Thanksgiving is coming, and if you are anything like most women we know, your brain is already juggling the guest list, the grocery list and who is bringing the green bean casserole this year. Before the to do list takes over, pause for a moment. These Thanksgiving quotes are here to remind you what the holiday is really about.
Every quote below comes from a real, checkable source: a Pilgrim’s letter from 1621, a beloved holiday poem, a classic novel, a presidential proclamation and more. No fake internet quotes, no mystery attributions. Just honest words about gratitude, family and the joy of coming home, ready for your place cards, your toast or your phone’s lock screen.
We grouped these 15 Thanksgiving quotes into three themes: gratitude, Thanksgiving history and literature, and family and home. Each one comes with a colorful card made for Pinterest and a short note on what it means. Looking for even more ways to say thanks? Browse our thankfulness quotes and these cozy November quotes.
Why Thanksgiving Quotes Are Worth Sharing
Thanksgiving has been about gratitude from the start. In 1827, as editor of Boston’s Ladies’ Magazine, Sarah Josepha Hale began writing essays calling for a national day of thanks, and in 1863 her long campaign helped lead to President Lincoln’s proclamation setting aside the last Thursday of November. Two of her own lines appear below.
There is also good science behind a grateful heart. Harvard Health explains that in positive psychology research, gratitude is strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. In one well known set of studies, people who regularly wrote down things they were grateful for showed heightened well-being on several measures compared with other groups. A quote will not cook the turkey for you, but it can shift your focus from what is stressful to what is good. For a deeper look, read our guide to the benefits of gratitude.
15 Thanksgiving Quotes to Warm Your Heart
Thanksgiving Quotes About Gratitude
Start here if you want to feel thankful before the first guest arrives. These five quotes treat gratitude as a daily practice, not just a once a year tradition.
I am grateful for what I am & have. My thanksgiving is perpetual.
Henry David Thoreau, letter to H. G. O. Blake (December 1856)
Thoreau wrote this in a letter to his friend H. G. O. Blake, and it is the whole point of Thanksgiving in two short sentences. He was not grateful for a fancy house or a full bank account. He was grateful for who he was and what he had, right then. Imagine treating thanks as a daily habit instead of a once a year speech.
Acquire the grateful habit, learn to see how blest you are,
How much there is to gladden life, how little life to mar!Edgar A. Guest, “Gratitude,” from A Heap o’ Livin’ (1916)
Edgar Guest wrote homespun verse for everyday families, and his poem “Gratitude” reads like a pep talk from a wise neighbor. The key word is habit. Gratitude is not a mood you wait for. It is something you practice, a little at a time, until you start to see how much is going right.
Often, too, our own light goes out, and is rekindled by some experience we go through with a fellow-man. Thus we have each of us cause to think with deep gratitude of those who have lighted the flames within us.
Albert Schweitzer, Memoirs of Childhood and Youth (1924)
Albert Schweitzer, the doctor, musician and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, believed that none of us keeps our inner light burning alone. Somebody always helps relight it: a teacher, a friend, a coworker who noticed you were struggling. This Thanksgiving, think of one person who lit your flame and tell them.
We are showered every day with gifts, but they are not meant for us to keep.
Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass (2013)
Robin Wall Kimmerer, a botanist and member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, writes about gratitude as something that keeps moving. The gifts we receive are meant to be passed along. Your extra pie, your time, your encouragement: who could you share them with this month?
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, Thanksgiving Day Proclamation (1963)
President Kennedy signed this proclamation in early November 1963. His point still lands today: saying thank you is lovely, but living thankfully is better. Gratitude shows up in how we treat people, not only in what we say around the table.
Classic Thanksgiving Quotes From History and Literature
From a Pilgrim’s letter to a famous sleigh ride song, these quotes carry the history and nostalgia of the holiday. They make wonderful conversation starters at the table.
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors.
Edward Winslow, Mourt’s Relation (1622)
Edward Winslow wrote these words in a letter from Plymouth dated December 11, 1621, and it is one of the only firsthand accounts of the harvest celebration we now call the first Thanksgiving. He describes how Massasoit and some ninety men joined the colonists, and how they feasted together for three days. The heart of it is simple: after hard work, rejoice together.
Over the river, and through the wood,
To grandfather’s house we go;Lydia Maria Child, “The New England Boy’s Song About Thanksgiving Day” (1844)
You probably sang this as a child without knowing it began as a poem by Lydia Maria Child, a writer and reformer. It captures the joyful rush of going home for the holidays. Even if your trip involves a highway instead of a sleigh, that feeling of heading toward people you love is worth savoring.
What moistens the lip and what brightens the eye?
What calls back the past, like the rich Pumpkin pie?John Greenleaf Whittier, “The Pumpkin” (1850)
John Greenleaf Whittier wrote a whole poem in praise of the humble pumpkin, and these lines prove that food is really about memory. One bite of a familiar pie can carry you straight back to a childhood kitchen. Which dish brings back the past for you?
