# Quotes about gratitude - Quotes: 79 - Authors: 61 - Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude - JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.json ## Quotes > He said to himself that he really had not suffered enough to deserve such radiant happiness, and he thanked God, in the depths of his soul, for having permitted that he, a miserable man, should be so loved by this innocent being. [Victor Hugo](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo.md) · [Les Miserables](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables.md) · p. 751 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victor-hugo/les-miserables/he-said-to-himself.md) Topics: [love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > “There’s no formula. Keep busy with your work and your life. You can’t become a professional mourner. It doesn’t help you or others. Replay the good times. Be grateful for the years you had.” [Betty White](https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white.md) · [If You Ask Me](https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white/if-you-ask-me.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white/if-you-ask-me/theres-no-formula.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [grief](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/grief.md) > “I have no regrets at all. None. I consider myself to be the luckiest old broad on two feet.” [Betty White](https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white.md) · [If You Ask Me](https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white/if-you-ask-me.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/betty-white/if-you-ask-me/i-have-no-regrets.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I learned I couldn’t shed light on love other than to feel its comings and goings and be grateful. [Diane Keaton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-keaton.md) · [Then Again](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-keaton/then-again.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/diane-keaton/then-again/i-learned-i-couldnt.md) Topics: [love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Like many wealthy people, it was Miss Crawley’s habit to accept as much service as she could get from her inferiors; and good-naturedly to take leave of them when she no longer found them useful. Gratitude among certain rich folks is scarcely natural or to be thought of. They take needy people’s services as their due. Nor have you, O poor parasite and humble hanger-on, much reason to complain! Your friendship for Dives is about as sincere as the return which it usually gets. It is money you love, and not the man; and were Croesus and his footman to change places, you know, you poor rogue, who would have the benefit of your allegiance. [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray.md) · [Vanity Fair](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray/vanity-fair.md) · p. 135 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-makepeace-thackeray/vanity-fair/like-many-wealthy.md) Topics: [money](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/money.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I thought back to what Jeri told me, years ago. None of us ask to be born where we are, or how we are. The challenge of life is to make the most out of what you’ve been given. And despite all of the things I don’t have…I have been given something very important. The love of others is a gift from God, and it shouldn’t be taken for granted. [Victoria Jamieson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-jamieson.md) · [When Stars Are Scattered](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-jamieson/when-stars-are-scattered.md) · p. 212 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/victoria-jamieson/when-stars-are-scattered/i-thought-back.md) Topics: [love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > This is my life now. I’m grateful that I have arrived at this point. This is where I had always wanted to be; writing full-time is much more challenging than I had imagined, but I’m truly enjoying the experience and learning from it each day. [Odafe Atogun](https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun.md) · [Taduno's Song](https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun/tadunos-song.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/odafe-atogun/tadunos-song/this-is-my-life.md) Topics: [writing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Thank you for letting me love you. Thank you for loving me back. Thank you for staying, I know it was hard sometimes. I hope you now live free. [Bolu Babalola](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bolu-babalola.md) · [Love in Colour](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bolu-babalola/love-in-colour.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/bolu-babalola/love-in-colour/thank-you-for.md) Topics: [love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I am a child of the American men and women who grew up in the Great Depression, who came of age in World War II and then devoted their adult years to the building of modern America- the remarkable people I wrote about in The Greatest Generation. As I walked the beaches of Normandy on the fortieth and fiftieth anniversaries of D-Day, I first began to fully realize how they had shaped my life. They were my parents and the parents of my friends, teachers, ministers, physicians, and hometown merchants, the men and women who showed me the way through their own exacting standards of hard work, sacrifice, and personal responsibility. I began to understand how much I owed them. [Tom Brokaw](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-brokaw.md) · [The Greatest Generation Speaks](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-brokaw/the-greatest-generation-speaks.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/tom-brokaw/the-greatest-generation-speaks/i-am-a-child.md) Topics: [parents](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/parents.