Attitudes Of Gratitude Quotes

We've searched our database for all the quotes and captions related to Attitudes Of Gratitude. Here they are! All 100 of them:

β€œ
Pursue what catches your heart, not what catches your eyes.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals. If you aren’t grateful for what you already have, what makes you think you would be happy with more.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
Always remember people who have helped you along the way, and don’t forget to lift someone up.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
Each day brings new opportunities, allowing you to constantly live with loveβ€”be there for othersβ€”bring a little light into someone's day. Be grateful and live each day to the fullest.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
True happiness is to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is sufficient, for he that is so wants nothing. The greatest blessings of mankind are within us and within our reach. A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.
”
”
Seneca
β€œ
When one has a grateful heart, life is so beautiful.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
Gratitude builds a bridge to abundance.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE. Most of all, enjoy every moment of the journey, and appreciate where you are at this moment instead of always focusing on how far you have to go.
”
”
Mandy Hale (The Single Woman: Life, Love, and a Dash of Sass)
β€œ
7 Effective Ways to Make Others Feel Important 1. Use their name. 2. Express sincere gratitude. 3. Do more listening than talking. 4. Talk more about them than about you. 5. Be authentically interested. 6. Be sincere in your praise. 7. Show you care.
”
”
Roy T. Bennett (The Light in the Heart)
β€œ
When a person doesn’t have gratitude, something is missing in his or her humanity. A person can almost be defined by his or her attitude toward gratitude.
”
”
Elie Wiesel
β€œ
The ship of my life may or may not be sailing on calm and amiable seas. The challenging days of my existence may or may not be bright and promising. Stormy or sunny days, glorious or lonely nights, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed.
”
”
Maya Angelou
β€œ
It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
”
”
Brian Tracy
β€œ
Babe, advice. A man expresses his gratitude, you do not throw attitude. You kiss him and, maybe, suck his dick to show your appreciation.
”
”
Kristen Ashley (Motorcycle Man (Dream Man, #4))
β€œ
An attitude of gratitude brings great things.
”
”
Yogi Bhajan
β€œ
Your comfort zone is a place where you keep yourself in a self-illusion and nothing can grow there but your potentiality can grow only when you can think and grow out of that zone.
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
If you are on social media, and you are not learning, not laughing, not being inspired or not networking, then you are using it wrong.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Sustain joy by anchoring yourself with gratitude.
”
”
C. Toni Graham
β€œ
Gratitude is one of the most powerful human emotions. Once expressed, it changes attitude, brightens outlook, and broadens our perspective.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Gratitude bestows reverence.....changing forever how we experience life and the world.
”
”
John Milton
β€œ
Some of the best things that have ever happened to us wouldn’t have happened to us, if it weren’t for some of the worst things that have ever happened to us.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
β€œ
A sincere attitude of gratitude is a beatitude for secured altitudes. Appreciate what you have been given and you will be promoted higher.
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor
β€œ
Blessings! Count them and be thankful. Ask for an abundance of them and accept with gratitude.
”
”
C. Toni Graham
β€œ
Any day above ground is a good day. Before you complain about anything, be thankful for your life and the things that are still going well.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Take time daily to reflect on how much you have. It may not be all that you want but remember someone somewhere is dreaming to have what you have.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Wealth can also be that attitude of gratitude with which we remind ourselves everyday to count our blessings.
”
”
Chris Gardner (The Pursuit of Happyness)
β€œ
Practicing an attitude of gratitude spills over to acts of generosity.
”
”
Debbie Macomber (One Simple Act: Discovering the Power of Generosity)
β€œ
The most attractive thing about you should have less to do with your face or body and more to do with your attitude and how you treat people.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.
”
”
Ryan Holiday (The Daily Stoic: 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living)
β€œ
Having gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a gift and not deliver it.
”
”
Thomas S. Monson
β€œ
Wealth is an inner feeling. More precisely, wealth is an outlook, an attitude, a belief. And the most obvious measurement of wealth is gratitude.
