Gratitude

Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?

[ Paying tribute to Eleanor Roosevelt after her death on 7 Nov. 1962 :] I have lost more than a belovedfriend. I have lost an inspiration. She would rather light a candle than curse the darkness, and her glow has warmed the world.

 

A child shows gratitude the way a woman/Shows she likes a pretty dress—/Puts it on and takes it off again—

I take as my guide the hope of a saint in crucial things, unity - in important things, diversity - in all things, generosity.

Their plans were improved with the best advice. J. R.

 

I have no riches but my thoughts. Yet these are wealth enough for me.

For it is in giving that we receive.

Life is short and we never have enough time for gladdening the hearts of those who travel the way with us. Oh, be swift to love! Make haste to be kind.

’Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. 3

 

Dan Chaucer, the first warbler, whose sweet breath Preluded those melodious bursts that fill The spacious times of great Elizabeth With sounds that echo still.

 

Teach us, good Lord, to serve Thee as Thou deservest: To give and not to count the cost; To fight and not to heed the wounds; To toil and not to seek for rest; To labor and not ask for any reward Save that of knowing that we do Thy will.

 

Everything has gone from me but the certaintyof your goodness. I cant go on spoiling your life any longer. I dont think two people could havebeen happier than we have been.

To Herbert Westbrook, without whose never-failing advice, help, and encouragement this book would have been finished in half the time.

In search of my mother’s garden, I found my own.

Much wished, hoped little, and demanded nought.

Ingratitude is among them a capital Crime, . . . For they reason thus: that whoever makes ill Returns to his Benefactor, must needs be a common Enemy to the rest of Mankind, from whom he hath received no Obligation; andtherefore such a Man is not fit to live.

In the time of your life, live—so that in that good time there shall be no ugliness or death for yourself or for any life your life touches.

The whole of my remaining realizable estate shall be dealt with the following way: the capital, invested in safe securities by my executors, shall constitute a fund, the interest on which shall be annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind.

What a wonderful life I've had! I only wish I'd realized it sooner.

I would rather walk with a friend in the dark, than alone in the light.

The more I give to thee, the more I have, for both are infinite.

We love the things we love for what they are.

The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.

Should not the giver be thankful that the receiver received? Is not giving a need? Is not receiving mercy?