Today, for a bit of change, I'll propose quotes about gratitude by non-saint personalities. I've ordered them by last name alphabetical order. I am hopeful that you will find them enjoyable!

 

You simply will not be the same person two months from now after consciously giving thanks each day for the abundance that exists in your life. And you will have set in motion an ancient spiritual law: the more you have and are grateful for, the more will be given you." – Sarah Ban Breathnach, American author. 

"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, American author. 

"Pride slays thanksgiving, but a humble mind is the soil out of which thanks naturally grow. A proud man is seldom a grateful man, for he never thinks he gets as much as he deserves." – Henry Ward Beecher, American minister and social reformer. 

"There is no greater difference between men than between grateful and ungrateful people."  – Reginald H. Blyth, British author. 

"In ordinary life, we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich." –Dietrich Bonhoeffer, German theologian, anti-Nazi dissident. 

“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 has a continual feast.” – William J. Cameron, American-Canadian journalist. 

"Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all the others.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero, Roman statesman. 

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” – Epictetus, Greek philosopher. 

"Grateful people report higher levels of positive emotions, life satisfaction, vitality, optimism and lower levels of depression and stress. The disposition toward gratitude appears to enhance pleasant feeling states more than it diminishes unpleasant emotions. Grateful people do not deny or ignore the negative aspects of life." – Robert A. Emmons, American psychologist, and Michael E. McCullough, American psychologist, in Dimensions and Perspectives of Gratitude. 

"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, German author. 

"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, British preacher. 

“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, 35th US president. 

"To live a life of gratitude is to open our eyes to the countless ways in which we are supported by the world around us. Such a life provides less space for our suffering because our attention is more balanced. We are more often occupied with noticing what we are given, thanking those who have helped us, and repaying the world in some concrete way for what we are receiving." – Gregg Krech, American author. 

"What if you gave someone a gift, and they neglected to thank you for it — would you be likely to give them another? Life is the same way. In order to attract more of the blessings that life has to offer, you must truly appreciate what you already have." – Ralph Marston, soccer player. 

”Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” – Marcel Proust, French novelist. 

“At times our own light goes out and is rekindled by a spark from another person. Each of us has cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flame within us.” – "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, humanitarian, physician. 

"God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say 'thank you?'" – "Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it." – William A. Ward, American writer. 

"When a person doesn't have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude." – Elie Wiesel, American-Romanian writer, Holocaust survivor. 

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” – Thornton Wilder, American playwright. 

Picture:

Thank you/tulips - CC0 public domain.