101 Heartfelt Thanksgiving Quotes To Get Your Dose Of Gratitude for 2025

A thoughtful, handwritten card with your favorite Thanksgiving quotes, a warm text message to brighten someone's day or even a grateful prayer around the dinner table can make all the difference in showing your Thanksgiving gratitude. It's a day of appreciation for the little things, after all, as once the table is set and the feast begins, it's tradition to go around the table saying what we're all grateful for. The Thanksgiving quotes below bring the holiday to life in all its heartwarming spirit and you can even add some of them to your Thanksgiving trivia questions when you're hosting guests this year.

Jump to Section

• Thanksgiving Quotes About Gratitude
• Thanksgiving Quotes About Family & Togetherness
• Thanksgiving Quotes For The Dinner Table
• Funny Thanksgiving Quotes
• Friendsgiving Quotes

Thanksgiving Quotes About Gratitude

The great thing about Thanksgiving quotes is that they capture exactly what we're feeling when we can't quite find the words ourselves. Here are a few inspiring ones to help you get into the spirit of gratitude as you celebrate Thanksgiving and share the day with your loved ones.

1. "Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of your life." — Catherine Pulsifer

2. "Gratitude turns what we have into enough." — Aesop

3. "When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around." — Willie Nelson

4. "Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." — Henry Van Dyke

5. "Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues but the parent of all others." — Marcus Tullius Cicero

6. "When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself." — Tecumseh

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

8. "Gratitude helps us to see what is there instead of what isn't." — Unknown

9. "We should certainly count our blessings, but we should also make our blessings count." — Neal A. Maxwell

10. "Hem your blessings with thankfulness so they don't unravel." — Unknown

11. "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our Thanksgiving." — W.T. Purkiser

12. "We should just be thankful for being together. I think that's what they mean by 'Thanksgiving.'" - A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving

13. "Give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way." — Native American saying

14. "Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day but every day of your life. Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have." — Catherine Pulsifer

15. "Thanksgiving is one of my favorite days of the year because it reminds us to give thanks and to count our blessings. Suddenly, so many things become so little when we realize how blessed and lucky we are." — Joyce Giraud

16. "Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has plenty; not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some." —Charles Dickens

17. "The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us." — James E. Faust

18. "Simple blessings are all around us. Once we receive them with thanksgiving and appreciation, we experience true joy." — Krystal Kuehn

19. "Gratitude is the closest thing to beauty manifested in an emotion." — Mindy Kaling

20. "Wear gratitude like a cloak, and it will feed every corner of your life." — Rumi

21. "Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind." — Lionel Hampton

22. "The heart that gives thanks is a happy one, for we cannot feel thankful and unhappy at the same time." — Douglas Wood

23. "Gratitude is the best attitude." — Unknown

24. "A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness." — James E. Faust

25. "Reflect upon your present blessings." — Charles Dickens

26. "A moment of gratitude makes a difference in your attitude." — Bruce Wilkinson

Thanksgiving Quotes About Family & Togetherness

This collection of Thanksgiving quotes is all about appreciating family, whether it's blood relatives or chosen family. After all is said and done, it's the people in our lives with whom we share our joys and sorrows who make life meaningful. So, take a few of these Thanksgiving quotes about family and togetherness and add them to a card when you're gifting homemade treats, Thanksgiving gifts or simple tokens of gratitude.

27. "Having somewhere to go is home. Having someone to love is family. Having both is a blessing." — Donna Hedges

28. "The sun looks down on nothing half so good as a household laughing together over a meal." — C.S. Lewis

29. "Family is not an important thing. It's everything." — Michael J. Fox

30. "What can you do to promote world peace? Go home and love your family." — Mother Teresa

31. "So thankful for the love that this family shares on Thanksgiving and always." — Unknown

32. "This is part of what a family is about, not just love. It's knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame. Not work." – Mitch Albom

33. "What greater blessing to give thanks for at a family gathering than the family and the gathering." – Robert Brault

34. "It didn't matter how big our house was; it mattered that there was love in it." – Peter Buffett

35. "You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them." — Desmond Tutu

36. "I love Thanksgiving because it's a holiday centered around food and family, two things that are of utmost importance to me." — Marcus Samuelsson

37. "Home is people. Not a place." — Robin Hobb

38. "In the family, happiness is in the ratio in which each is serving the others, seeking one another's good, and bearing one another's burdens." – Henry Ward Beecher

39. "I sustain myself with the love of family." — Maya Angelou

40. "There is no doubt that it is around the family and the home that all the greatest virtues are created, strengthened and maintained." — Winston Churchill

41. "Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one." – Jane Howard

42. "Nothing is better than going home to family and eating good food and relaxing." — Irina Shayk

43. "So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family, that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty." — Haniel Long

44. "Other things may change us, but we start and end with the family." — Anthony Brandt

45. "Ohana means family. Family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten." — from the movie Lilo & Stitch

46. "That's what people do who love you. They put their arms around you and love you when you're not so lovable." — Deb Caletti

Thanksgiving Quotes For The Dinner Table

If you're called upon to make a toast this Thanksgiving and aren't sure how to begin, you might take inspiration from these Thanksgiving quotes. They celebrate everything that makes the holiday so iconic: turkey, mashed potatoes, pie and cranberry sauce. Share a word of thanks with your host for the delicious lineup using these Thanksgiving quotes for the dinner table.

