THOUGHTS ON THANKFULNESS

If gratitude is not rooted in the beauty of God before the gift, it is probably disguised idolatry. May God grant us a heart to delight in him for who he is so that all our gratitude for his gifts will be the echo of our joy in the excellency of the Giver!

--John Piper

You say grace before meals. All right. But I say grace before the concert and the opera, and grace before the play and pantomime, and grace before I open a book, and grace before sketching, painting, and swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing, and grace before I dip the pen in ink.

--G. K. Chesterton

The worst moment for the atheist is when he is really thankful and has nobody to thank.

--Dante Gabriel Rosetti

Joy is the simplest form of gratitude.

--Karl Barth

A joyful and pleasant thing it is to be thankful.

--Book of Common Prayer

When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.

--G. K. Chesterton

If the only prayer you say in your life is "thank you," that would suffice.

--Meister Eckhardt

Life without thankfulness is devoid of love and passion. Hope without thankfulness is lacking in fine perception. Faith without thankfulness lacks strength and fortitude. Every virtue divorced from thankfulness is maimed and limps along the spiritual road.

--John Henry Jowett

"Thou that has given so much to me,
Give one thing more--a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleases me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days;
But such a heart, whose pulse may be
Thy praise."

--George Herbert

Maybe one day we'll grow weary of whining and celebrate the rain, the manna, the half-filled glass of water, the little gifts from heaven that make each day bearable. Instead of cloaking ourselves in the armor of pessimism, maybe we'll concede that we are who we are: capricious, unfortunate, wonderful, delicate, alive. Forgiven.

--Mark Collins