”
”
Bo SΓ‘nchez (Don't Worry, Be Happy)
β€œ
Life is about having an attitude of gratitude. And grabitude. Seriously, you’ve got to take stuff. What, do you think someone’s just going to hand you what you want?
”
”
Jarod Kintz (This Book is Not for Sale)
β€œ
Every morning we wake up with the same choice: What will my attitude be today? Ask yourself that without fail. Decide that no matter what the day brings, your attitude will include three elements: an awareness of how far you’ve come, gratitude for where you are, and determination to keep moving in the right direction.
”
”
Toni Sorenson
β€œ
We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude.
”
”
Thomas S. Monson
β€œ
Preserve a sense of proportion in your attitude to everything that pleases you, and make the most of them while they are at their best.
”
”
Seneca (Letters from a Stoic)
β€œ
The circumstances surrounding your birth is not as important as the opportunity to live life.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β€œ
If you're not grateful for what you already have, why should you be blessed with more...
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
When life gets hectic and you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to focus on the people and things you are most grateful for. When you have an attitude of gratitude, frustrating troubles will fall by the wayside.
”
”
Dana Arcuri (Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity, A 50-Day Devotional)
β€œ
Your VISION and your self-willingness is the MOST powerful elements to conquer your goal
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Each day brings new opportunities, allowing you to constantly live with loveβ€”be there for othersβ€”bring a little light into someone's day. Be grateful and live each day to the fullest.
”
”
Roy Bennett
β€œ
How simple it is to acknowledge that all the worry in the world could not control the future. How simple it is to see that we can only be happy now, and that there will never be a time when it is not now.
”
”
Jonathan Harnisch (Jonathan Harnisch: An Alibiography)
β€œ
Behind every creative act is a statement of love. Every artistic creation is a statement of gratitude.
”
”
Kilroy J. Oldster (Dead Toad Scrolls)
β€œ
Don't promote negativity online and expect people to treat you with positivity in person.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
An attitude of gratitude increases abundance and diminishes fear.
”
”
Jeffrey Fry
β€œ
The Neo-Pagan Ten β€œCommandments” 1. Thou art God/dess. 2. As above, so below; as within so without. 3. Spirit abides in all things; words & names have power. 4. Maintain an attitude of gratitude (walk the talk). 5. Honor the ancestors, teachers, elders, and leaders. 6. All life is sacred. 7. All acts of love and pleasure are sacred. 8. Whatever you send out returns threefold. 9. Love is the law, love under will. 10. For the greatest good, an’ it harm none.
”
”
Marian Singer (A Witch's 10 Commandments: Magickal Guidelines for Everyday Life)
β€œ
You will finally have dignity when you realize that you are not on the path, but have become the path for others.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
Gratitude leads to a good attitude
”
”
Habeeb Akande
β€œ
Father God, we thank you for your grace and your mercy, for allowing us to be together under your covenant and God we thank you for the revelations and for the breakthroughs; for your direction and for your healing. We thank you God for the opportunity to just be a vessel for your kingdom. God we trust you, we love you, we honor you, and all glory is yours. Amen
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
Human beings consider themselves satisfied only compared to some other condition. A man who has owned nothing but a bicycle all of his life feels suddenly wealthy the moment he buys an automobile...But this happy sensation wears off. After a while the car becomes just another thing that he owns. Moreover, when his neighbor next door buys two cars, in an instant our man feels wretchedly poor and deprived.
”
”
Alan Lightman (Reunion)
β€œ
Infinite gratitude, infinite hope.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β€œ
Kota!” I said, stepping away from my sisters and Lucy. β€œYou can sleep on the couch or in the garage or in the tree house for all I care; but if you don’t check your attitude, I’ll send you back to your apartment right now! Have some gratitude for the security you’ve been offered. Need I remind you that tomorrow we’re burying our father? Either stop the bickering or go home.” I turned on my heel and headed down the hall. Without checking, I knew Lucy was right behind me, suitcase in hand. I opened the door to my room, waiting for her to come in with me. Once her skirts swished past the frame, I slammed it shut, heaving a sigh. β€œWas that too much?” I asked. β€œIt was perfect!” she replied with delight. β€œYou might as well be the princess already, miss. You’re ready for it.
