Quotations From Buddha II

Live purely. Be quiet. Do your work with mastery. Like the moon, come out from behind the clouds! Shine.

As an irrigator guides water to his fields, as an archer aims an arrow, as a carpenter carves wood, the wise shape their lives.


Let go the past, let go the future, and let go what is in between, transcending the things of time. With your mind free in every direction, you will not return to birth and aging.


A family is a place where minds come in contact with one another. If these minds love one another the home will be as beautiful as a flower garden. But if these minds get out of harmony with one another it is like a storm that plays havoc with the garden.

It is good to have companions when occasion arises, and it is good to be contented with whatever comes.


Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love, this is the eternal rule.


The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, or not to anticipate troubles, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.


When a man has pity on all living creatures then only is he noble.


Because he has pity on every living creature, therefore is a man called 'holy'.


Joyful is the accumulation of good work.


He who, seeking his own happiness, punishes or kills beings who also long for happiness, will not find happiness after his death.


One act of pure love in saving life is greater than spending the whole of one's time in religious offerings to the gods . . .


To utter pleasant words without practicing them, is like a fine flower without fragrance.


Pain is the outcome of sin.


When one is overcome by this wretched, clinging desire in the world, one's sorrows increase like grass growing up after a lot of rain.


To conquer oneself is a greater task than conquering others.


Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense.


Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.


From craving arises sorrow, from craving arises fear, but he who is freed from craving has no sorrow and certainly no fear.


Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.


The fool who thinks he is wise is just a fool. The fool who knows he is a fool is wise indeed.


Hunger (for things) is the supreme disease.


Do not speak harshly to any one; those who are spoken to will answer thee in the same way. Angry speech is painful: blows for blows will touch thee.


Let yourself be open and life will be easier. A spoon of salt in a glass of water makes the water undrinkable. A spoon of salt in a lake is almost unnoticed.


If a viper lives in your room and you wish to have a peaceful sleep, you must first chase it out.


Good thoughts will produce good actions and bad thoughts will produce bad actions. Hatred does not cease by hatred at any time; hatred ceases by love.


Better than a thousand useless words is one word that gives peace.


Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.


An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea.


Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many.� Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.


Through zeal, knowledge is gotten, through lack of zeal, knowledge is lost; let a man who knows this double path of gain and loss thus place himself that knowledge may grow.


All that we are is the result of what we have thought. The mind is everything. What we think, we become.

Quotations From Buddha I

Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.
Suffering follows an evil thought as the wheels of a cart follow the oxen that draws it.
Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.
Joy follows a pure thought like a shadow that never leaves.

Believe nothing merely because you have been told it. . . . Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be kind, conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beings - that doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.

The good renounce everything. The pure don't babble about sensual desires. Whether touched by pleasure or pain, the wise show no change of temper.

If anything is worth doing, do it with all your heart.

Your body is precious. It is our vehicle for awakening. Treat it with care.

Let a man avoid evil deeds as a man who loves life avoids poison.

One who conquers himself is greater than another who conquers a thousand times a thousand on the battlefield.

Like a beautiful flower that is colorful but has no fragrance, even well spoken words bear no fruit in one who does not put them into practice.

Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it.

More than those who hate you, more than all your enemies, an undisciplined mind does greater harm.

Little by little a person becomes evil, as a water pot is filled by drops of water...
Little by little a person becomes good, as a water pot is filled by drops of water.

Those . . . who find delight in freedom from attachment in the renunciation of clinging, free from the inflow of thoughts, they are like shining lights, having reached final liberation in the world.

But when one masters this wretched desire, which is so hard to overcome, then one's sorrows just drop off, like a drop of water off a lotus.

Everything changes, nothing remains without change.

When a wise man is advised of his errors, he will reflect on and improve his conduct. When his misconduct is pointed out, a foolish man will not only disregard the advice but rather repeat the same error.

Like a solid rock is not shaken by the wind, so the wise are not moved by praise or blame.

A victor only breeds hatred, while a defeated man lives in misery, but a man at peace within lives happily, abandoning up ideas of victory and defeat.

Never have anything to do with likes and dislikes. The absence of what one likes is painful, as is the presence of what one dislikes. Therefore don't take a liking to anything. To lose what one likes is hard, but there are no bonds for those who have no likes and dislikes. From preference arises sorrow, from preference arises fear, but he who is freed from preference has no sorrow and certainly no fear.



