Thanksgiving Quotes To Honor Your Loved Ones

If you’re in search of the very best Thanksgiving quotes, allow these thoughtful words to be the perfect ones you’ll want to read this Thanksgiving.

On the fourth Thursday of every November in the United States, we gather with close friends and family to break bread and be grateful for all the good that has been given to us throughout the year.

Tell us your favorite Thanksgiving memory in the comment section below.

According to a study by the University of California, grateful people tend to be happier and have better overall well-being than those who are less grateful.

This study found that practicing gratitude can lead to increased positive emotions, improved sleep quality, and reduced symptoms of depression and anxiety.

What are the benefits of reading these Thanksgiving quotes?

This timeless tradition of giving thanks is a cherished ritual that many Americans hold near and dear to their hearts—not to mention the food is amazing!

Held on the fourth Thursday in November, the holiday originated as a harvest festival celebrated by the Pilgrims in 1621 after a successful growing season.

We have celebrated it nationally on and off since 1789, when George Washington declared Thursday, November 26, a Thanksgiving holiday.

Its celebration was intermittent until 1863 when it became a federal holiday after President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an official holiday.

Although Thanksgiving is a time to cherish with your loved ones, you might get tongue-tied when expressing your feelings about the holiday.

So to get you into the Thanksgiving spirit, here are some inspirational quotes you can share with your friends and family to show:

• just how thankful you are for necessities like food
• how much you love all the people who matter to you
• that it is important to get together and practice gratitude

Check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily inspiration. 

Check out our inspirational quotes category page for more inspirational life quotes.

Happy Thanksgiving quotes for intense gratitude

The National Institutes of Health reports that gratitude is associated with better physical health outcomes.

People who regularly practice gratitude have been shown to have lower blood pressure, stronger immune systems, and reduced inflammation levels.

1. “Thanksgiving is a joyous invitation to shower the world with love and gratitude.” –  Amy Leigh Mercree

You will also enjoy our article on thank you quotes.

2. “Not what we say about our blessing, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving.” – W.T. Purkiser

3. “Thanks are the highest form of thought, and gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” – G.K. Chesterton

You will also enjoy our article on Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving quotes.

4. “Thanksgiving is a time of togetherness and gratitude.”— Nigel Hamilton

5. “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” – Henry Van Dyke

6. “Thanksgiving Day is a good day to recommit our energies to giving thanks and just giving.” – Amy Grant

7. “Gratitude is the wine for the soul. Go on. Get drunk.” – Rumi

8. “Appreciation can change a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.” — MARGARET COUSINS

9. “Thanksgiving day is a jewel, to set in the hearts of honest men; but be careful that you do not take the day, and leave out the gratitude.” – E.P. Powell

10. “Yesterday’s the past, tomorrow’s the future, but today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present.” – Bil Keane

Don’t forget to also read these thankful quotes that will change your perspective.

Happy Thanksgiving quotes to inspire togetherness and gratitude

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center found that 95% of Americans celebrate Thanksgiving in some way, with most people gathering with family and friends for a meal.

This statistic can help highlight the widespread cultural significance of the holiday and the importance of expressing gratitude and appreciation.

11. “When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around.” – Willie Nelson

12. “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.”— Henry David Thoreau

13. “Forever on Thanksgiving the heart will find the pathway home.” – Wilbur D. Nesbit

14. “A moment of gratitude makes a difference in your attitude.” – Bruce Wilkinson

15. “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

16. “We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count.” – Neal A. Maxwell

17. “Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song.”— KONRAD VON GESNER

18. “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” – Meister Eckhart

19. “Kindness is always fashionable, and always welcome.” – Amelia Barr

20. “What we’re really talking about is a wonderful day set aside on the fourth Thursday of November when no one diets. I mean, why else would they call it Thanksgiving? —Erma Bombeck

Happy Thanksgiving quotes to help you reflect on what truly matters

21. “Even in the trials of life, if we have eyes to see them, we can find good things everywhere we look.” – Joanna Gaines

22. “The more you practice the art of thankfulness, the more you have to be thankful for.” – Norman Vincent Peale

23. “If a fellow isn’t thankful for what he’s got, he isn’t likely to be thankful for what he’s going to get.”— Frank A. Clark

