Gratitude

Man is portrayed as a cheating, scheming opportunist who devises cruel and unusual incentives to twist the world for his own needs. I think that if a person can get ahead, he'll lie, steal, do whatever, if he thinks the benefits outweigh the costs. If morality is how we'd like the world to work, economics tells us how it really does...sometimes we should all remember that life is about little decisions, that it's about small choices - from Sunday Times interview with Steven Levitt, author of Freakonomics, 10 July 2005

I saw a beggar leaning on his wooden crutch, he said to me, "You must not ask for so much." And a pretty woman leaning in her darkened door, she cried to me, "Hey, why not ask for more?" - Leonard Cohen, Bird on the Wire

I have no absolute right to my wealth; it comes from my ancestors, my parents and from the billions of people who have worked before me to learn, to develop, to create the foundations and wealth of this planet. It is my turn to contribute to the progress of humanity. I will be grateful for anything I am paid in return - Robert Muller

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow - Melody Beattie

Gratitude is the fairest blossom which springs from the soul - Henry Ward Beeche

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others - Marcus Tullius Cicero

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others - Cicero

Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs - Joseph Stalin

Courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest in the grateful and appreciating heart - Henry Clay

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them - John Fitzgerald Kennedy