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I have been working long enough as a potter to know that being commissioned is an extremely delicate business. You are grateful, of course, but gratitude is different from feeling indebted. It is an interesting question for any artist: how long must you go on feeling grateful once someone has bought your work? [Edmund de Waal](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-de-waal.md) · [The Hare With Amber Eyes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-de-waal/the-hare-with-amber-eyes.md) · p. 82 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edmund-de-waal/the-hare-with-amber-eyes/i-have-been.md) Topics: [art](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/art.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I have lived in the best of all possible worlds; the only world, so far as we know, on which human beings can live and have their being; it has been my privilege to be a human being on the planet Earth. There is, for me, something fantastic in the idea of being here at all. Always I have felt a little incredulous of the whole business. [Edna Ferber](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber.md) · [A Peculiar Treasure](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/a-peculiar-treasure.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edna-ferber/a-peculiar-treasure/i-have-lived.md) Topics: [life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > The earth are all in one bowl, all to be shared from a single spoon. This is the vision of the economy of the commons, wherein resources fundamental to our well-being, like water and land and forests, are commonly held rather than commodified. Properly managed, the commons approach maintains abundance, not scarcity. These contemporary economic alternatives strongly echo the indigenous worldview in which the earth exists not as private property, but as a commons, to be tended with respect and reciprocity for the benefit of all. And yet, while creating an alternative to destructive economic structures is imperative, it is not enough. It is not just changes in policies that we need, but also changes to the heart. Scarcity and plenty are as much qualities of the mind and spirit as they are of the economy. Gratitude plants the seed for abundance. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 376 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/the-earth-are.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [generosity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/generosity.md) > I’ve heard it said that sometimes, in return for the gifts of the earth, gratitude is enough. It is our uniquely human gift to express thanks, because we have the awareness and the collective memory to remember that the world could well be otherwise, less generous than it is. But I think we are called to go beyond cultures of gratitude, to once again become cultures of reciprocity. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 189 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/ive-heard-it-said.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > For me, writing is an act of reciprocity with the world; it is what I can give back in return for everything that has been given to me. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 152 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/for-me-writing.md) Topics: [writing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/writing.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > The sunrise ceremony is our way of sending gratitude into the world, to recognize all that we are given and to offer our choicest thanks in return. Many Native peoples across the world, despite myriad cultural differences, have this in common—we are rooted in cultures of gratitude. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 106 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/the-sunrise-ceremony.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [rituals](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/rituals.md) > It was the wild strawberries, beneath dewy leaves on an almost-summer morning, who gave me my sense of the world, my place in it. [...] Even now, after more than fifty Strawberry Moons, finding a patch of wild strawberries still touches me with a sensation of surprise, a feeling of unworthiness and gratitude for the generosity and kindness that comes with an unexpected gift all wrapped in red and green. "Really? For me? Oh, you shouldn't have." After fifty years they still raise the question of how to respond to their generosity. Sometimes it feels like a silly question with a very simple answer: eat them. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 22 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/it-was-the.md) Topics: [nature](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nature.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [gifts](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gifts.md) > Gratitude doesn’t send you out shopping to find satisfaction; it comes as a gift rather than a commodity, subverting the foundation of the whole economy. That's good medicine for land and people alike. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 111 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/gratitude-doesnt-send.md) Topics: [consumerism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Appreciation begets abundance. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 116 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/appreciation-begets-abundance.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > While expressing gratitude seems innocent enough, it is a revolutionary idea. In a consumer society, contentment is a radical proposition. Recognizing abundance rather than scarcity undermines an economy that thrives by creating unmet desires. Gratitude cultivates an ethic of fullness, but the economy needs emptiness. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 111 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/while-expressing-gratitude.md) Topics: [consumerism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/consumerism.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Duties and gifts are two sides of the same coin. Eagles were given the gift of far sight, so it is their duty to watch over us. Rain fulfills its duty as it falls, because it was given the gift of sustaining life. What is the duty of humans? If gifts and responsibilities are one, then asking "What is our responsibility?" is the same as asking "What is our gift?" It is said that only humans have the capacity for gratitude. This is among our gifts. [Robin Wall Kimmerer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer.md) · [Braiding Sweetgrass](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass.md) · p. 115 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robin-wall-kimmerer/braiding-sweetgrass/duties-and-gifts.md) Topics: [responsibility](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/responsibility.