”
”
Kiera Cass (The One (The Selection, #3))
β€œ
Attitude of gratitude.
”
”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
β€œ
An attitude of gratitude goes a long way when it comes to physical and emotional healing.
”
”
Jill Bolte Taylor (My Stroke of Insight: A Brain Scientist's Personal Journey)
β€œ
Gratitude is not in the words but in the heart which expresses it.
”
”
Luffina Lourduraj
β€œ
The moment that you give gratitude is the moment that you find happiness. The moment that you lose gratitude your happiness will vanish and slip through your fingers
”
”
Rasheed Ogunlaru
β€œ
I am one of the happiest gals you know because I choose it every single day. I choose to practice gratitude; I choose to surround myself with things and people who support positivity.
”
”
Rachel Hollis (Girl, Stop Apologizing: A Shame-Free Plan for Embracing and Achieving Your Goals)
β€œ
Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows, and the more power you have to use it on your behalf. If you do not practice gratefulness, its benefaction will go unnoticed, and your capacity to draw on its gifts will be diminished. To be grateful is to find blessings in everything. This is the most powerful attitude to adopt, for there are blessings in everything.
”
”
Alan Cohen
β€œ
Except for a couple of hours in the morning which I passed in the company of a sage I stayed in bed without food only a few mouthfuls of water β€œyou are a fine looking old man” I said to myself in the mirror β€œand what is more you have the correct attitude You don’t care if it ends or if it goes on And as for the women and the music there will be plenty of that in Paradise” Then I went to the Mosque of Memory to express my gratitude
”
”
Leonard Cohen
β€œ
The very joyful thing about seeing ourselves and life from a place of gratitude instead of entitlementβ€” is that this way of breathing allows us to be forgiving of difficult circumstances in life and of those people who delivered such difficult circumstances to us. Gratitude allows us second chances at joy; not with the same circumstances or those same people; but it alleviates the burden of bitterness that comes with not receiving what one believes he/she was entitled to have. We can instead look forward into life and see that there will be many good things and we will be grateful for them.
”
”
C. JoyBell C.
β€œ
Thanksgiving is an attitude that must be rooted in the β€˜gift of life’ if we ever hope to be thankful for the β€˜gifts’ of life.
”
”
Craig D. Lounsbrough (An Intimate Collision: Encounters with Life and Jesus)
β€œ
Autumn is a momentum of the natures golden beauty…, so the same it’s time to find your momentum of life
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Live everyday like your birthday and drive your life with all varieties of appreciation. A life live with thanksgiving every day is never tired of being lived again and again!
”
”
Israelmore Ayivor (Daily Drive 365)
β€œ
Nothing can stop you from being happy except yourself. Focus on positive thoughts.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Pearls of Wisdom: Great mind)
β€œ
Be grateful for what you already have while you pursue your goals.
”
”
Roy Bennett
β€œ
I am thankful to the Lord for my redemption. I was once lost, now I am saved by grace.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita (Think Great: Be Great! (Beautiful Quotes, #1))
β€œ
We owe some of our successes to people who did not want to help us more than we do to those who have helped us.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
β€œ
Be encouraged. Hold your head up high and know God is in control and has a plan for you. Instead of focusing on all the bad, be thankful for all the good.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
For every person who closed the door in my face, thank you. For every person who told me I wasn't good enough, thank you. For every person who laughed and told me that I was wasting my time going to college, because I was going to fail, thank you. For every person who tried to break me, thank you. For every person who took my kindness for weakness, thank you. For every person who told me I was wasting time chasing my dreams because I would fail, thank you. It could of broke me. From the core of my heart, I thank you. I truly mean it, because if it weren't for each of you I wouldn't be who I am today. I wouldn't of spend hours and loss sleep studying. I wouldn't developed tough skin. You pushed me to think about what I "really" want out of life. You pushed me to master my craft. You helped me develop the drive, passion and determination. You pushed me to not wait for someone to believe in my vision, but to find a way to make things happen. I know you didn't "intend" to, but I thank you for teaching me to believe in myself! AND you taught me to TRUST in God and lean on my faith, not man. Thank You!
