40 Thankful Quotes to Inspire Appreciation & Contentment

UPDATED: March 19, 2025
PUBLISHED: April 5, 2025
Young women showing thanks for thankful quotes

No matter what challenges we face, life always gives us reasons to be grateful. One of the most important parts of creating a joyful and productive life is deeply feeling and expressing our genuine appreciation. When we practice this, it can be a powerful, healing and empowering experience. 

With that in mind, when was the last time you stopped to count your blessings, and to appreciate all the good things you have in your life?  It doesn’t matter who you are or your current life circumstances. Practicing gratitude and feeling appreciative will help you create a positive mindset and be more joyful, which can help you create more happiness and success in your personal relationships and career. 

Use (and share) this collection of “be thankful” quotes on your journey to cultivate more appreciation. It can help you to create a stronger sense of gratitude and appreciation for every circumstance and opportunity life has given you. 

Powerful Quotes to Help You Be Thankful 

Feeling thankful and appreciative can have a transformational effect on the happiness in your life. Yet, life can be difficult, which means it isn’t always easy to cultivate these feelings—even when we know they will help. Sometimes, simply reading the right words can make a difference, which is why we’ve gathered the following inspirational thankful quotes.

“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” –G.K. Chesterton
  • “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought; and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” —G.K. Chesterton 
  • “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” —Eckhart Tolle 
  • “Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It’s the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to effect change in your life–this I know for sure.” —Oprah Winfrey 
  • “When one has a grateful heart, life is so beautiful.” —Roy T. Bennett 
  • “I can no other answer make, but, thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.” —William Shakespeare 
  • “There is something that happens when you are grateful: You continue to keep receiving blessings. So I will always be grateful.” —Chrissy Metz
  • “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” —William Blake 
  • “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” —Epictetus 

Related: 75 Joy Quotes that Will Brighten Your Day and Lift Your Spirit

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Thankful And Blessed Sayings to Appreciate All You Have 

You can be certain that there are blessings in your life. When you learn how to recognize and feel appreciation for them, it can create a feeling of joy that, perhaps, you’ve never experienced before. Below, you will discover some of the best quotes on gratitude to help you feel more blessed. 

  • “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasure.” —Thornton Wilder 
  • “Through the eyes of gratitude, everything is a miracle.” —Mary Davis 
  • “Some of your greatest blessings come with patience.” —Warren W. Wiersbe 
“Gratitude is a gift in itself. It inspires you to be open, to be present and to receive. Gratitude is good medicine.” –Robert Holden
  • “Gratitude is a gift in itself. It inspires you to be open, to be present and to receive. Gratitude is good medicine.” —Robert Holden 
  • “Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.” —Charles Dickens 
  • “We are in a wrong state of mind if we are not in a thankful state of mind.” —Charles Spurgeon 
  • “Blessings sometimes show up in unrecognizable disguises.” —Janette Oke 
  • “It’s not possible to experience constant euphoria, but if you’re grateful, you can find happiness in everything.” —Pharrell Williams 

Related: 100 Inner Peace Quotes to Be Your Guide Through Difficult Situations 

“Thankful For You” Quotes to Share With Friends & Family 

For many of us, friends and family are the people for whom we are most grateful. If the people closest to you are there for you, cherish gratefulness in your heart. Let’s take a look at some thankful for friends and family quotes to help you be more thankful for your friends and family. 

  • “I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and the new.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson 
  • “For my part, I am almost contented just now, and very thankful. Gratitude is a divine emotion: it fills the heart, but not to bursting; it warms it, but not to fever.” —Charlotte Brontë 
  • “Friendship’s the wine of life.” —Edward Young 
  • “When the world is so complicated, the simple gift of friendship is within all of our hands.” —Maria Shriver 
“A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” –Walter Winchell
  • “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.” —Walter Winchell 
  • “Home is people. Not a place.” —Robin Hobb 
  • “People with grateful dispositions see their efforts grandly but not themselves. Life doesn’t surpass their dreams but it nicely surpasses their expectations.” —David Brooks 
  • “When you recognize the role that other people have played in your life, it makes you feel more connected to others and less lonely. It increases your willingness to help other people.” —Art Markman 

Inspirational Quotes On Being Thankful For Life 

When things get difficult, we may need to be inspired to feel grateful for all the good things we have in our lives. Keep reading to discover several inspirational thankful for life quotes to help you feel a stronger sense of gratitude for your life. 

  • “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” —Ernest Hemingway 
“Gratitude helps us make the most of resources at hand.” –Melody Beattie
  • “Gratitude helps us make the most of resources at hand.” —Melody Beattie 
  • “There is always something to be thankful for! While this doesn’t minimize the pain we’re going through, this mindset can help us not get stuck in it.” —Bethany Hamilton 
  • “A little ‘appreciation’ sometimes does quite as much good as all the conscientious ‘bringing up’ in the world.” —L.M. Montgomery 
  • “The trick is to be grateful when your mood is high and graceful when it is low.” —Richard Carlson 
  • “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” —Anthony Robbins 
  • “You may believe anything that is good of a grateful man.” —Thomas Fuller 
  • “My gratitude to him is as boundless as the Pacific Ocean.” —Yann Martel 

Motivational Thankfulness Quotes For Work 

We know how gratitude can improve our lives, but sometimes it’s hard to feel thankful when things get stressful at work. Here are several of the best motivational thankfulness quotes you can turn to the next time you want to create the positive mindset that only gratitude can create. 

  • “I have learnt again what I have often learnt before, that you should.never take anything for granted.” —Benjamin Disraeli 
  • “Whatever happened was necessary, so let go of regret and replace your negative feelings with gratitude for what you’ve learned.” —Wayne Dyer 
  • “We learned about gratitude and humility – that so many people had a hand in our success.” —Michelle Obama 
  • “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words but to live by them.” —John F. Kennedy 
  • “Every problem is a gift – without problems we would not grow.” —Tony Robbins 
“The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.” –Charles Schwab
  • “The way to develop the best that is in a person is by appreciation and encouragement.” —Charles Schwab
  • “Keep your eyes open and try to catch people in your company doing something right, then praise them for it.” —Tom Hopkins 
  • “Gratitude is a sacred space where you allow and know that a force greater than your ego is always at work and always available.” —Wayne Dyer 

Take A Moment to Feel Grateful Every Day 

We hope this compilation of motivational thankful quotes helps to inspire gratitude that will help you create a happier life. Yes, life is stressful and overwhelming, but gratitude is a tool you can use to feel more joyful and create a better life. 

Read these quotes whenever you think it’s impossible to feel grateful in your life. Once you cultivate a lasting sense of thankfulness, it will empower you to make the changes you’ve been dreaming of.

Photo by Prostock-studio/shutterstock.com

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