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I don't want anybody attached to me forever with gratitude. (p85) [Maxine Hong Kingston](https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston.md) · [China Men](https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/china-men.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/maxine-hong-kingston/china-men/i-dont-want.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Just work, work, work, even at the risk of making mistakes. And if and when you do make mistakes, and you do hurt someone, ask for forgiveness. Asking forgiveness and admitting you've made a mistake is the hardest thing of all. But if someone else does you good, remember it always. Showing gratitude is every bit as complicated. [Fausto Brizzi](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fausto-brizzi.md) · [100 Days of Happiness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fausto-brizzi/100-days-of-happiness.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fausto-brizzi/100-days-of-happiness/just-work-work.md) Topics: [mistakes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/mistakes.md), [forgiveness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/forgiveness.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > The deeper we grow in the Spirit of Jesus Christ, the poorer we become – the more we realize that everything in life is a gift. The tenor of our lives becomes one of humble and joyful thanksgiving. Awareness of our poverty and ineptitude causes us to rejoice in the gift of being called out of darkness into wondrous light and translated into the kingdom of God’s beloved Son. [Brennan Manning](https://www.leafyquotes.com/brennan-manning.md) · [The Ragamuffin Gospel](https://www.leafyquotes.com/brennan-manning/the-ragamuffin-gospel.md) · p. 67 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/brennan-manning/the-ragamuffin-gospel/the-deeper-we-grow.md) Topics: [humility](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humility.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > It took untold generations to get you where you are. A little gratitude might be in order. If you’re going to insist on bending the world to your way, you better have your reasons. [Jordan B. Peterson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson.md) · [12 Rules for Life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/12-rules-for-life.md) · p. 242 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jordan-b-peterson/12-rules-for-life/it-took-untold.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > As a guest, Emily Price had three main drawbacks: she was incapable of saying please, incapable of saying thank you and incapable of saying sorry, all the while creating a surge in the demand for these expressions. [Edward St Aubyn](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-st-aubyn.md) · [At Last](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-st-aubyn/at-last.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-st-aubyn/at-last/as-a-guest.md) Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > A man takes much for granted when he has two hands. [George RR Martin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin.md) · [A Feast for Crows](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/george-rr-martin/a-feast-for-crows/a-man-takes.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Gossip and reputation make sure that what comes around - a person who is cruel will find that the others are cruel back to him, and a person who is kind will find others are kind in return. Gossip paired with reciprocity allow karma to work here on earth, not in the next life. As long as everyone plays tit-for-tat augmented by gratitude, vengeance, and gossip, the whole system should work beautifully. [Jonathan Haidt](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-haidt.md) · [The Happiness Hypothesis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-haidt/the-happiness-hypothesis.md) · p. 55 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jonathan-haidt/the-happiness-hypothesis/gossip-and-reputation.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [gossip](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gossip.md) > Too many people go through life without pausing to enjoy what they have. [David Gemmell](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell.md) · [The King Beyond the Gate](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-king-beyond-the-gate.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/david-gemmell/the-king-beyond-the-gate/too-many-people.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > When they give you things, ask yourself why. When you're grateful to them for giving you the things you should have anyway, ask yourself why. [Jeff VanderMeer](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-vandermeer.md) · [Finch](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-vandermeer/finch.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jeff-vandermeer/finch/when-they-give.md) Topics: [manipulation](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/manipulation.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > But ingratitude is more common than you might think. [Cormac McCarthy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy.md) · [Blood Meridian](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/blood-meridian.md) · p. 149 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/blood-meridian/but-ingratitude-is-more.