Freed by full realization and at peace, the mind of such a man is at peace, and his speech and action peaceful. He has no need for faith who knows the uncreated, who has cut off rebirth, who has destroyed any opportunity for good or evil, and cast away all desire. He is indeed the ultimate man.

Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity.

Full of love for all things in the world, practicing virtue, in order to benefit others, this man alone is happy.

A kind man who makes good use of wealth is rightly said to possess a great treasure; but the miser who hoards up his riches will have no profit.

When we feel happy and peaceful, our happiness and peace radiates around us, and others can enjoy it as well. This is called 'the enjoyment of others of our body of bliss'.

Powerful Life Quotes

Be yourself. There is something that you can do better than any other. Listen to the inward voice and bravely obey that.

Live in the moment and make it so beautiful that it will be worth remembering!

The journey of a thousand miles begin with a single step. ~ Lao Tzu

Whether you think you can, or think you can't, you're right. ~ Henry Ford



Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself.

Whatever you can do, Begin it. Boldness has genius, Power and Magic in it. ~ Goethe

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for a newer and richer experience. ~ Eleanor Rooseveit

Never Never Never Give Up. ~ WInston Churchill



It is never too late to be what you might have been... ~ George Eliot

Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying," I will try again tomorrow." ~ Mary Ann Radmacher

It's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years! ~ Abe Lincoln

Some stories don't have a clear beginning, middle and end. Life is about not knowing, having to change, taking the moment and making the best of it, without knowing what's going to happen next... delicious ambiguity... ~ Gilda Radner



Be the change you wish to see in the world... ~ Gandhi

What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. ~ Thoreau

Believe nothing, no matter where you read it or who have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. ~ Buddha

Best Life Quotations

Nothing is worth more than this day. ~ Goethe

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is mystery. Today is a gift. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. ~ Emerson

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly. ~ Buddha





Time is equal to life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life. ~ Alan Lakein


Time is the most precious element of human existence. The successful person knows how to put energy into time and how to draw success from time. ~ Denis Waitley


Thoughts lead on to purposes; purposes go forth in action; actions form habits; habits decide character; and character fixes our destiny. ~ Tyron Edwards


To be able to practice five things everywhere under heaven constitutes perfect virtue... gravity, generosity of soul, sincerity, earnestness, and kindness. ~ Confucius






Three grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love and something to hope for. ~ Joseph Addison


It is not length of life, but depth of life. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

It is only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it were the only one we had. ~ Elizabeth Kubler-Ross

There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle. ~ Albert Einstein

Quotations About Satisfaction

To be satisfied with a little, is the greatest wisdom; and he that increaseth his riches, increaseth his cares; but a contented mind is a hidden treasure, and trouble findeth it not. ~ Akhnaton



How to Live a Hundred Years Happily
1. Do not be on the lookout for ill health.
2. Keep usefully at work.
3. Have a hobby.
4. Learn to be satisfied.
5. Keep on liking people.
6. Meet adversity valiantly.
7. Meet the little problems in life with decision.
8. Above all, maintain a good sense of humor, best done by saying something pleasant every time you get a chance.
9. Live and make the present hour pleasant and cheerful.
Keep your mind out of the past, and keep it out of the future.
~ John A. Schindler


Satisfaction lies in the effort, not in the attainment, full effort is full victory. ~ Gandhi




The Art of Happiness
There was never a time when so much official effort was being expended to produce happiness, and probably never a time when so little attention was paid by the individual to creating and personal qualities that make for it.

What one misses most today is the evidence of widespread personal determination to develop a character that will, in itself, given any reasonable odds, make for happiness.

Our whole emphasis is on the reform of living conditions, of increased wages, of controls on the economic structure-the government approach-and so little on man improving himself.

The ingredients of happiness are so simple that they can be counted on one hand.

Happiness comes from within, and rests most securely on simple goodness and clear conscience.

Religion may not be essential to it, but no one is known to have gained it without a philosophy resting on ethical principles. Selfishness is its enemy; to make another happy is to be happy one's self. It is quiet, seldom found for long in crowds, most easily won in moments of solitude and reflection. It cannot be bought; indeed, money has very little to do with it.

No one is happy unless he is reasonably well satisfied with himself, so that the quest for tranquility must of necessity begin with self-examination. We shall not often be content with what we discover in this scrutiny.

There is much to do, and so little done. Upon this searching self-analysis, however, depends the discovery of those qualities that make each man unique, and whose development alone can bring satisfaction.

