While it may not have seemed like it at times in 2017, we all hopefully have a few things to be thankful for and share with a happy Thanksgiving quote when we sit around the Thanksgiving table on Thursday. A new friend, maybe? An awesome trip? A new pair of waterproof rain boots from Nordstrom's... oh wait, that's me. (But seriously, they're great.)
One of my family's tried and true Thanksgiving traditions is to go around the table and one by one and name one thing, person, or animal, etc. that we're thankful for. It doesn't have to be a big, bold statement, or even very poetic. It just has to be something from the heart. It's a nice way to reclaim a bit of positivity in the otherwise strange and gloomy time that is somehow 2017.
If you're in need of a good quote, or maybe a caption for that Turkey day Instagram post (hey, not judging, we've all done it), look to the wise words of everyone from Charlie Brown to Maya Angelou to William Shakespeare — and everyone in between. For some inspiration, here are 20 of the best and all around happiest quotes that will help you give thanks this Thanksgiving.
Just remember, "there is always, always something to be thankful for."
1. "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
2. "Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom." — Marcel Proust
3. "Be present in all things, and thankful for all things." — Maya Angelou
4. "What if today, we were grateful for everything?" — Charlie Brown.
5. "Small cheer and great welcome makes a merry feast." — William Shakespeare
6. "Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is." — Ernest Hemingway
7. "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
8. "After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations." — Oscar Wilde
9. "We must find the time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives." — John F. Kennedy
10. "Be thankful for what you have, you'll end up having more." — Oprah Winfrey
11. "Forever on Thanksgiving Day the heart will find the pathway home." — Wilbur D. Nesbit
12. "Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: It must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all." — William Faulkner
13. "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving." — W.T. Purkiser
14. "The real gift of gratitude is that the more grateful you are, the more present you become." — Robert Holden
15. "Gratitude can transform common days into thanksgivings, turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings." — William Arthur Ward
16. "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." — Theodore Roosevelt
17. "I am grateful for what I am and have. My Thanksgiving is perpetual." — Henry David Thoreau
18. "Not what we say about our blessing, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." — W.T. Purkiser
19. "If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily." — Gerald Good
20. "There is always, always something to be thankful for." — Unknown