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > A world of life and mystery, a world of splendor and striving and wistful beauty. Yes, it was good to live, and even if he was now to join the sun in an endless night, he was glad of what he had been given. [Poul Anderson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson.md) · [Vault of the Ages](https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/vault-of-the-ages.md) · p. 149 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/poul-anderson/vault-of-the-ages/a-world-of-life.md) Topics: [life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Henceforth I will look upon all things with love and I will be born again. I will love the sun for it warms my bones; yet I will love the rain for it cleanses my spirit. I will love the light for it shows me the way; yet I will love the darkness for it shows me the stars. I will welcome happiness because it enlarges my heart; yet I will endure sadness because it opens my soul. I will acknowledge rewards because they are my due; yet I will welcome obstacles because they are my challenge. > > I will greet this day with love in my heart. [Og Mandino](https://www.leafyquotes.com/og-mandino.md) · [The Greatest Salesman in the World](https://www.leafyquotes.com/og-mandino/the-greatest-salesman-in-the-world.md) · p. 59 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/og-mandino/the-greatest-salesman-in-the-world/henceforth-i-will.md) Topics: [love](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/love.md), [acceptance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/acceptance.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Harry Dresden: Sometimes the most remarkable things seem commonplace. I mean, when you think about it, jet travel is pretty freaking remarkable. You get in a plane, it defies the gravity of an entire planet by exploiting a loophole with air pressure, and it flies across distances that would take months or years to cross by any means of travel that has been significant for more than a century or three. You hurtle above the earth at enough speed to kill you instantly should you bump into something, and you can only breathe because someone built you a really good tin can that seems tight enough to hold in a decent amount of air. Hundreds of millions of man-hours of work and struggle and research, blood, sweat, tears and lives have gone into the history of air travel, and it has totally revolutionised the face of our planet and societies. > > But get on any flight in the country, and I absolutely promise you that you will find someone who, in the face of all that incredible achievement, will be willing to complain about the drinks. The drinks, people. That was me on the staircase to Chicago-Over-Chicago. Yes, I was standing on nothing but congealed starlight. Yes, I was walking up through a savage storm, the wind threatening to tear me off and throw me into the freezing waters of lake Michigan far below. Yes, I was using a legendary and enchanted means of travel to transcend the border between one dimension and the next, and on my way to an epic struggle between ancient and elemental forces. But all I could think to say, between panting breaths, was, "Yeah. Sure. They couldn't possibly have made this an escalator." [Jim Butcher](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jim-butcher.md) · [Summer Knight](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jim-butcher/summer-knight.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jim-butcher/summer-knight/harry-dresden-sometimes.md) Topics: [technology](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/technology.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [complaining](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/complaining.md) > Gratitude is what we are without a story. [Byron Katie](https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie.md) · [Loving What Is](https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is/gratitude-is-what.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Everything happens for me, not to me. [Byron Katie](https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie.md) · [Loving What Is](https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/byron-katie/loving-what-is/everything-happens-for.md) Topics: [fate](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fate.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Never again to wiggle your toes. What a hell of a thing, what a wonderful, beautiful thing, to wiggle your toes. [Dalton Trumbo](https://www.leafyquotes.com/dalton-trumbo.md) · [Johnny Got His Gun](https://www.leafyquotes.com/dalton-trumbo/johnny-got-his-gun.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/dalton-trumbo/johnny-got-his-gun/never-again-to-wiggle.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [the body](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-body.md) > Gratitude is a rare frame of mind; and those who are grateful can seldom find a way to express what they feel. They are overwhelmed by silence; are shamefaced; and, sometimes, actually try to hide their feelings. [Stefan Zweig](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig.md) · [Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/twenty-four-hours-in-the-life-of-a-woman.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/twenty-four-hours-in-the-life-of-a-woman/gratitude-is-a-rare.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Gratitude fills us with rejoicing, for it so rarely finds frank expression; delicacy of feeling warms our hearts. [Stefan Zweig](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig.md) · [Twenty-Four Hours in the Life of a Woman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/twenty-four-hours-in-the-life-of-a-woman.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/twenty-four-hours-in-the-life-of-a-woman/gratitude-fills-us-with.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Unhappiness makes people vulnerable, incessant suffering unjust. Just as in the relations between a creditor and a debtor there is always an element of the disagreeable that can never be overcome, for the very reason that the one is irrevocably committed to the role of giver and the other to that of receiver, so in a sick person a latent feeling of resentment at every obvious sign of consideration is always ready to burst forth. [Stefan Zweig](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig.md) · [Beware of Pity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/stefan-zweig/beware-of-pity/unhappiness-makes-people.md) Topics: [suffering](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suffering.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [resentment](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/resentment.md) > Gratitude and treachery are merely the two extremities of the same procession. You have seen all of it that is worth staying for when the band and the gaudy officials have gone by. [Mark Twain](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain.md) · [Pudd'nhead Wilson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/puddnhead-wilson.