What is something simple yet life-transforming?
What can give you the most joyful perspective?
What can help you form beautiful, lasting relationships?
What can most effectively inspire happiness?
And, what can (along with empathy) drastically change our society?
You guessed it - Gratitude.
There’s a reason that in therapy, psychologists often recommend keeping a gratitude journal.
The feeling and expression of gratitude is something that decorates your life without changing anything.
Regrettably, it’s one of those things that are so underestimated that they’re forgotten or worse, considered unreliable. Let's change that!
Gratitude has several positive health benefits:
- Feel more positive emotions
- Build healthier relationships
- Feel happier
- Increase in self-esteem
- Increase optimism
- Reduces materialism
- Reduces depressive symptoms
- Improves sleep
- Helps in substance abuse recovery
Read more: 9 Simple Gratitude Exercises That Will Help Anyone Become More Grateful
What is Thankful Thursday?
Thankful Thursday is originally connected with the American festival of Thanksgiving which occurs on the fourth Thursday of November.
However, it is not limited to only that Thursday. We can celebrate gratitude on each Thursday of the year, which amounts to 52 Thankful Thursdays!
A few things that you can try out on Thankful Thursday are:
- Start a gratitude journal
- Write a letter of gratitude to someone
- Take a course on gratitude
- Start a gratitude jar
- Listen to gratitude affirmations
- Do a guided gratitude meditation
- Join and interact in online gratitude groups
Alright then, let's now move to Thankful Thursday quotes and inspire ourselves to be thankful each and every day of the year:
Thankful Thursday Quotes
"To get happier, try gratitude, giving back, savoring, encouraging your optimism, and celebrating progress."
– Jonathan Harnum
“Be thankful for everything that happens in your life; it’s all an experience.”
– Roy T. Bennett
“Sometimes the little things in life mean the most.”
– Ellen Hopkins
“Gratitude means to recognize the good in your life, be thankful for whatever you have, some people may not even have one of those things you consider precious to you (love, family, friends, etc). Each day give thanks for the gift of life. You are blessed”
– Pablo
“The two words that will change your life are "thank you". Like a candle that can light a thousand more without shortening its own life, appreciation is a gift that, when given, can set the whole world aglow.”
– Stacey Lee
“Display, a life full of gratitude, and remember to give thanks each day.”
– Danielle Duckery
“Spending time in nature feeling connected with the world often elicits gratitude.”
– Diana Butler Bass
“Living in a state of gratitude is the gateway to grace.”
- Arianna Huffington
“The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become.”
- Robert Holden
“When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
- Maya Angelou
“Don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.”
- Leroy Satchel Paige
“Gratitude opens the door to the power, the wisdom, the creativity of the universe. You open the door through gratitude.”
– Deepak Chopra
“What separates privilege from entitlement is gratitude.”
– Brené Brown
“Sometimes we spend so much time and energy thinking about where we want to go that we don't notice where we happen to be.”
– Dan Gutman
“Gratitude is an appreciation for every moment in your life. It is a feeling of abundance.”
– Brenda Nathan
“I turned my attention to gratitude and discovered that the more I cultivated a sense of appreciation for all that I had, the happier and less fearful I was.”
– M. J. Ryan
“‘Count your blessings’ is such a common expression that it has become a catchphrase. Yet it contains powerful truth and meaning: Be grateful for what you have – and for what you don't have.”
– Robert W. Bly
“We should not measure success by bank accounts filled with money, but rather by moments filled with joy and gratitude. Pursuing your passion vigorously and relentlessly will bring you those moments.”
– Dennis Houchin
“The practice of gratitude empowers, heals, inspires, and fosters heartfelt well–being.”
– Angeles Arrien
“It takes a lot of courage to have an attitude of gratitude during the dark times. But once you have it, it empowers you.”
– Joshua Tongol
“Thankfulness is the beginning of gratitude. Gratitude is the completion of thankfulness. Thankfulness may consist merely of words. Gratitude is shown in acts.”
– Henri Frederic Amiel
“Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
– John F. Kennedy
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
– Voltaire
“We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.”
– Neal A. Maxwell
“The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”
– Henry Ward Beecher
“Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.”
– W.T. Purkiser
“The miracle is not to walk on water. The miracle is to walk on the green earth, dwelling deeply in the present moment and feeling truly alive.”
– Thich Nhat Hanh
“Breath is the finest gift of nature. Be grateful for this wonderful gift.”
– Amit Ray
“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
“In every class of society, gratitude is the rarest of all human virtues.”
– Wilkie Collins
“Life is a web of intersections and choices. Your 1st choice is to recognize an intersection. Your 2nd choice is to be grateful for it.”
– Ryan Lilly
“When you focus on gratitude, positive things flow in more readily, making you even more grateful.”
– Lissa Rankin
“Though they only take a second to say, thank you leaves a warm feeling behind that can last for hours.”
– Kent Allan Rees
“The mind is like a flower. It does not bloom without the lights of appreciation, encouragement, and love.”
– Debasish Mridha
“When you have something use it with appreciation before you lose it and always remember those who don’t have it.”
– Mary Uwamahoro
“Feeling grateful or appreciative of someone or something in your life attracts more of the things that you appreciate and value into your life.”
– Christiane Northrup
“What you acknowledge truly is yours. Invite your heart to be grateful and your ‘thank yous’ will be heard even when you don’t use words.”
– Pavithra Mehta
“The trick is to be grateful when your mood is high and graceful when it is low.”
– Richard Carlson
“Nothing new can come into your life unless you are grateful for what you already have.”