47. "Pie makes everybody happy." — Laurie Halse Anderson

48. "Good mashed potato is one of the great luxuries of life." — Lindsey Bareham

49. "It's not too much food. This is what we've been training for our whole lives. This is our destiny, this is our finest hour." — Lorelai Gilmore, Gilmore Girls

50. "The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don't think so." — Nora Ephron

51. "If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it's really like making a large chicken." — Ina Garten

52. "I can't cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast." — Charlie Brown

53. "My mom makes something called green pie, which I thought was a delicacy that many people only had at Thanksgiving but it turns out it was just Jello with whipped cream on it. And it's delicious." — Bobby Moynihan

54. "Hello, what's this? Tomorrow's Thanksgiving! You see that, Odie? Tomorrow's Thanksgiving. That's the day people celebrate with food by eating as much of it as possible." — Garfield’s Thanksgiving

55. "Coexistence is what the farmer does with the turkey; until Thanksgiving." — Mike Connolly

56. "Drink and be thankful to the host! What seems insignificant when you have it is important when you need it." — Franz Grillparzer

Funny Thanksgiving Quotes

Thanksgiving is pretty amazing. Unlike Christmas, where you have to fight crowds at the mall and wrestle with wrapping paper, all you really need is a good appetite and some stretchy pants to celebrate. Still, if you're dealing with family gatherings or playing host to a houseful of people, you're going to need a solid sense of humor to survive the day. That's where funny Thanksgiving quotes and Thanksgiving jokes come in handy. They work pretty nicely when you're trying to keep everyone laughing and the mood nice and light, no matter what curveballs the holiday throws your way.

57. "After a good dinner, one can forgive anybody, even one's own relations." — Oscar Wilde

58. "Thanksgiving dinners take 18 hours to prepare. They are consumed in 12 minutes. Half-times take 12 minutes. This is not a coincidence." — Erma Bombeck

59. "Thanksgiving, man! Not a good day to be my pants." — Kevin James

60. "I suppose I will die never knowing what pumpkin pie tastes like when you have room for it." — Robert Brault

61. "I come from a family where gravy is considered a beverage." — Erma Bombeck

62. "Here I am, 5 o’clock in the morning, stuffing bread crumbs up a dead bird’s butt." - Rosanne

63. "An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day." — Irv Kupcine

64. "If there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it." — Rick Riordan

65. "I like football. I find it's an exciting strategic game. It's a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving." — Craig Ferguson

66. "There is no sincerer love than the love of food." — George Bernard Shaw

67. "If you think you are enlightened; go spend a week with your family." — Ram Dass

68. "Ah, Thanksgiving. The most wonderful time of the year… unless, of course, you’re a turkey!" - Turkey Hollow

Friendsgiving Quotes

Friendsgiving might not be an official holiday, but it's still pretty meaningful, and many people look forward to it more than Thanksgiving itself. A great celebration usually comes down to three things: good food, lots of laughter and that warm feeling of gratitude you get from being with your favorite people. Sharing a few heartfelt Friendsgiving quotes at the dinner table can help set the tone for the evening, especially if you're kicking off the night with a few words. And if you're still planning the night, a few simple Thanksgiving decoration ideas can make everything feel even more special.

69. "Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together." — Woodrow Wilson

70. "A friend is someone who knows all about you and still loves you." — Elbert Hubbard

71. "Friends are the family we choose for ourselves." — Edna Buchanan

72. "In the cookie of life, friends are the chocolate chips." — Salman Rushdie

73. "True friends are always together in spirit." — L.M. Montgomery

74. "It isn't so much what's on the table that matters, as who's in the chairs." — W.S. Gilbert

75. "Friendship is the wine of life." — Edward Young

76. "The language of friendship is not words but meanings." — Henry David Thoreau

77. "There is nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship." — Thomas Aquinas

78. "Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, ‘What! You too? I thought I was the only one.'" — C.S. Lewis

79. "A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked." — Bernard Meltzer

80. "Friends are the siblings God never gave us." — Mencius

81. "There are big ships and small ships. But the best ship of all is friendship." — Unknown

82. "Friends… they cherish one another's hopes. They are kind to one another's dreams." — Henry David Thoreau

83. "You have been my friend. That in itself is a tremendous thing." — Charlotte, Charlotte's Web

84. "Friendship improves happiness and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and the dividing of our grief." — Marcus Tullius Cicero

85. "Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer." — Ed Cunningham

86. "There's nothing like a really loyal, dependable, good friend. Nothing." — Jennifer Aniston

87. "There are no strangers here; only friends you haven't yet met." — William Butler Yeats

88. "Friendship is the golden thread that ties the heart of all the world." — John Evelyn

89. "A true friend is one soul in two bodies" — Aristotle

90. "Good friends are like stars. You don't always see them, but you know they're always there." — Unknown

91. "Friendship multiplies the good of life and divides the evil." — Baltasar Gracián

92. "A friend is what the heart needs all the time." — Henry Van Dyke

93. "A single rose can be my garden… a single friend, my world." — Leo Buscaglia

94. "Friendship is the shadow of the evening, which increases with the setting sun of life." — Jean de La Fontaine

95. "Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness." — Euripides

96. "Friends are the bacon bits in the salad bowl of life." — Unknown

97. "Friendship isn't a big thing, it's a million little things." — Becca Anderson

98. "True friendship is a plant of slow growth." — George Washington

99. "Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together." — Elbert Hubbard

100. "One loyal friend is worth ten thousand relatives." — Euripides

101. "Of all possessions, a friend is the most precious." — Herodotus

Between passing the mashed potatoes and participating in fun Thanksgiving activities, this holiday gives us the perfect opportunity to tell our loved ones how much they mean to us. Whether you want to thank your parents for always having your back, celebrate your siblings who've been your lifelong partners-in-crime or simply express gratitude to the family members who've shaped who you are today, this collection of heartfelt Thanksgiving quotes for family and friends will help you express what's in your heart.

For even more inspiration for Turkey Day, check out other experiences happening on Classpop!