Of all those who have tried, down the ages, to outline a program for happiness, few have succeeded so well as William Henry Channing, chaplain of the House of Representatives in the middle of the last century: "To live content with small means; so seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion; to be worthy . . . to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly; to listen to the stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart; to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never; in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common." It will be noted that no government can do this for you; you must do it for yourself. ~ William S. Ogdon





Personal satisfaction is the most important ingredient of success.
~ Denis Waitley



Life is simply time given to man to learn how to live. Mistakes are always part of learning. The real dignity of life consists in cultivating a fine attitude towards our own mistakes and those of others. It is the fine tolerance of a fine soul.

Man becomes great, not through never making mistakes, but by profiting by those he does make; by being satisfied with a single rendition of a mistake, not encoring it into a continuous performance; by getting from it the honey of new, regenerating inspiration with no irritating sting of morbid regret; by building better to-day because of his poor yesterday; and by rising with renewed strength, finer purpose and freshened courage every time he falls.
~ William Jordan




Important rules to watch in living. Keep life simple. Avoid watching for a knock in your motor. Learn to like work. Have a good hobby. Learn to be satisfied. Like people, say cheerful pleasant things. Turn the defeat of adversity into victory. Meet your problems with decision. Make the present moment a success. Always be planning something. Say "nuts" to irritations. ~ John A. Schindler


True happiness is to understand our duties toward God and man; to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future; not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears, but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is abundantly sufficient; for he that is so wants nothing. The great blessings of mankind are with us, and within our reach; but we shut our eyes and, like people in the dark, fall foul of the very thing we search for without finding it.

Tranquility is a certain equality of mind which no condition of fortune can either exalt or depress. There must be sound mind to make a happy man; there must be constancy in all conditions, a care for the things of this world but without anxiety; and such an indifference to the bounties of fortune that either with them or without them we may live content.

True joy is serene. . . . The seat of it is within, and there is no cheerfulness like the resolution of a brave mind that has fortune under its feat. It is an invincible greatness of mind not to be elevated or dejected with good or ill fortune. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it be - without wishing for what he has not.
~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Quotes About Silence

Silence is the virtue of fools. ~ Francis Bacon

Silence is one of the hardest arguments to refute. ~ Josh Billings


Silence is the true friend that never betrays. ~ Confucius


Silence and reserve will give anyone a reputation for wisdom. ~ Myrtle Reed


True silence is the rest of the mind; it is to the spirit what sleep is to the body, nourishment and refreshment. ~William Penn


Dark spruce forest frowned on either side the frozen waterway. The trees had been stripped by a recent wind of their white covering of frost, and they seemed to lean towards each other, black and ominous, in the fading light. A vast silence reigned over the land. ~ Jack London


There are many Beths in the world, shy and quiet, sitting in corners till needed, and living for others so cheerfully that no one sees the sacrifices till the little cricket on the hearth stops chirping, and the sweet, sunshiny presence vanishes, leaving silence and shadow behind. ~ Louisa May Alcott


Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace. ~ Oscar Wilde




It is better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt. ~ Mark Twain

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have often regretted my speech, never my silence. ~ Xenocrates


Everybody should have his personal sounds to listen for - sounds that will make him exhilarated and alive or quite and calm.... One of the greatest sounds of them all - and to me it is a sound - is utter, complete silence. ~Andre Kostelanetz


The Arctic expresses the sum of all wisdom: Silence. ~Walter Bauer



A valet, of stealthy step, thence conducted me, in silence, through many dark and intricate passages in my progress to the studio of his master. ~ Edgar Allan



Here and there a tawny brook prattled out from among the underwood and lost itself again in the ferns and brambles upon the further side. Save the dull piping of insects and the sough of the leaves, there was silence everywhere--the sweet restful silence of nature. ~ Sir Arthur Conan Doyle


If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. ~ George Eliot




An inability to stay quiet is one of the most conspicuous failings of mankind. ~Walter Bagehot


Nowadays most men lead lives of noisy desperation. ~James Thurber


Now all my teachers are dead except silence. ~W.S. Merwin


Accustomed to the veneer of noise, to the shibboleths of promotion, public relations, and market research, society is suspicious of those who value silence. ~John Lahr


The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence. ~Sylvia Plath


After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.
~ Aldous Huxley


Be still when you have nothing to say; when genuine passion moves you, say what you've got to say, and say it hot. ~ D.H. Lawrence