24. “It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” – David Steindl-Rast

25. “An attitude of gratitude brings great things.” – Yogi Bhajan

26. “Thanksgiving isn’t just a day. It’s a way we can live our lives every day.” – Katrina Mayer

27. “If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.” – W. Clement Stone

28. “‘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

29. “For what I have received may the Lord make me truly thankful. And more truly for what I have not received.” — STORM JAMESON

30. “Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam

Happy Thanksgiving quotes to inspire gratitude

31. “Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” – Maya Angelou

32. “The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us.” – James E. Faust

33. “Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are.”— Joyce Giraud

34. “Be thankful for what you have. Your life is someone else’s fairy tale.” – Wale Ayeni

35. “Thanksgiving just gets me all warm and tingly and all kinds of wonderful inside.”— Willard Scott

36. “If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.” – Gerald Good

37. “I have a lot to be thankful for. I am healthy, happy, and I am loved.” – Reba McEntire

38. “Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others.”— MARCUS TULLIUS CICERO

39. “Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.” – William Arthur Ward

40. “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.” —William Faulkner

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of Gratitude quotes that will transform your perspective.

Thanksgiving quotes to make your day

41. “Cooking Tip: Wrap turkey leftovers in aluminum foil and throw them out.” – Nicole Hollander

42. “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.”— Henry Van Dyke

43. “What if today, we were just grateful for everything?” – Charlie Brown

44. “Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.”— William Arthur Ward

45. “The thankful receiver bears a plentiful harvest.” – William Blake

46. “After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” – Oscar Wilde

47. “Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.” – Hausa Proverb

48. “Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.”— MELODY BEATTIE

49. “Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread and pumpkin pie.” – Jim Davis

50. “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.” —Ernest Hemingway

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of smile quotes to help keep a smile on your face.

Thanksgiving quotes that will make your day

51. “I’m thankful for every moment.” – Al Green

52. “Let us fill our hearts with our own compassion — towards ourselves and towards all living beings.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

53. “Thanksgiving is one of my favorite American traditions. I quickly picked it up when I moved to the U.S. from Sweden.” – Marcus Samuelsson

54. “Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.” – Robert Caspar Lintner

55. “Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday – it’s a day that’s American to the core and it’s a day that’s all about what and how we eat.” – Marcus Samuelsson

56. “Every now and then it’s good to stop climbing and appreciate the view from right where you are.” – Lori Deschene

57. “I’ve always had fond memories of cooking Thanksgiving.” – Wylie Dufresne

58. “Be thankful for the blessings of the little things, even when you don’t get what you expect.” – Victoria Osteen

59. “If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken.” – Ina Garten

60. “Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.” – Ralph Marston

More thanksgiving quotes and sayings

61. “Being thankful reminds us that if it’s broken it’s an opportunity.” – Craig D. Lounsbrough

62. “Practice turning everything in life into prayer and thanksgiving.” – Henry Hon

63. “Gratitude is what you feel. Thanksgiving is what you do.” – Tim Keller

64. “Be grateful for who you are and what you will be.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

65. “Thanksgiving is not only being aware of the abundance of good in the world but embracing it.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

66. “I thank you wholeheartedly because you cannot imagine all the happiness you are giving me.” – Auliq Ice

67. “The value we place on what we’ve been given correlates to our depth of gratitude for it.” – Todd Stocker

68. “The pondering heart is a thankful heart.” – Todd Stocker

69. “Thankfulness creates gratitude which generates contentment that causes peace.” – Todd Stocker

70. “Express gratitude for the greatness of small things.” – Richie Norton

Happy Thanksgiving quotes to appreciate what you have

71. “Over and over I marvel at the blessings of my life: Each year has grown better than the last.” – Lawrence Welk

72. “To give thanks in solitude is enough. Thanksgiving has wings and goes where it must go. Your prayer knows much more about it than you do.” – Victor Hugo

73. “I give thanks to my Creator for this wonderful life where each of us has the opportunity to learn lessons we could not fully comprehend by any other means.” – Joseph B. Wirthlin

74. “I think that is a better thing than thanksgiving: thanks-living.” – Charles Spurgeon

75. “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

76. “Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that thankfulness is indeed a virtue.” – William Bennett