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/puddnhead-wilson/gratitude-and-treachery.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [betrayal](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/betrayal.md) > If you pick up a starving dog and make him prosperous, he will not bite you. This is the principal difference between a dog and a man. [Mark Twain](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain.md) · [Pudd'nhead Wilson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/puddnhead-wilson.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mark-twain/puddnhead-wilson/if-you-pick.md) Topics: [animals](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/animals.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > People complain about the bad things that happen to em that they don't deserve but they seldom mention the good. About what they done to deserve them things. I don't recall that I ever give the good Lord all that much cause to smile on me. But he did. [Cormac McCarthy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy.md) · [No Country for Old Men](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/cormac-mccarthy/no-country-for-old-men/people-complain-about.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [complaining](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/complaining.md) > What you can't pay back you pay forward. [Jo Walton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jo-walton.md) · [Farthing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jo-walton/farthing.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jo-walton/farthing/what-you-cant.md) Topics: [kindness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/kindness.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Russell Markert, Lela Rogers, Ed Sedgwick - these were but a few of the experienced theater people who generously gave me a boost. I have a theory about the assists we get in life. Only rarely can we repay those people who helped us, but we can pass that help along to others. That's why, in 1958, I reactivated Lela's theater workshop with two dozen talented kids trying to get started in show business. [Lucille Ball](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucille-ball.md) · [Love, Lucy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucille-ball/love-lucy.md) · p. 79 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/lucille-ball/love-lucy/russell-markert-lela.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [helping others](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/helping-others.md) > "We are never quits with those who oblige us," was Dantes' reply; "for when we do not owe them money, we owe them gratitude." [Alexandre Dumas](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas.md) · [The Count of Monte Cristo](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas/the-count-of-monte-cristo.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas/the-count-of-monte-cristo/we-are-never.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > You have, then, not forgotten that I saved your life; that is strange, for it is a week ago. [Alexandre Dumas](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas.md) · [The Count of Monte Cristo](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas/the-count-of-monte-cristo.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alexandre-dumas/the-count-of-monte-cristo/you-have-then.md) Topics: [irony](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > If you have experienced an evening more exciting than any in life, you're sad to see it end, and yet you still feel grateful that it happened. [Arthur Golden](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-golden.md) · [Memoirs of a Geisha](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-golden/memoirs-of-a-geisha.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/arthur-golden/memoirs-of-a-geisha/if-you-have.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > It is so much easier to covet what one hasn’t than to revel in what one has. Also, it is so much easier to be enthusiastic about what exists than about what doesn’t. [Max Beerbohm](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-beerbohm.md) · [Zuleika Dobson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-beerbohm/zuleika-dobson.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/max-beerbohm/zuleika-dobson/it-is-so-much.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [sexual desire](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sexual-desire.md) > Death and disaster are at our shoulders every second of our lives, trying to get at us. Missing, a lot of the time. A lot of miles on the motorway without a front wheel blow-out. A lot of viruses that slither through our bodies without snagging. A lot of pianos that fall a minute after we've passed. Or a month, it makes no difference. > > So unless were going to get down on our knees and give thanks every time disaster misses, it makes no sense to moan when it strikes. [Hugh Laurie](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hugh-laurie.md) · [The Gun Seller](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hugh-laurie/the-gun-seller.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hugh-laurie/the-gun-seller/death-and-disaster.md) Topics: [death](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/death.md), [chance](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/chance.