Are you searching for one quality that will change your life? Consider gratitude.
Be thankful for life’s blessings. Focus on them during prayer and meditation. Then, share this attitude with others. You may experience peace, joy, and feelings of calmness from it.
Jump ahead to these sections:
- Deep Mindfulness & Gratitude Quotes
- Mindfulness & Gratitude Quotes for Meditation
- Mindfulness and Gratitude Quotes to Share on Social Media
How does a person become more appreciative of the gifts they have been given? That’s no easy task. So here are some quotes to reflect on as you improve your focus on gratitude.
Deep Mindfulness & Gratitude Quotes
Mindfulness is the ability to be fully present, aware of where you are and what you are doing. It’s the ability to not overly react or become overwhelmed with the complexities of life.
Here are some quotes about gratitude and mindfulness.
1. “If it is possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men.” – Romans 12:18
This quote is found in the New Testament. It was written by the Apostle Paul.
2. “It is the glory of a man to pass by an offense.” – Proverbs 19:11
If a life of gratitude is too challenging to manage all at once, practice passing everyday offenses without thought or comment.
3. “When instead of reacting against a situation, you merge with it, the solution arises out of the situation itself.” – Eckhart Tolle
This quote is one of Oprah Winfrey’s “words to live by.” Tolle wrote The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment.
4. “I appreciate it and good night.” – Andy Griffith
According to Ron Howard, this is a “quote to live by.” After shows, his former co-star, Andy Griffith, shared this message with his audiences.
5. “You know what I really need? . . . Absolutely nothing. I don’t need a thing in the world. I am the happiest man on the face of the earth.” – Father Mychal Judge
Father Judge was a Franciscan priest who was the first certified fatality after the September 11th attacks.
6. “My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.” – John 14:27
These are the words of Jesus.
7. “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.” – General George S. Patton
Patton said these words in a speech in Boston at the end of World War II.
8. “Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.” – Karl Barth
Barth was a Swiss theologian.
9. “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” – Anonymous
We love this simple definition of gratitude.
10. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero
Cicero was a Roman philosopher who is often quoted.
Mindfulness & Gratitude Quotes for Meditation
Are you looking for wise words to focus on during your meditation or journaling time? You might be interested in first reading books about gratitude. Here are some quotes, some of which come from gratitude books, about focusing on the positive aspects of life.
11. “You are never too old, too young, too rich, too poor, to live gratefully. We can produce gratitude in any season of life. This is part of its appeal. As we create gratitude, a positive ripple effect is generated through every area of our lives, potentially satisfying some of our deepest yearnings – our desire for happiness, our pursuit of better relationships, and our ceaseless quest for inner peace, health, wholeness, and contentment.” – Dr. Robert A. Emmons
Dr. Emmons authored The Little Book of Gratitude: Create a Life of Happiness and Wellbeing by Giving Thanks.
12. “My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved; I have been given much and I have given something in return; I have read and traveled and thought and written. I have had an intercourse with the world, the special intercourse of writers and readers.” – Oliver Sacks
Oliver Sacks was a famed psychologist who wrote Gratitude at the end of his life.
13. “Rarely do we realize that if we simply take time to marvel at life’s gifts and give thanks for them, we activate stunning opportunities to increase their influence in our lives.” – Angeles Arrien
Arrien wrote Living in Gratitude: A Journey That Will Change Your Life.
14. “Depend on it, Sir, when a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.” – Dr. Samuel Johnson
Staring death in the face certainly is known to give a person clarity.
15. “Mens sana in corpore sano” or “A sound mind in a healthy body.”
This Latin saying and its translation have been used as school mottos. In effect, it is part of a prayer that “you may have a sound mind in a sound body. Pray for a bold spirit free from all dread of death; that reckons the closing scene of life among Nature’s kindly boons.”
16. “Then I heard a voice: ‘Until you learn to be grateful for the things you have,’ it said, ‘you will not receive the things you want.’” ― John Kralik
Kralik wrote A Simple Act of Gratitude: How Learning to Say Thank You Changed My Life.