Quotes About Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day, a function which originated in New England two or three centuries ago when those people recognized that they really had something to be thankful for - annually, not oftener - if they had succeeded in exterminating their neighbors, the Indians, during the previous twelve months instead of getting exterminated by their neighbors, the Indians. Thanksgiving Day became a habit, for the reason that in the course of time, as the years drifted on, it was perceived that the exterminating had ceased to be mutual and was all on the white man's side, consequently on the Lord's side; hence it was proper to thank the Lord for it and extend the usual annual compliments. ~Mark Twain



Thanksgiving is the holiday of peace, the celebration of work and the simple life... a true folk-festival that speaks the poetry of the turn of the seasons, the beauty of seedtime and harvest, the ripe product of the year - and the deep, deep connection of all these things with God. ~Ray Stannard Baker (David Grayson)



Stand up, on this Thanksgiving Day, stand upon your feet. Believe in man. Soberly and with clear eyes, believe in your own time and place. There is not, and there never has been a better time, or a better place to live in. ~Phillips Brooks



For what I give, not what I take,
For battle, not for victory,
My prayer of thanks I make.
~Odell Shepard


If I have enjoyed the hospitality of the Host of this universe, Who daily spreads a table in my sight, surely I cannot do less than acknowledge my dependence. ~G.A. Johnston Ross



For, after all, put it as we may to ourselves, we are all of us from birth to death guests at a table which we did not spread. The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet.... Shall we think of the day as a chance to come nearer to our Host, and to find out something of Him who has fed us so long? ~Rebecca Harding Davis


Gluttony and surfeiting are no proper occasions for thanksgiving. ~Charles Lamb, 1821




Turkey: A large bird whose flesh, when eaten on certain religious anniversaries has the peculiar property of attesting piety and gratitude. ~Ambrose Bierce, The Devil's Dictionary



For hearts that are kindly, with virtue and peace, and not seeking blindly a hoard to increase; for those who are grieving o'er life's sordid plan; for souls still believing in heaven and man; for homes that are lowly with love at the board; for things that are holy, I thank thee, O Lord! ~Walt Mason




Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~W.T. Purkiser



On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence. ~William Jennings Bryan



It is literally true, as the thankless say, that they have nothing to be thankful for. He who sits by the fire, thankless for the fire, is just as if he had no fire. Nothing is possessed save in appreciation, of which thankfulness is the indispensable ingredient. But a thankful heart hath a continual feast. ~W.J. Cameron



Forever on Thanksgiving Day
The heart will find the pathway home.
~Wilbur D. Nesbit


But see, in our open clearings, how golden the melons lie;
Enrich them with sweets and spices, and give us the pumpkin-pie!
~Margaret Junkin Preston




For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
~Ralph Waldo Emerson



If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart


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



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, The First Thanksgiving



Remember God's bounty in the year. String the pearls of His favor. Hide the dark parts, except so far as they are breaking out in light! Give this one day to thanks, to joy, to gratitude! ~Henry Ward Beecher


Our rural ancestors, with little blest,
Patient of labour when the end was rest,
Indulged the day that housed their annual grain,
With feasts, and off'rings, and a thankful strain.
~Alexander Pope


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



Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. ~W.J. Cameron



He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
~J.A. Shedd


Thanksgiving Day comes, by statute, once a year; to the honest man it comes as frequently as the heart of gratitude will allow. ~Edward Sandford Martin


For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
~Ralph Waldo Emerson


Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence. ~Erma Bombeck



An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day. ~Irv Kupcinet


Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert


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

Quotes About Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving Day is a joyous family festival celebrated with lot of enthusiasm in US, Canada and several other countries. Thanksgiving Day Festival commemorates the feast held by the Pilgrim colonists and members of the Wampanoag people at Plymouth in 1621. On this day people express gratitude to God for his blessings and give thanks to dear ones for their love & support. Feasting with family is an integral & most delightful part of Thanksgiving Day celebrations.

It has seemed to me fit and proper that God should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November as a day of Thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father Who dwelleth in the heavens.
~ Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation October 3, 1863


Would you know who is the greatest saint in the world: It is not he who prays most or fasts most, it is not he who gives most alms or is most eminent for temperance, chastity or justice; but it is he who is always thankful to God, who wills everything that God wills, who receives everything as an instance of God’s goodness and has a heart always ready to praise God for it. ~ William Law


Lord, 'tis Thy plenty-dropping hand
That soils my land,
And giv'st me for my bushel sowne
Twice ten for one.
All this, and better, Thou dost send
Me, to this end,
That I should render, for my part,
A thankful heart
~ Robert Herrick


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. ~ Sir John Templeton



God has two dwellings; one in heaven, and the other in a meek and thankful heart. ~ Izaak Walton