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Christmas time! That man must be a misanthrope indeed, in whose breast something like a jovial feeling is not roused — in whose mind some pleasant associations are not awakened — by the recurrence of Christmas. There are people who will tell you that Christmas is not to them what it used to be; that each succeeding Christmas has found some cherished hope, or happy prospect, of the year before, dimmed or passed away; that the present only serves to remind them of reduced circumstances and straitened incomes — of the feasts they once bestowed on hollow friends, and of the cold looks that meet them now, in adversity and misfortune. Never heed such dismal reminiscences. There are few men who have lived long enough in the world, who cannot call up such thoughts any day in the year. Then do not select the merriest of the three hundred and sixty-five for your doleful recollections, but draw your chair nearer the blazing fire — fill the glass and send round the song — and if your room be smaller than it was a dozen years ago, or if your glass be filled with reeking punch, instead of sparkling wine, put a good face on the matter, and empty it off-hand, and fill another, and troll off the old ditty you used to sing, and thank God it’s no worse. Look on the merry faces of your children (if you have any) as they sit round the fire. One little seat may be empty; one slight form that gladdened the father’s heart, and roused the mother’s pride to look upon, may not be there. Dwell not upon the past; think not that one short year ago, the fair child now resolving into dust, sat before you, with the bloom of health upon its cheek, and the gaiety of infancy in its joyous eye. Reflect upon your present blessings — of which every man has many — not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. Fill your glass again, with a merry face and contented heart. Our life on it, but your Christmas shall be merry, and your new year a happy one! [Charles Dickens](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens.md) · [Sketches by Boz](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/sketches-by-boz.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-dickens/sketches-by-boz/christmas-time-that.md) Topics: [joy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > We never see the true state of our condition till it is illustrated to us by its contraries, nor know how to value what we enjoy, but by the want of it. [Daniel Defoe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe.md) · [Robinson Crusoe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe/robinson-crusoe.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe/robinson-crusoe/we-never-see.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I learned to look more upon the bright side of my condition, and less upon the dark side, and to consider what I enjoyed rather than what I wanted; and this gave me sometimes such secret comforts, that I cannot express them; and which I take notice of here, to put those discontented people in mind of it, who cannot enjoy comfortably what God has given them, because they see and covet something that He has not given them. All our discontents about what we want appeared to me to spring from the want of thankfulness for what we have. [Daniel Defoe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe.md) · [Robinson Crusoe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe/robinson-crusoe.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/daniel-defoe/robinson-crusoe/i-learned-to-look.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > The old man continued, “You have been a real blessing to me. Today, I understand something I didn’t see before: every blessing ignored becomes a curse [Paulo Coelho](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho.md) · [The Alchemist](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/the-alchemist.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paulo-coelho/the-alchemist/the-old-man.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Altogether, a more miserable trio than we were that evening it would have been difficult to discover; and our only comfort lay in the reflection that we were exceedingly fortunate to be there to feel miserable, instead of being stretched dead upon the plain, as so many thousands of brave men were that night, who had risen well and strong in the morning. [Henry Rider Haggard](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-rider-haggard.md) · [King Solomon's Mines](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-rider-haggard/king-solomons-mines.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/henry-rider-haggard/king-solomons-mines/altogether-a-more.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > There come moments to every man when he is thankful to be alive, and every breath drawn is a delight; so at that hour I praised my Maker for His good earth, and for sparing me to rejoice in it. [John Buchan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-buchan.md) · [Salute to Adventurers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-buchan/salute-to-adventurers.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-buchan/salute-to-adventurers/there-come-moments.md) Topics: [joy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/joy.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Breath is the least appreciated gift of the gods. None sing hymns to it, praising the good air, breathed by king and beggar, master and dog alike. But, oh, to be without it! [Roger Zelazny](https://www.leafyquotes.com/roger-zelazny.md) · [Lord of Light](https://www.leafyquotes.com/roger-zelazny/lord-of-light.md) · p. 103 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/roger-zelazny/lord-of-light/breath-is-the.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Everything alive is part of each of us, and many things which do not move as we move are part of us. The sun is part of us, the earth, the sky, the stars, the rivers, and the oceans. All things are part of us, and we have come here to enjoy them and to thank God for them. [William Saroyan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-saroyan.md) · [The Human Comedy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-saroyan/the-human-comedy.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-saroyan/the-human-comedy/everything-alive-is-part.md) Topics: [nature](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/nature.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I have often heard it said that gratitude is not to be found. That is not true—those who say so have always looked in the mistaken place. One who truly benefits another is for that moment at a level with the Pancreator, and in gratitude for that elevation will serve the other all his days. [Gene Wolfe](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe.md) · [The Claw Of The Conciliator](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe/the-claw-of-the-conciliator.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/gene-wolfe/the-claw-of-the-conciliator/i-have-often.