If the only prayer you said in your whole life was ‘Thank you,’  
that would be enough. ~ Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) 

I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought,   
and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.   
~ Gilbert Keith Chesterton 

“A number of years ago the Menninger Foundation sponsored a conference at which Mad Bear, an Iroquois medicine man, spoke. After several days of meetings at which scientific papers were presented, it was his turn. He said, ‘For my presentation I’d like us to begin by going outside.’ Everyone followed him outside to an open field, and he asked us all to stand silently in a circle. We stood for a while in silence under a wide open sky, surrounded by fields of grain stretching to the horizon. Mad Bear then began to speak, offering a prayer of gratitude. He thanked the earthworms for aerating the soil so that plants can grow. He thanked the grasses that cover the earth for keeping the dust from blowing, for cushioning our steps, and for showing our eyes the greenness and beauty of their life. He thanked the wind for bringing rain, for cleaning the air, for giving us the life-breath that connects us with all beings. He spoke in this way for nearly an hour, and as we listened our mindfulness grew with each prayer. We felt the wind on our faces and the earth beneath our feet, and we saw the grass and clouds, all with a sense of connectedness, gratitude, and love.”

From Seeking the Heart of Wisdom: The Path of Insight Meditation by Joseph Goldstein and Jack Kornfield

  From Melanie Greenberg’s article on PsychologyToday.com .

1.  “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”  — Marcel Proust

     

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

     

3. “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 

     

4. “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.”  — Albert Schweitzer 

     

5. “The deepest craving of human  nature  is the need to be appreciated.”   — William James

     

6. “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”  — Oprah Winfrey

     

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