I praise God because he not only guides my directions but overrules my mistakes. ~H. Norman Pell


Thanksgiving to God is an exuberant response to giving me HIS everything . . . by giving Him MY everything. ~ Martha Kilpatrick


Praise has different effects, according to the mind it meets with; it makes a wise man modest, but a fool more arrogant. ~Feltham



Thanksgiving like contentment is a learned attribute. The person who hasn't learned to be content we will not be thankful for he lives with the delusion he deserves more or something better. ~ Robert Flatt


God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say "thank you?" ~ William A. Ward

We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude. ~ Cynthia Ozick


Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving. ~ W.T. Purkiser



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

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~ Thornton Wilder



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.~ Basil Carpenter


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

Do not get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. ~ Galatians 6:9


I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new.
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson


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


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, The First Thanksgiving

Quotes About Gratitude

Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all . ~ William Faulkner


Most people return small favours, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones - with in gratitude. ~Benjamin Franklin


Gratitude is the heart's memory. ~ French Proverb


To speak gratitude is courteous and pleasant, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live gratitude is to touch Heaven. ~ Johannes A. Gaertner


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. ~ Melody Beattie


Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart. ~ Henry Clay


If you count all your assets, you always show a profit. ~ Robert Quillen


I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. ~ Kahlil Gibran


Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it ~ William Arthur Ward



A spirit of ingratitude is the first step towards apostasy. ~Ammon S. Kauffman


As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. --John Fitzgerald Kennedy



Grace isn't a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It's a way to live. ~ Jackie Windspear


Gratitude is the sign of noble souls. ~ Aesop Fables



When eating bamboo sprouts, remember the man who planted them. ~ Chinese Proverb




Gratitude ... goes beyond the "mine" and "thine" and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always thought of gratitude as a spontaneous response to the awareness of gifts received, but now I realize that gratitude can also be lived as a discipline. The discipline of gratitude is the explicit effort to acknowledge that all I am and have is given to me as a gift of love, a gift to be celebrated with joy. ~ Henri J. M. Nouwen


We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures. ~ Thornton Wilder



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, swimming, fencing, boxing, walking, playing, dancing and grace before I dip the pen in the ink. ~ K. Chesterton


A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues. ~ Cicero


Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow. ~ Melody Beattie


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. ~ Albert Schweitzer


Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. ~ Estonian Proverb

You say, 'If I had a little more, I should be very satisfied.' You make a mistake. If you are not content with what you have, you would not be satisfied if it were doubled. ~ Charles Haddon Spurgeon


Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing. ~ Harper Lee


To know the value of generosity, it is necessary to have suffered from the cold indifference of others. ~ Eugene Cloutier


Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things. ~ Horace


As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Khalil Gibran Quotations

Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931) (born Gibran Khalil Gibran, Arabic: جبران خليل جبران, Syriac: ܓ̰ܒܪܢ ܚܠܝܠ ܓ̰ܒܪܢ) (January 6, 1883 – April 10, 1931) was an artist, poet, and writer. He was born in Lebanon and spent much of his productive life in the United States. In the West he is often known as Kahlil Gibran. Born in Lebonon in 1883, he was one of the important Arabic language authors of the time. He moved to America in 1895, and went on to become a famous author and artist there as well. His art works have been exhibited around the world. His best known book 'The Prophet', was first published in 1923 and has been translated into over 20 languages, it also became America's best-selling book of the century after the Bible.

Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.


God made Truth with many doors to welcome every believer who knocks on them.


I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.


If indeed you must be candid, be candid beautifully.


If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.


If you reveal your secrets to the wind you should not blame the wind for revealing them to the trees.


It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding.


Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.


Say not, 'I have found the truth,' but rather, 'I have found a truth.'


The lights of stars that were extinguished ages ago still reaches us. So it is with great men who died centuries ago, but still reach us with the radiations of their personalities.


To understand the heart and mind of a person, look not at what he has already achieved, but at what he aspires to do.


Yesterday is but today's memory, tomorrow is today's dream.


In battling evil, excess is good; for he who is moderate in announcing the truth is presenting half-truth.


He conceals the other half out of fear of the people's wrath.


And in the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and the sharing of pleasures.


For in the dew of little things the heart finds its morning and is refreshed.