– Michael Bernhard
“Gratitude is a powerful process for shifting your energy and bringing more of what you want into your life.”
– Rhonda Byrne
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love—then make that day count!”
– Steve Maraboli
“Being grateful does not mean that everything is necessarily good. It just means that you can accept it as a gift.”
– Roy T. Bennett
“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.”
– G.K. Chesterton
“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
“No one who achieves success does so without the help of others. The wise and confident acknowledge this help with gratitude.”
– Alfred North Whitehead
“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
“Gratitude also opens your eyes to the limitless potential of the universe, while dissatisfaction closes your eyes to it.”
– Stephen Richards
“If the only prayer you ever say in your life is ‘thank you,’ that would suffice.”
– Meister Eckhart
“When eating fruit, remember the one who planted the tree.”
– Vietnamese Proverb
“Gratitude is the ability to experience life as a gift. It liberates us from the prison of self–preoccupation.”
– John Ortberg
“Whatever we are waiting for—peace of mind, contentment, grace, the inner awareness of simple abundance—it will surely come to us, but only when we are ready to receive it with an open and grateful heart.”
– Sarah Ban Breathnach
“Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.”
– Brian Tracy
“I cried because I had no shoes, then I met a man who had no feet.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
“When some things go wrong, take a moment to be thankful for the many things that are going right.”
– Annie Gottlier
“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
“Focus on the good you have, not the lack of it, because whatever gets your attention will increase the energy of gratitude. That's how joy rises.”
– Unknown
“You are not alone. Within You is the infinite creative power and presence, guiding you, loving you, and waiting to give you anything and everything you choose.”
– The Secret
“Great things happen to those who don't stop believing, trying, learning, and being grateful.”
– Roy T. Bennett
“Live Simply. Dream big. Be grateful. Give love. Laugh lots.”
– Unknown
“It's not what you say to everyone else that determines your life; it's what you whisper to yourself that has the greatest power.”
– Unknown
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”
– Carl Bard
“To make a difference in someone's life, you don't have to be brilliant, rich, beautiful, or perfect. You just have to care.”
– Mandy Hale
“People can be so quiet about their pain, that you forget they are hurting. That is why it is so important to always be kind.”
– Unknown
“Decide what kind of life you actually want, then say no to everything that isn't that.”
– Unknown
“Every sunset is an opportunity to reset. Every sunrise begins with new eyes.”
– Richie Norton
“It is not how much we have, but how much we enjoy, that makes happiness.”
– Charles Spurgeon
“We tend to forget that happiness doesn’t come as a result of getting something we don’t have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.”
– Friedrich Koenig
Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more.”
– Melody Beattie
“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 true secret of happiness lies in taking a genuine interest in all the details of daily life.”
– William Morris
“Be grateful for small things, big things, and everything in between. Count your blessings, not your problems.”
– Unknown
“Spread love everywhere you go. Let no one ever come to you without leaving happier.”
– Mother Teresa
“Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”
– William Arthur Ward
“The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time.”
– Douglas Wood
“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
“Those with a grateful mindset tend to see the message in the mess. And even though life may knock them down, the grateful find reasons, if even small ones, to get up.”
– Steve Maraboli
“Every morning is a fresh start. Wake up with a thankful heart.”
– Kristen Butler
“In your darkest hour, give thanks, for, in due time, the morning will come. And it will come with a ray of sunshine.”
– Michael Bassey Johnson
“Be thankful for the infinitesimal thing that you have. Learn to value the blessings.”
– Giridhar Alwar
“The truly grateful are also grateful for being grateful.”
– Mokokoma Mokhonoana
“Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
– Melody Beattie
“Be grateful for whoever comes, because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.”
– Rumi
“Gratitude helps you to grow and expand; gratitude brings joy and laughter into your life and the lives of all those around you.”
– Eileen Caddy
“Gratitude is the sweetest thing in a seeker's life – in all human life. If there is gratitude in your heart, then there will be tremendous sweetness in your eyes.”
– Sri Chinmoy
“Unexpected kindness is the most powerful, least costly, and most underrated agent of human change.”
– Bob Kerrey
“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
“The best and most beautiful things in this world cannot be seen or even heard but must be felt with the heart.”
– Helen Keller
“The secret of being happy is accepting where you are in life and making the most out of every day.”
– Unknown
“There is no path to happiness. Happiness is the path.”
– Buddha
“Two kinds of gratitude: The sudden kind we feel for what we take; the larger kind we feel for what we give.”
– Edwin Arlington Robinson
“Gratitude is the appreciation of things that are not deserved, earned, or demanded – those wonderful things that we take for granted.”
– Renée Paule
“Gratitude is an antidote to negative emotions, a neutralizer of envy, hostility, worry, and irritation. It is savoring; it is not taking things for granted; it is present-oriented.”
– Sonja Lyubomirsky
“Gratitude turns what we have into enough.”
– Anonymous
“Gratitude is a powerful catalyst for happiness. It’s the spark that lights a fire of joy in your soul.”
– Amy Collette
“The greatest source of happiness is the ability to be grateful at all times.”
– Zig Ziglar
“You cannot do a kindness too soon because you never know how soon it will be too late.”
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
“We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.”
– Cynthia Ozick
“The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.”
– William Blake
“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.”
– Thornton Wilder
“There’s no happier person than a truly thankful, content person.”
– Joyce Meyer
“There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.”
– Unknown
😇 Continue Reading: 21-Day Gratitude Challenge to Build the Habit of Being Grateful
Aarushi Tewari
The writer and affirmations speaker at Gratitude, Aarushi believes that one of the most effective ways of feeling inner peace is by being grateful and having a loving self-relationship.
