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Aesop Fables:
"Gratitude is
the sign of noble souls." |
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French Proverb:
Gratitude is the heart's memory. |
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Cicero:
"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the
parent of all the others." |
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William Shakespeare:
"O Lord that
lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with
thankfulness." |
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George Washington
in his first Presidential Proclamation: "It is the duty
of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God,
to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly
to implore his protection and favor."—October 3, 1789 |
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George Washington
in his first Presidential Proclamation: "It is the duty
of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God,
to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly
to implore his protection and favor."—October 3, 1789 |
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Samuel Adams,
father of the American Revolution: "It is therefore
recommended ... to set apart Thursday the eighteenth day of
December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise, that with
one heart and one voice the good people may express the
grateful feelings of their hearts and consecrate themselves to
the service of their divine benefactor ..."—November 1,
1777 (adopted by the 13 states as the first official
Thanksgiving Proclamation) |
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Abraham Lincoln,
during the Civil War: "We have been the recipients of the
choicest bounties of Heaven; we have been preserved these many
years in peace and prosperity; we have grown in numbers,
wealth, and power as no other nation has ever
grown."—1863 |
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Sir John Templeton:
"How wonderful it would be if we could help our children
and grandchildren to learn thanksgiving at an early age.
Thanksgiving opens the doors. It changes a child's
personality. A child is resentful, negative—or thankful.
Thankful children want to give, they radiate happiness, they
draw people." |
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Albert Schweitzer:
"To educate yourself for the feeling of gratitude means
to take nothing for granted, but to always seek out and value
the kind that will stand behind the action. Nothing that is
done for you is a matter of course. Everything originates in a
will for the good, which is directed at you. Train yourself
never to put off the word or action for the expression of
gratitude." |
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William Faulkner:
"Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must
be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at
all." |
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Seneca Nation of the
Iroquois Confederacy:
"Our Creator shall continue to dwell above the sky, and
that is where those on earth will end their
thanksgiving." |
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Anne Frank:
"I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that
remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go
out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the
beauty that again and again discharges itself within and
without you and be happy." |
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Theodore Roosevelt:
"Let us remember that, as much has been given us, much
will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the
heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in
deeds."—1901 |
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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr:
We will speed the day when all of God's children, black men
and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics,
will be able to join hands and sing ...Free at last, Free at
last, Thank God Almighty, I'm free at last. (Address at
Lincoln Memorial during March on Washington, 28 Aug 1963)
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John Fitzgerald
Kennedy:
"As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that
the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by
them."
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Melody Beattie:
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we
have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance,
chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into
a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and
creates a vision for tomorrow."
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Johannes A. Gaertner:
"To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact
gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to
touch Heaven."
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Estonian proverb:
Who does not thank
for little will not thank for much.
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Irving Berlin:
Got no check books, got no banks. Still I'd like to
express my thanks - I got the sun in the mornin' and the moon
at night. |
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Konrad von Gesner:
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. |
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Sadi The Gulistan:
Once, when my feet
were bare, and I had not the means of obtaining shoes I came
to the chief of Kufah in a state of much dejection, and saw
there a man who had no feet. I returned thanks to God and
acknowledged his mercies, and endured my want of shoes with
patience
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Basil Carpenter:
Thank God every day
when you get up that you have something to do that day which
must be done whether you like it or not. Being forced to work
and forced to do your best will breed in you temperance and
self-control, diligence and strength of will, cheerfulness and
content, and a hundred virtues which the idle will never know. |
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Ethel Watts Mumford:
God gave us our relatives; thank God we can choose our
friends. |
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