”
”
Yvonne Pierre (The Day My Soul Cried: A Memoir)
β€œ
Your traditional EDUCATION is not going to CHANGE your life but the life you are experiencing that can change you. Choose a POSITIVE life STYLE with positive ATTITUDE which could bring you a life with HAPPINESS and WISDOM
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
The more gratefully we fix our minds on the Supreme when good things come to us, the more good things we will receive, and the more rapidly they will come; and the reason simply is that the mental attitude of gratitude draws the mind into closer touch with the source from which the blessings come.
”
”
Wallace D. Wattles (The Science of Getting Rich)
β€œ
Well-being has been cast aside for wealth; success favored over sanity. In the process, some have turned cold toward life, and toward others. Where is the energized, heightened, exhilarated pulse one would expect from such a chosen and capable people? Why do we not hear more laughter and life? Where is the vibrant, mad fury and passion of the fully engaged human? Where are the people burning with charisma and joy and magnetism? Where is the appreciation for life’s spark? We must reexamine our attitude toward life. Our supreme duty must be to rekindle the magic of life. For this, we now declare: WE SHALL PRACTICE JOY AND GRATITUDE.
”
”
Brendon Burchard (The Motivation Manifesto: 9 Declarations to Claim Your Personal Power)
β€œ
How you think and create your inner world that you gonna become in your outer world. Your inner believe manifest you in the outside
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Always watch your attitude, never forget to express your gratitude.
”
”
Debasish Mridha
β€œ
What are you addicted to: being thankful for your blessings or moaning about your problems?
”
”
Maddy Malhotra (How to Build Self-Esteem and Be Confident: Overcome Fears, Break Habits, Be Successful and Happy)
β€œ
It's easy and natural to be thankful when your expectations are met. The real test of your faith is when things don't go your way, or when you are in pain.
”
”
Maddy Malhotra (How to Build Self-Esteem and Be Confident: Overcome Fears, Break Habits, Be Successful and Happy)
β€œ
Gratitude is where every positive attitude starts.
”
”
Michael Hyatt (Living Forward: A Proven Plan to Stop Drifting and Get the Life You Want)
β€œ
Gratitude is not in words, but in the heart, which expresses it.
”
”
Luffina Lourduraj
β€œ
Gratitude makes you a better, stronger, wiser person. Ingratitude makes you a negative, angry, miserable person. Which person do you choose to be?
”
”
Tanya Masse
β€œ
Don’t settle for living mediocre. Focus on all the positive and embrace it. Ignore the negative and be thankful for every single day.
”
”
Germany Kent
β€œ
To live, to truly live, one must consider each and every thing a blessing.
”
”
Kamand Kojouri
β€œ
Develop an attitude of gratitude, and give thanks for everything that happens to you, knowing that every step forward is a step toward achieving something bigger and better than your current situation.
”
”
Brian Tracy
β€œ
Cultivating an attitude of gratitude begins with counting your blessings. In simpler terms, gratitude is expressing thanks for gifts we receive. Genuine gratitude helps us to see the little things in life that are often overlooked, yet so precious.
”
”
Dana Arcuri (Harvest of Hope: Living Victoriously Through Adversity, A 50-Day Devotional)
β€œ
To evade arrogance, remind yourself (from time to time) that your talent or success could have been better. To be thankful, remind yourself (every now and then) that your illness or failure could have been worse.