Quotes From The PROPHET

Kahlil Gibran is a poet, philosopher, and artist. He was born in Lebanon, a land that has produced many prophets. The millions of Arabic-speaking people familiar with his writings in that language consider him the genius of his age. But he was a man whose fame and influence spread far beyond the Near East. His poetry has been translated into more than twenty languages. His drawings and paintings have been exhibited in the great capitals of the world and compared by Auguste Rodin to the work of William Blake. In the United States, which he made his home during the last twenty years of his life, he began to write in English. The Prophet and his other books of poetry, illustrated with his mystical drawings, are known and loved by innumerable Americans who find in them an expression of the deepest impulses of man's heart and mind.





Then said a rich man, "Speak to us of Giving." And he answered:

You give but little when you give of your possessions.

It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.

For what are your possessions but things you keep and guard for fear you may need them tomorrow?

And tomorrow, what shall tomorrow bring to the overprudent dog burying bones in the trackless sand as he follows the pilgrims to the holy city?

And what is fear of need but need itself?

Is not dread of thirst when your well is full, thirst that is unquenchable?

There are those who give little of the much which they have - and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.

And there are those who have little and give it all.

These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.

There are those who give with joy, and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain, and that pain is their baptism.

And there are those who give and know not pain in giving, nor do they seek joy, nor give with mindfulness of virtue;

They give as in yonder valley the myrtle breathes its fragrance into space. Through the hands of such as these God speaks, and from behind their eyes He smiles upon the earth.

It is well to give when asked, but it is better to give unasked, through understanding;

And to the open-handed the search for one who shall receive is joy greater than giving

And is there aught you would withhold?

All you have shall some day be given;

Therefore give now, that the season of giving may be yours and not your inheritors'.

You often say, "I would give, but only to the deserving."

The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the flocks in your pasture.

They give that they may live, for to withhold is to perish.

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you.

And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream.

And what desert greater shall there be than that which lies in the courage and the confidence, nay the charity, of receiving?

And who are you that men should rend their bosom and unveil their pride, that you may see their worth naked and their pride unabashed?

See first that you yourself deserve to be a giver, and an instrument of giving.

For in truth it is life that gives unto life - while you, who deem yourself a giver, are but a witness.

And you receivers - and you are all receivers - assume no weight of gratitude, lest you lay a yoke upon yourself and upon him who gives.

Rather rise together with the giver on his gifts as on wings;

For to be overmindful of your debt, is to doubt his generosity who has the free-hearted earth for mother, and God for father.

The PPROPHET Wisdom Quotes

I wash my hands of those who imagine chattering to be knowledge, silence to be ignorance, and affection to be art.



Life without love is like a tree without blossoms or fruit.



Wisdom stands at the turn in the road and calls upon us publicly, but we consider it false and despise its adherents.


For what is it to die, But to stand in the sun and melt into the wind?


Doubt is a pain too lonely to know that faith is his twin brother.


The most pitiful among men is he who turns his dreams into silver and gold.



Coming generations will learn equality from poverty, and love from woes.


Nor shall derision prove powerful against those who listen to humanity or those who follow in the footsteps of divinity, for they shall live forever. Forever.


A root is a flower that disdains fame.


You can muffle the drum, and you can loosen the strings of the lyre, but who shall command the skylark not to sing?


Friendship is always a sweet responsibility, never an opportunity.


Generosity is not giving me that which I need more than you do, but it is giving me that which you need more than I do.


Generosity is giving more than you can, and pride is taking less than you need.


You progress not through what has been done, but reaching towards what has yet to be done.


Tenderness and kindness are not signs of weakness and despair, but manifestations of strength and resolutions.


Perplexity is the beginning of knowledge.


The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the house a guest and then becomes a host, and then a master.


Money is like love; it kills slowly and painfully the one who withholds it, and enlivens the other who turns it on his fellow man.


When you have solved all the mysteries of life you long for death, for it is but another mystery of life.


Forget not that the earth delights to feel your bare feet and the winds long to play with your hair.


Poetry is a deal of joy and pain and wonder, with a dash of the dictionary.


Life without liberty is like a body without spirit.


Let there be spaces in your togetherness.


Knowledge of the self is the mother of all knowledge. So it is incumbent on me to know my self, to know it completely, to know its minutiae, its characteristics, its subtleties, and its very atoms.


I love you when you bow in your mosque, kneel in your temple, pray in your church. For you and I are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit.


If the grandfather of the grandfather of Jesus had known what was hidden within him, he would have stood humble and awe-struck before his soul.


Time has been transformed, and we have changed; it has advanced and set us in motion; it has unveiled its face, inspiring us with bewilderment and exhilaration.



Work is love made visible.