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Life is hard for everyone, and we must not take credit ourselves for the little that others can do with theirs. Rather look instead to whom we can give credit, if not thanks, for what little we have been able to do with our own. [Samuel R. Delany](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany.md) · [Flight from Neveryon](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/flight-from-neveryon.md) · p. 134 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/samuel-r-delany/flight-from-neveryon/life-is-hard.md) Topics: [life](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/life.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I think we must be careful about too easily accepting, or being too easily grateful for, sacrifices made by others, especially if we have made none ourselves. [Wendell Berry](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry.md) · [Citizenship Papers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/citizenship-papers.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wendell-berry/citizenship-papers/i-think-we-must.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [sacrifice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sacrifice.md) > Having one’s eyes opened doesn’t make one grateful. [Greg Bear](https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-bear.md) · [Eon](https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-bear/eon.md) · p. 291 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/greg-bear/eon/having-ones-eyes.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > It is better to be concerned with being than with nothingness. Dream therefore of what you still have rather than what you have lost. [Joseph Joubert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert.md) · [The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/joseph-joubert/the-notebooks-of-joseph-joubert/it-is-better-to.md) Topics: [loss](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loss.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > "It is so easy a thing to give—only great men have the courage and courtesy and, yes, the generosity to receive." [John Steinbeck](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck.md) · [Burning Bright](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/burning-bright.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-steinbeck/burning-bright/it-is-so-easy.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > There is very little thanks in history. Dog eat dog. [John Hoyer Updike](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike.md) · [Rabbit at Rest](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/rabbit-at-rest.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-hoyer-updike/rabbit-at-rest/there-is-very.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > We learn the most from fools ... yet we pay them back with the worst ingratitude. [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb.md) · [The Bed of Procrustes](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes.md) · p. 85 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nassim-nicholas-taleb/the-bed-of-procrustes/we-learn-the.md) Topics: [stupidity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/stupidity.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Do not count what you have lost. Count only what you still have. [Frank Herbert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert.md) · [Dune](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune/do-not-count.md) Topics: [loss](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loss.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Be prepared to appreciate what you meet. [Frank Herbert](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert.md) · [Dune](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/dune/be-prepared-to-appreciate.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Sit back down — and for God's sake quit trying to be as nasty as I am; you don't have my years of practice. Now let me get something straight: you are not in my debt. You can't be. Impossible — because I never do anything I don't want to do. Nor does anyone, but in my case I am always aware of it. [Robert A. Heinlein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein.md) · [Stranger in a Strange Land](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/sit-back-down.md) Topics: [selfishness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/selfishness.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > People are rarely grateful for a demonstration of their credulity. [Carl Sagan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan.md) · [Broca's Brain](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain.md) · p. 58 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/carl-sagan/brocas-brain/people-are-rarely.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [naivety](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/naivety.md) > My feelings, gratitude, for instance, are denied me simply because of my social position. [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky.md) · [The Brothers Karamazov](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-brothers-karamazov.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-brothers-karamazov/my-feelings-gratitude.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [social inequality](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/social-inequality.md) > And yet less thanks have we than you. Travellers scowl at us, and countrymen give us scornful names. 'Strider' I am to one fat man who lives within a day's march of foes that would freeze his heart, or lay his little town in ruin, if he were not guarded ceaselessly. Yet we would not have it otherwise. If simple folk are free from care and fear, simple they will be, and we must be secret to keep them so. [J. R. R. Tolkien](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-r-r-tolkien.md) · [The Fellowship of the Ring](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-r-r-tolkien/the-fellowship-of-the-ring.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-r-r-tolkien/the-fellowship-of-the-ring/and-yet-less.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md), [sacrifice](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/sacrifice.md) > ... maybe the only thing worse than having to give gratitude constantly all the time, is having to accept it.''' [William Faulkner](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner.md) · [Requiem for a Nun](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner/requiem-for-a-nun.