”
”
Mokokoma Mokhonoana
β€œ
There are still blue skies and rainbows and days bathed in sunlight. There are colorful shade trees filled with sweet bird songs. And there are wishing stars in the heavens as well as angels in God's service. So lift up your eyes. Refuse to be unhappy.
”
”
Richelle E. Goodrich (Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year)
β€œ
Being grateful all the time isn't easy. But it's when you feel least thankful that you are most in need of what gratitude can give you: perspective. Gratitude can transform any situation, It alters your vibration, moving you from negative energy to positive. It's the quickest, easiest, most powerful way to effect change in your life - this I know for sure.
”
”
Oprah Winfrey (What I Know for Sure)
β€œ
Walking in shoes bigger than your feet, will inspire gravity to pull you down." Let's be grateful for what fits us...for what we have.
”
”
Jacent Mary Mpalyenkana
β€œ
After that exercise, the ship of my life might or might not be sailing on calm seas. The challenging days of my existence might or might not be bright and promising. From that encounter on, whether my days are stormy or sunny and if my nights are glorious or lonely, I maintain an attitude of gratitude. If pessimism insists on occupying my thoughts, I remember there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed.
”
”
Maya Angelou (Mom & Me & Mom)
β€œ
Embracing an attitude of gratitude is nourishing to the soul. When we allow ourselves to be engulfed in gratitude, this abundant soul nourishment overflows to your relationships, careers, and day to day lives. Act in gratitude today… If you are grateful to those you love, show them. If you are grateful to those who have helped you, show them. If you are grateful to your creator, to your family, to your friends, and you want it to be known, let it be shown!
”
”
Steve Maraboli
β€œ
If you are not EXCITED enough at your present life its mean your future is not EXITING. Excitement will give you ENTHUSIASM and enthusiasm will give you a positive energetic LIFE STYLE which could give you a successful exiting life…
”
”
Rashedur Ryan Rahman
β€œ
Think of a world where β€œDetachment”, β€œGratitude” and β€œEmpathy” were subjects included in every grade school’s curriculum. A new generation would emerge with an attitude of peace, contentment and an overall appreciation for everything and everyone
”
”
Gary Hopkins
β€œ
God has given us the use of his resources for a short time here on earth, and we have much to be grateful for. Go through your day sometime just recognizing that everything is God’s. Get out of God’s bed and walk into God’s bathroom, and turn on God’s shower, and then put on God’s clothes. Eat God’s cereal* and drink God’s coffee. Get in God’s car and head to work. When we start to see all of our resources as God’s it helps us develop an attitude of gratitude that leads to a heart of worship.
”
”
Kyle Idleman (Gods at War: Defeating the Idols that Battle for Your Heart)
β€œ
If you want to be a good parent then be a great leader. You should live a life with passion for someone and something. The legacy you leave your children shouldn't be how you suffered in gratitude for a life you had no passion for. Rather, it should be how grateful you are to a God that believes fairytales can come true because they came true for you.
”
”
Shannon L. Alder
β€œ
Let our heart glow when you pray. Let our soul's innermost desire and need flow in silence, gratitude and humble petition. Let our daily prayers be a life attitude not only when we are in trouble but never forgetting to include all others who are also in difficulties. There are times prayers cannot change things for us but we grow and change with faith and strength, patience and serenity with a heart that extends for others.
”
”
Angelica Hopes (Landscapes of a Heart, Whispers of a Soul (Speranza Odyssey Trilogy, #1))
β€œ
BLESSINGS ARE IMMEASURABLE You can Lose a child Or a parent, The love of your life, A good job, A game, A deal, A bet, An idea, Your favorite thing, Money, Your best friend, A moment, An opportunity, A chance, Your keys, Your mind, Your health, Your identity, Your virginity, Your religion, Your shirt, Your license, ID or Passport, Phone or phone number, Hope, Faith, Luck, Your pride, Or your house, And feel like You've lost everything, And keep on losing. Stop Counting losses And start counting your blessings. Only then, Will you discover that losses Are easier to point out And count Than blessings, And that blessings Outnumber your losses For they are truly Immeasurable. It is only normal that People count losses with Their minds, And ignore To count blessings With the graciousness Of their hearts.