77. “When you rise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life, for your strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason to give thanks, the fault lies in yourself.” – Tecumseh

78. “Make it a habit to tell people thank you. To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return. Truly appreciate those around you, and you’ll soon find many others around you. Truly appreciate life, and you’ll find that you have more of it.” – Ralph Marston

79. “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.” – James Allen

80. “Be grateful for what you have and stop complaining – it bores everybody else, does you no good, and doesn’t solve any problems.” – Zig Ziglar

Happy Thanksgiving Quotes To Make You Grateful

81. “Acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance.” — Eckhart Tolle

82. “Your friend is your field which you sow with love and reap with thanksgiving.” — Khalil Gibran

83. “Well, there’s not a day goes by when I don’t get up and say thank you to somebody.” — Rod Stewart

84. “The thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.” — Henry Ward Beecher

85. “Thank you for life, and all the little ups and downs that make it worth living.” — Travis Barker

86. “We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit.” — Albert Schweitzer

87. “Remembering with thanks is what causes us to trust – to really believe.” — Ann Voskamp

88. “Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude.” — John Henry Jowett

89. “Thanksgiving is nothing if not a glad and reverent lifting of the heart to God in honor and praise for His goodness.” — J.R. Miller

90. “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more.” — Oprah Winfrey

Funny thanksgiving quotes to make you smile

91. “I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast.” – Charlie Brown

92. It wouldn’t be Thanksgiving without a little emotional scarring.” – Friends

93. “Thanksgiving is so called because we are all so thankful that it only comes once a year.” – P.J. O’Rourke

94. “Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants.” —Kevin James

95. “For those of you who cannot be with family this Thanksgiving, please resist the urge to brag.” – Andy Borowitz

96. “It took me three weeks to stuff the turkey. I stuffed it through the beak.” —Phyllis Diller

97. “Thanksgiving is a time to count your blessings, one by one, as each relative goes home.” – Melanie White

98. “I’m from Canada, so Thanksgiving to me is just Thursday with more food. And I’m thankful for that.” —Howie Mandel

99. “Hope my relatives are getting along with the professional line sitter I hired to hold my place at the front of the Thanksgiving food line.” – John Lyon

100. “Most turkeys taste better the day after; my mother’s tasted better the day before.”—Rita Rudner

Happy Thanksgiving Quotes For a Happy Day

101. “The more my heart is parked in a place of thanksgiving and rejoicing, the less room I have for grumpiness.” — Lysa TerKeurst

102. “Thanksgiving – Show appreciation for all God has given you.” — Max Lucado

103. “Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet…. There is not, and there never has been, a better time or a better place to live in.” — Phillips Brooks

104. “A day to give thanks, and receive lots of love, A day to spend with everyone you can think of.” — E. Perez

105. “One of the most meaningful days of the year is Thanksgiving Day; a day full of gratitude and turkey surrounded by the love of family and friends.” — Catherine Pulsifer

106. “Giving thanks to you. My friends, neighbors, and family. Remembering that every day you fill my life with joy.” — Allison Waggoner

107. “When someone gives you a gift that he’s already sacrificed and paid for, you don’t try to pay him back; you just receive the gift with thanksgiving and spontaneously lavish love on the giver.” — Ron Larson

108. “I love Thanksgiving because it is a time of year when families come together. It is a time of year when the days are shorter, the nights are colder, but you feel warmed by the love of those around you.” — Sarah Spencer

109. “So once in every year we throng upon a day apart, to praise the Lord with feast and song in thankfulness of heart.” — Arthur Guiterman

110. “Thanksgiving offers us an annual pause from the pace of life return to places we do not often visit and gather with people we do not often see.” — Jay Milbrandt

Did you enjoy these Thanksgiving quotes

Thanksgiving is all about gathering with those who are nearest and dearest to us to reflect on what’s most important in life and be thankful for all that we have, no matter how small or ordinary.

Sharing happy Thanksgiving quotes with your friends and family is a great way to get into the holiday spirit.

Hopefully, these quotes have helped kick off your Thanksgiving feast and festivities.

Did you enjoy these happy Thanksgiving quotes?

Which of the quotes was your favorite?

We would love to hear all about it in the comment section below.

Also, don’t forget to share with your friends and family.