17. “We’re a nation hungry for more joy: Because we’re starving from a lack of gratitude.” – Brené Brown
Brown is a researcher, author, and lecturer. This quote came from her most well-known work: The Gifts of Imperfection.
18. “Gratitude unleashes the freedom to live content in the moment, rather than being anxious about the future or regretting the past.” ― Nancy Leigh DeMoss
DeMoss wrote Choosing Gratitude: Your Journey to Joy.
19. “Here’s why I’m a fan of thanking our lucky stars every day: It helps with forgiving yourself your failures; it cuts down on celebrity worship and boosts humility; and, perhaps most important, it makes us more compassionate.” – A.J. Jacobs
Jacobs wrote Thanks a Thousand: A Gratitude Journey. This idea for this book began when the author decided to thank every person involved in producing his morning cup of coffee. The resulting journey takes him across the globe. In the process, the author’s life is transformed, and he writes about how gratitude can make people happier, more generous, and more connected.
20. “For me, every hour is grace. And I feel gratitude in my heart each time I can meet someone and look at his or her smile.” – Elie Wiesel
Elie Wiesel, a Holocaust survivor, wrote a lot about his experiences of surviving a concentration camp. Night was one of his greatest works.
21. “When you are grateful, fear disappears and abundance appears.” – Tony Robbins
Tony Robbins is a life and business strategist.
22. “When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.” – Tecumseh
Tecumseh was a Shawnee chief who promoted resistance to the expansion of the U.S. onto Native American lands.
23. “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.” – William Arthur Ward
Live every day like it is Thanksgiving.
24. “I have a lot to be thankful for. I am healthy, happy and I am loved.” – Reba McEntire
Reba McEntire was born in Oklahoma.
25. “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” – Epictetus
Everyone needs a reminder to live this way.
26. “Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things.” – Robert Brault
Robert Brault is often quoted.
27. “‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say.” – Alice Walker
Alice Walker is the author of The Color Purple.
28. “Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.” – Estonian Proverb
What kind of person would you like to be? One who sees blessings everywhere or someone who is constantly discontent?
29. “The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” – Henry Ward Beecher
Consider keeping a gratitude journal to encourage yourself to look for the daily blessings in your life.
30. “Got no checkbooks, got no banks, still I’d like to express my thanks. I got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.” – Irving Berlin
These are lyrics to I Got the Sun in the Morning.
Mindfulness and Gratitude Quotes to Share on Social Media
Instead of using your social media account to share photos of your latest meal or to brag about your kids’ athletic abilities, why not use it to spread messages of gratitude? Here are some gratitude quotes to share on social media.
31. “Enough is a feast.” – Buddha
You may also be interested in reading Buddhist quotes about death.
32. “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
Breathnach is the author of Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy.
33. “I can no other answer make, but, thanks, And thanks, and ever thanks.” – William Shakespeare
This line appeared in Twelfth Night.
34. “The deepest craving of human nature is the need to be appreciated.” – William James
Tell your loved ones that they are appreciated each day.
35. “Being thankful is not always experienced as a natural state of existence, we must work at it, akin to a type of strength training for the heart.” – Larissa Gomez
Gomez is a Canadian actress.
36. “If you concentrate on finding whatever is good in every situation, you will discover that your life will suddenly be filled with gratitude, a feeling that nurtures the soul.” – Rabbi Harold Kushner
Rabbi Kushner wrote When Bad Things Happen to Good People.
37. “Gratitude and attitude are not challenges; they are choices.” – Robert Braathe
Like many others on our list, this quote reminds us that gratitude doesn’t come naturally. Instead, it takes work to look at the world’s problems and still feel gratitude.
What Is Your Quote to Live By?
As you meditate on gratitude and thankfulness, what quote inspires you the most? Perhaps one you found on our list?
You may also consider reflecting on quotes about death. When people write about death, they often have clarity that can’t be experienced when focused on the complexities of living.