”
”
Suzy Kassem (Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem)
β€œ
If you can manage to see yourself from the outside and accept yourself as a vulnerable organism within the biosphere, rather than focusing on the narrowness of your own needs and considering yourself the center of reality, you will be amazed at how the world positively overflows with suffering beings, each with needs and appetites of their own. Something odd occurs when one has that experience: Suddenly, the soul is filled with deep compasion for the world. This is the only attitude adequate to the task of scaling the dark mountain of the ecological catastrophe we face: without any illusion that it is possible to change human beings based on the strenght of better insights. But with full-fledged empathy for this creation, among which things are so hard precisely because it is creation. And with equally strong gratitude for this creation beneath a graciously warm sun and its affirmative light: where we have already been given everyhing we need to live, before we ever thought to desire it.
”
”
Andreas Weber (Matter and Desire: An Erotic Ecology)
β€œ
There are several attitudes towards Christmas, Some of which we may disregard: The social, the torpid, the patently commercial, The rowdy (the pubs being open till midnight), And the childish β€” which is not that of the child For whom the candle is a star, and the gilded angel Spreading its wings at the summit of the tree Is not only a decoration, but an angel. The child wonders at the Christmas Tree: Let him continue in the spirit of wonder At the Feast as an event not accepted as a pretext; So that the glittering rapture, the amazement Of the first-remembered Christmas Tree, So that the surprises, delight in new possessions (Each one with its peculiar and exciting smell), The expectation of the goose or turkey And the expected awe on its appearance, So that the reverence and the gaiety May not be forgotten in later experience, In the bored habituation, the fatigue, the tedium, The awareness of death, the consciousness of failure, Or in the piety of the convert Which may be tainted with a self-conceit Displeasing to God and disrespectful to children (And here I remember also with gratitude St. Lucy, her carol, and her crown of fire): So that before the end, the eightieth Christmas (By β€œeightieth” meaning whichever is last) The accumulated memories of annual emotion May be concentrated into a great joy Which shall be also a great fear, as on the occasion When fear came upon every soul: Because the beginning shall remind us of the end And the first coming of the second coming.
”
”
T.S. Eliot
β€œ
There can be no doubt that the chief fault we have developed, through the long course of human evolution, is a certain basic passivity. When provoked by challenges, human beings are magnificent. When life is quiet and even, we take the path of least resistance, and then wonder why we feel bored. A man who is determined and active doesn't pay much attention to 'luck'. If things go badly, he takes a deep breath and redoubles his effort. And he quickly discovers that his moments of deepest happiness often come after such efforts. The man who has become accustomed to a passive existence becomes preoccupied with 'luck'; it may become an obsession. When things go well, he is delighted and good humored; when they go badly, he becomes gloomy and petulant. He is unhappyβ€”or dissatisfiedβ€”most of the time, for even when he has no cause for complaint, he feels that gratitude would be premature; things might go wrong at any moment; you can't really trust the world... Gambling is one basic response to this passivity, revealing the obsession with luck, the desire to make things happen. The absurdity about this attitude is that we fail to recognize the active part we play in making life a pleasure. When my will is active, my whole mental and physical being works better, just as my digestion works better if I take exercise between meals. I gain an increasing feeling of control over my life, instead of the feeling of helplessness (what Sartre calls 'contingency') that comes from long periods of passivity. Yet even people who are intelligent enough to recognize this find the habit of passivity so deeply ingrained that they find themselves holding their breath when things go well, hoping fate will continue to be kind.
