Thankful and Blessed Quotes: Sourced Lines on Gratitude

Thankful and blessed quotes are short lines on gratitude, drawn from scripture, speeches, plays and diaries. The sourced ones below are in the public domain or tied to a named text. A few of the most shared gratitude quotes have no verified source and are listed at the end.

Quotes about being thankful

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others.”

— Cicero, Pro Plancio (54 BC)

Cicero was defending Gnaeus Plancius in court. The line is a translation, so wording varies between editions.

“Blow, blow, thou winter wind, thou art not so unkind as man’s ingratitude.”

— Amiens, As You Like It by William Shakespeare, Act 2, Scene 7

It is a song, not a speech, and it is about ingratitude, which makes it an unusual line for a thank-you card but a good one for an essay.

Blessed quotes from scripture and proclamations

“Blessed” is mostly used in a religious sense, so the best sources are biblical and historical. The King James text is in the public domain.

“O give thanks unto the LORD, for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever.”

— Psalm 107:1 (King James Version)

“Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.”

— Psalm 100:4 (King James Version)

“We have been the recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven.”

— Abraham Lincoln, Thanksgiving Proclamation, October 3, 1863

Lincoln wrote this in the middle of the Civil War. The proclamation set the last Thursday of November as a national day of thanksgiving and is the origin of the modern holiday date.

Quotes about noticing what you have

“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.”

— Anne Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl, entry of March 7, 1944

She wrote it while in hiding. It is often quoted without that context, which changes how it reads.

“Count your blessings” comes from an 1897 hymn, “Count Your Blessings,” by Johnson Oatman Jr. The phrase was already common, but the hymn made it a standard.

Gratitude quotes with no verified source

“If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘thank you,’ that would suffice” is credited to Meister Eckhart. It does not appear in his surviving sermons in that form.

“Gratitude turns what we have into enough” is credited to several writers and has no confirmed origin.

Use “attributed to” or leave the name off.

Using these quotes

For a Thanksgiving card or a caption, the Psalms and the Lincoln line carry the “blessed” tone. For a classroom or essay, Cicero and Anne Frank give more to discuss. Related pages on this site: thank you teacher quotes and kindness quotes for students.

FAQ

What is the difference between thankful and blessed?

Thankful describes gratitude felt toward someone. Blessed describes having received good fortune, usually with a religious sense behind it.

Who said gratitude is the parent of all virtues?

Cicero, in his speech Pro Plancio.

Is the Meister Eckhart “thank you” quote real?

It is attributed to him widely, but the wording cannot be found in his sermons.

Which Thanksgiving proclamation do these come from?

Lincoln’s, issued October 3, 1863, which set the national holiday in November.