David Steindl-Rast Quotes about Gratitude

The root of joy is gratefulness...It is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.

We have thousands of opportunities every day to be grateful: for having good weather, to have slept well last night, to be able to get up, to be healthy, to have enough to eat. ... There's opportunity upon opportunity to be grateful; that's what life is.

Gratefulness is the inner gesture of giving meaning to our life by receiving life as gift.

There is no closer bond than the one that gratefulness celebrates, the bond between giver and thanksgiver. Everything is a gift. Grateful living is a celebration of the universal give-and-take of life, a limitless yes to belonging. Can our world survive without gratefulness? Whatever the answer, one thing is certain: to say an unconditional yes to the mutual belonging of all beings will make this a more joyful world. This is the reason why Yes is my favorite synonym for God.

The greatest gift one can give is thanksgiving. In giving gifts, we give what we can spare, but in giving thanks we give ourselves.

As I express my gratitude, I become more deeply aware of it. And the greater my awareness, the greater my need to express it. What happens here is a spiraling ascent, a process of growth in ever expanding circles around a steady center.

Love wholeheartedly, be surprised, give thanks and praise then you will discover the fullness of your life.

Look closely and you will find that people are happy because they are grateful. The opposite of gratefulness is just taking everything for granted.

From experience we know that whenever we are truly awake and alive, we are also truly grateful.

Gratefulness makes us aware of the gift and makes us happy. As long as we take things for granted they don't make us happy. Gratefulness is the key to happiness. Practicing gratitude is so central to my spirituality.

One can learn to focus on "opportunity" as the gift within every given moment. This attitude towards life always improves the situation. Even in times of sickness, someone who habitually practices grateful living will look for the opportunity that a given moment offers and use it creatively.

Gratefulness is the great task, the how of our spiritual work, because, rightly understood, it re-roots us.

Grateful living makes life meaningful and full of joy.

What brings fulfillment is gratefulness, the simple response of our heart to this life in all its fullness.

"The root of joy is gratefulness."

Gratitude is here presented as more than a feeling, a virtue, or an experience; gratitude emerges as an attitude we can freely choose in order to create a better life for ourselves and for others. The Nigerian Hausa put it this way: Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.

Gratefulness is not just saying "thank you." It's acting. It is being yourself. A mother is grateful, shows gratefulness by mothering, a scientist by doing science.

Gratefulness is that fullness of life for which we are all thirsting.

A single crocus blossom ought to be enough to convince our heart that springtime, no matter how predictable, is somehow a gift, gratuitous, gratis, a grace.

Gratefulness is the gallantry of a heart ready to rise to the opportunity a given moment offers.

In moments of surprise we catch at least a glimpse of the joy to which gratefulness opens the door.