”
”
Colin Wilson (Strange Powers)
β€œ
But there is a way of despising the dandelion which is not that of the dreary pessimist, but of the more offensive optimist. It can be done in various ways; one of which is saying, "You can get much better dandelions at Selfridge's," or "You can get much cheaper dandelions at Woolworth's." Another way is to observe with a casual drawl, "Of course nobody but Gamboli in Vienna really understands dandelions," or saying that nobody would put up with the old-fashioned dandelion since the super-dandelion has been grown in the Frankfurt Palm Garden; or merely sneering at the stinginess of providing dandelions, when all the best hostesses give you an orchid for your buttonhole and a bouquet of rare exotics to take away with you. These are all methods of undervaluing the thing by comparison; for it is not familiarity but comparison that breeds contempt. And all such captious comparisons are ultimately based on the strange and staggering heresy that a human being has a right to dandelions; that in some extraordinary fashion we can demand the very pick of all the dandelions in the garden of Paradise; that we owe no thanks for them at all and need feel no wonder at them at all; and above all no wonder at being thought worthy to receive them. Instead of saying, like the old religious poet, "What is man that Thou carest for him, or the son of man that Thou regardest him?" we are to say like the discontented cabman, "What's this?" or like the bad-tempered Major in the club, "Is this a chop fit for a gentleman?" Now I not only dislike this attitude quite as much as the Swinburnian pessimistic attitude, but I think it comes to very much the same thing; to the actual loss of appetite for the chop or the dish of dandelion-tea. And the name of it is Presumption and the name of its twin brother is Despair. This is the principle I was maintaining when I seemed an optimist to Mr. Max Beerbohm; and this is the principle I am still maintaining when I should undoubtedly seem a pessimist to Mr. Gordon Selfridge. The aim of life is appreciation; there is no sense in not appreciating things; and there is no sense in having more of them if you have less appreciation of them.
”
”
G.K. Chesterton (The Autobiography of G.K. Chesterton)
β€œ
Concerning sin and our proper attitude when we find ourselves in sin. Truly, to have committed a sin is not sinful if we regret what we have done. Indeed, not for anything in time or eternity should we want to commit a sin, neither of a mortal, venial or any other kind. Whoever knows the ways of God should always be mindful of the fact that God, who is faithful and loving, has led us from a sinful life into a godly one, thus making friends of us who were previously enemies, which is a greater achievement even than making a new earth. This is one of the chief reasons why we should be wholly established in God, and it is astonishing how much this inflames us with so great and so strong a love that we strip ourselves entirely of ourselves. Indeed, if you are rightly placed in the will of God, then you should not wish that the sin into which you fell had not happened. Of course, this is not the case because sin was something against God but, precisely because it was something against God, you were bound by it to greater love, you were humbled and brought low. And you should trust God that he would not have allowed it to happen unless he intended it to be for your profit. But when we raise ourselves out of sin and turn away from it, then God in his faithfulness acts as if we had never fallen into sin at all and he does not punish us for our sins for a single moment, even if they are as great as the sum of all the sins that have ever been committed. God will not make us suffer on their account, but he can enjoy with us all the intimacy that he ever had with a creature. If he finds that we are now ready, then he does not consider what we were before. God is a God of the present. He takes you and receives you as he finds you now, not as you have been, but as you are now. God willingly endures all the harm and shame which all our sins have ever inflicted upon him, as he has already done for many years, in order that we should come to a deep knowledge of his love and in order that our love and our gratitude should increase and our zeal grow more intense, which often happens when we have repented of our sins. Therefore God willingly tolerates the hurtfulness of sin and has often done so in the past, most frequently allowing it to come upon those whom he has chosen to raise up to greatness. Now listen! Was there ever anyone dearer to or more intimate with our Lord than the apostles? And yet not one of them escaped mortal sin. They all committed mortal sin. He showed this time and again in the Old and New Testament in those individuals who were to become the closest to him by far; and even today we rarely find that people achieve great things without first going astray. And thus our Lord intends to teach us of his great mercy, urging us to great and true humility and devotion. For, when repentance is renewed, then love too is renewed and grows strong.
”
”
Meister Eckhart (Selected Writings)