Thanksgiving Quotes: Finding The Right Words For Turkey Day

Thanksgiving quotes can help you find the the right words for a day of thanks, whether they’re needed for a pre-meal prayer or just putting together a funny Facebook status.

The problem is that these quotes aren’t exactly as easy to come by as other holidays. There are dozens of quotes about the solemn meaning of Christmas, and for Valentine’s Day love quotes are virtually everywhere.

But Thanksgiving quotes aren’t exactly the same. There are relatively few Thanksgiving movies to provide quote fodder (with a few notable exceptions, like Miracle on 34th Street and The Big Chill), and Christmas is usually an easier target for comedians.

Luckily, there are a few great Thanksgiving quotes out there, and The Inquisitr has you covered for whatever the occasion may be. Here are some of the best.

Meaningful Thanksgiving Quotes:

Oprah Winfrey: “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.”

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

Henry David Thoreau: “I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual…O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.”

Henry Ward Beecher: “The unthankful heart… discovers no mercies; but let the thankful heart sweep through the day and, as the magnet finds the iron, so it will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings!”

Gerald Good: “If you want to turn your life around, try thankfulness. It will change your life mightily.”

Joseph Auslander: “Dear Lord; we beg but one boon more: Peace in the hearts of all men living, peace in the whole world this Thanksgiving.”

Konrad von Gesner: “Best of all is it to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song.”

Funny Thanksgiving quotes:

Erma Bombeck: “Thanksgiving dinners take eighteen hours to prepare. They are consumed in twelve minutes. Half-times take twelve minutes. This is not coincidence.”

Craig Ferguson: “I like football. I find its an exciting strategic game. Its a great way to avoid conversation with your family at Thanksgiving.”

Johnny Carson: “Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then discover once a year is way too often.”

Jim Gaffigan: “Thanksgiving. It’s like we didn’t even try to come up with a tradition. The tradition is, we overeat. ‘Hey, how about at Thanksgiving we just eat a lot?’ ‘But we do that every day!’ ‘Oh. What if we eat a lot with people that annoy the hell out of us?'”

Jon Stewart: “I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.”

Kevin James: “Thanksgiving, man. Not a good day to be my pants.”

If these Thanksgiving quotes don’t do the trick, you can check out some more lists here.