There is one day that is ours. There is one day when all we Americans who are not self-made go back to the old home to eat saleratus biscuits and marvel how much nearer to the porch the old pump looks than it used to.
O. Henry, “Two Thanksgiving Day Gentlemen,” from The Trimmed Lamp (1907)
O. Henry opens his story with this playful toast to Thanksgiving as the one holiday that belongs to everyone in America. It is funny and tender at the same time. Notice how home always looks a little different when you come back to it, because you have changed too.
It requires but a few threads of hope, for the heart that is skilled in the secret, to weave a web of happiness.
Sarah Josepha Hale, “The Thanksgiving of the Heart,” Ladies’ Magazine (1829)
Sarah Josepha Hale, the author of “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” wrote this in an 1829 magazine sketch called “The Thanksgiving of the Heart.” You do not need everything to be perfect to feel happy. A few threads of hope are enough to start weaving.
Thanksgiving Quotes About Family, Home and Tender Hearts
Thanksgiving is about the people around the table, and sometimes about the ones who are missing. These five quotes honor both.
Our work has prospered, let us be grateful and go on.
Louisa May Alcott, Little Men (1871)
In Little Men, as Mr. and Mrs. Bhaer look down the long Thanksgiving table at Plumfield, this is the silent thought one heart says to the other. It is the perfect motto for busy women: notice what went well this year, say thank you, and keep going. No need to stop and fix everything first.
Best of all the harvest
In the dear God’s sight,
Are the happy children
In the home to-night;Louisa May Alcott, Little Men (1871)
This verse comes from the harvest song the children sing at Plumfield’s Thanksgiving celebration in Little Men. Alcott reminds us that the real harvest is the people around the table. The turkey can be dry and the rolls can burn. The people are the point.
For the laughter of our children and the sunlight in their eyes,
And the joy of radiant mothers and their evening lullabies;Edgar A. Guest, “Thanksgiving,” from A Heap o’ Livin’ (1916)
From Edgar Guest’s poem “Thanksgiving,” these lines celebrate the small, ordinary sounds of a happy home. If you are a mom, an aunt or a friend who sings someone to sleep, you are part of what makes a family grateful. Your quiet work counts.
There are few sensations more painful than in the midst of deep grief, to know the season which we have always associated with mirth and rejoicing is at hand.
Sarah Josepha Hale, “The Thanksgiving of the Heart,” Ladies’ Magazine (1829)
Hale wrote this in the same 1829 sketch, and it is a gentle reminder that the holidays can hurt. If you are grieving this year, you are not alone. In a 2023 American Psychological Association poll, 72% of adults agreed the holiday season can feel bittersweet, and 38% said missing loved ones causes them stress at this time of year. Be extra kind to yourself, and see our guide on how to cope with grief and loss.
Have no mean hours, but be grateful for every hour, and accept what it brings.
Henry David Thoreau, Journal, July 6, 1840
Thoreau wrote this in his journal while thinking about why it was worth keeping one. It makes a beautiful motto for a gratitude journal. Not every hour will be golden, but each one can teach you something, and a few honest lines at the end of the day help you see it.
How to Use These Thanksgiving Quotes
Here are a few simple ways to bring these Thanksgiving quotes off the screen and into your holiday:
- Write them on place cards. Add a short quote under each guest’s name. It gives everyone something warm to talk about besides politics.
- Start a gratitude jar in November. Every evening until Thanksgiving, write down one thing you are thankful for. Read them out loud after dinner.
- Borrow one for your toast. Not a speech person? Raise your glass and read Winslow’s line about rejoicing together after the harvest. Done.
- Send one to someone you miss. Text a card to a friend or relative who cannot make it this year. It says “I am thinking of you” without needing many words.
- Journal with your kids. Read the Alcott or Guest quote together and ask everyone to name one person who made their year better.
- Pin your favorites. Every card is sized for Pinterest, so you can save them to a Thanksgiving board and find them again next year.
If family gatherings tend to leave you drained, our guides on how to set boundaries with family and how to avoid holiday burnout can help you enjoy the day without running on empty. And if you want to make thankfulness a daily habit, try this simple gratefulness meditation.
If the season feels heavy rather than happy, please reach out to someone you trust or a mental health professional. In the US, you can call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline anytime, day or night.
Which Thanksgiving Quote Will You Share This Year?
Thanksgiving does not have to be perfect to be meaningful. The pie might crack and the conversation might wander, but the heart of the day is still the same as it was in 1621: gathering the people you love and saying thank you for what you have. A few honest words can help you remember that.
So tell us: which of these Thanksgiving quotes will you share at your table this year? Save your favorite card, send one to someone you are grateful for, and come back whenever you need a warm reminder of how much is already good.
Leave a Reply