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-faulkner/requiem-for-a-nun/maybe-the-only.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > For myself, I am not pledged to the support of any system. I am a plain and honest man, one who is not carried away by party spirit, one who has no ambition to be head of a sect; I am content with the place where God has set me; I see nothing, next to God himself, which is better than my species; and if I had to choose my place in the order of creation, what more could I choose than to be a man! I am not puffed up by this thought, I am deeply moved by it; for this state was no choice of mine, it was not due to the deserts of a creature who as yet did not exist. Can I behold myself thus distinguished without congratulating myself on this post of honour, without blessing the hand which bestowed it? The first return to self has given birth to a feeling of gratitude and thankfulness to the author of my species, and this feeling calls forth my first homage to the beneficent Godhead. I worship his Almighty power and my heart acknowledges his mercies. Is it not a natural consequence of our self-love to honour our protector and to love our benefactor? [Jean Jacques Rousseau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md) · [Emile; or On Education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/for-myself-i-am-not.md) Topics: [god](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/god.md), [human nature](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/human-nature.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > be sure your pupil, as he begins to understand the value of your care for him, will be grateful for it, provided you have not put a price upon it; and this will give you an authority over his heart which nothing can overthrow. But beware of losing this advantage before it is really yours, beware of insisting on your own importance. Boast of your services and they become intolerable; forget them and they will not be forgotten. Until the time comes to treat him as a man let there be no question of his duty to you, but his duty to himself. Let him have his freedom if you would make him docile; hide yourself so that he may seek you; raise his heart to the noble sentiment of gratitude by only speaking of his own interest. Until he was able to understand I would not have him told that what was done was for his good; he would only have understood such words to mean that you were dependent on him and he would merely have made you his servant. But now that he is beginning to feel what love is, he also knows what a tender affection may bind a man to what he loves; and in the zeal which keeps you busy on his account, he now sees not the bonds of a slave, but the affection of a friend. Now there is nothing which carries so much weight with the human heart as the voice of friendship recognised as such, for we know that it never speaks but for our good. We may think our friend is mistaken, but we never believe he is deceiving us. [Jean Jacques Rousseau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md) · [Emile; or On Education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/be-sure-your.md) Topics: [friendship](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/friendship.md), [upbringing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/upbringing.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbour's talents—or in a sunrise, an elephant, or a waterfall. He wants each man, in the long run, to be able to recognise all creatures (even himself) as glorious and excellent things. [C. S. Lewis](https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-s-lewis.md) · [The Screwtape Letters](https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-s-lewis/the-screwtape-letters.md) · p. 90 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/c-s-lewis/the-screwtape-letters/the-enemy-wants.md) Topics: [humility](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humility.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > A grateful mind > > By owing owes not, but still pays, at once > > Indebted and discharg'd. [John Milton](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton.md) · [Paradise Lost](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-milton/paradise-lost/a-grateful-mind.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive. [Edward Gibbon](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon.md) · [The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon/the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edward-gibbon/the-history-of-the-decline-and-fall-of-the-roman-empire/revenge-is-profitable.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > I just work on the principle that of all the virtues gratitude (next to honesty) is the greatest, and that has helped me on numerous occasions in my life. [Isaac Asimov](https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov.md) · [I, Asimov](https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov.md) · p. 266 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/isaac-asimov/i-asimov/i-just-work.md) Topics: [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md) > He, I know—for the question had been discussed among us long before the Time Machine was made—thought but cheerlessly of the Advancement of Mankind, and saw in the growing pile of civilisation only a foolish heaping that must inevitably fall back upon and destroy its makers in the end. If that is so, it remains for us to live as though it were not so. But to me the future is still black and blank—is a vast ignorance, lit at a few casual places by the memory of his story. And I have by me, for my comfort, two strange white flowers—shrivelled now, and brown and flat and brittle—to witness that even when mind and strength had gone, gratitude and a mutual tenderness still lived on in the heart of man. [H.G. Wells](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells.md) · [The Time Machine](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/the-time-machine.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/hg-wells/the-time-machine/he-i-know-for.md) Topics: [the future](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-future.md), [gratitude](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/gratitude.md)