak (1928–2012) American Illustrator, Writer of Children’s Books
Few love what they may have.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
When I first open my eyes upon the morning meadows and look out upon the beautiful world, I thank God I am alive.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Anyone is to be pitied who has just sense enough to perceive his deficiencies.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Too great a hurry to discharge an obligation is a kind of ingratitude.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Maybe the only thing worse than having to give gratitude constantly is having to accept it.
—William Faulkner (1897–1962) American Novelist
True contentment is a thing as active as agriculture. It is the power of getting out of any situation all that there is in it. It is arduous and it is rare.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
The public have neither shame or gratitude.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we do have—and not worrying about what we don’t have.
—Ken Keyes Jr. (1921–95) American Personal Growth Author
Let him who has enough wish for nothing more.
—Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) (65–8 BCE) Roman Poet
Thou who has given so much to me, give one thing more: a grateful heart.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
There is satiety in all things, in sleep, and love-making, in the loveliness of singing and the innocent dance.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
Gratitude is the heart’s memory.
—French Proverb
How many things there are which I do not want.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
The superiority of the distant over the present is only due to the mass and variety of the pleasures that can be suggested, compared with the poverty of those that can at any time be felt.
—George Santayana (1863–1952) Spanish-American Poet, Philosopher
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 (1875–1965) French Theologian, Philosopher, Musician, Physician
For if there is a sin against life, it consists perhaps not so much in despairing of life as in hoping for another life and in eluding the implacable grandeur of this life.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Novelist
Whatever I am offered in devotion with a pure heart—a leaf, a flower, fruit, or water—I accept with joy.
—The Bhagavad Gita Hindu Scripture
Double, no triple, our troubles and we’d still be better off than any other people on earth. It is time that we recognized that ours was, in truth, a noble cause.
—Ronald Reagan (1911–2004) American Head of State
Slight not what’s near through aiming at what’s far.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Were a man to order his life by the rules of true reason, a frugal substance joined to a contented mind is for him great riches.
—Lucretius (c.99–55 BCE) Roman Epicurean Poet, Philosopher
Gratitude is a twofold love—love coming to visit us, and love running out to greet a welcome guest.
—Henry van Dyke Jr. (1852–1933) American Author, Educator, Clergyman
It is not customary to love what one has.
—Anatole France (1844–1924) French Novelist
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