Ingratitude Quotes, Sayings, Proverbs...
and ungracious quotes!
"Why is it no one ever sent me yet
One perfect limousine, do you suppose?
Ah no, it's always just my luck to get
One perfect rose."
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), American writer, poet & critic
There is a huge body of quotes about being thankful and feeling gratitude, but there are also a good number of quotes and sayings about the polar opposite – ingratitude, thanklessness and being ungrateful.
In addition, there are several frankly ungracious quotes from those who appear to have considered gratitude a weakness! Here is a selection of ungracious & unthankful quotations & sayings for you to savor!
Ingratitude Quotes & Sayings
Ingratitude is the essence of vileness.
Immanuel Kant (1724-1804), German philosopher
Most people return small favors, acknowledge medium ones and repay greater ones – with ingratitude.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), American statesman, politician, author, scientist and inventor, and one of the founding fathers of the United States
Ingratitude to man is ingratitude to God.
Samuel ibn Naghrela (993-~1056), Jewish scholar & poet
We do not quite forgive a giver. The hand that feeds us is in some danger of being bitten.
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American philosophical writer & poet
I have learned silence from the talkative, tolerance from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet, strange, I am ungrateful to those teachers.
Kahlil Gibran (1883-1931), Lebanese-American writer, poet & artist
We often fancy that we suffer from ingratitude, while in reality we suffer from self-love.
Walter Savage Landor (1775-1864), English writer & poet
Gratitude is the least of virtues; ingratitude the worst of vices.
French Proverb
Ungratefulness is the very poison of manhood.
Sir Philip Sidney (1554-1586), English poet, courtier & soldier
When our perils are past, shall our gratitude sleep?
George Canning (1770-1827), British Prime Minister
Ingratitude is always a kind of weakness. I have never seen clever men be ungrateful.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832), German writer, philosopher & scientist
More Quotes about Thanklessness and Ingratitude
Remember that not to be happy is not to be grateful.
Attributed to Elizabeth Carter
Who does not thank for little will not thank for much.
Estonian Proverb
Nothing more detestable does the earth produce than an ungrateful man.
Ausonius (~310 – ~395), Roman poet
The unthankful heart... discovers no mercies.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), American priest & social reformer
A thankful person is thankful under all circumstances. A complaining soul complains even if he lives in paradise.
Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892), founder of the Bahá'í Faith
How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child.
William Shakespeare (~1565-1616), English playwright & poet. From: King Lear, Act I, Scene 4
We often take for granted the very things that most deserve our gratitude.
Cynthia Ozick (b. 1928), American writer
Many people who order their lives rightly in all other ways are kept in poverty by their lack of gratitude.
Wallace Wattles (1860-1911), American author
Only a stomach that rarely feels hungry scorns common things.
Horace (65-8 BC), Roman poet
What a miserable thing life is: you're living in clover, only the clover isn't good enough.
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956), German playwright & poet
More Ingratitude Quotations
Next to ingratitude the most painful thing to bear is gratitude.
Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887), American priest & social reformer
Too great haste to repay an obligation is a kind of ingratitude.
François de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680), French writer
Ingratitude is monstrous.
William Shakespeare (~1564-1616), English playwright & poet. From: Coriolanus, Act II, Scene 3
Maybe the only thing worse than having to give gratitude constantly is having to accept it.
William Faulkner (1897-1962), American writer & Nobel laureate
The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings.
Eric Hoffer (1902-1983), American writer
Gratitude is a burden, and every burden is made to be shaken off.
Denis Diderot (1713-1784), French philosopher & author
Revenge is profitable, gratitude is expensive.
Edward Gibbon (1737-1794), English historian
I remember those happy days and often wish I could speak into the ears of the dead the gratitude which was due to them in life and so ill-returned.
Gwyn Thomas (1913-1981), Welsh author & poet
Don't it always seem to go
That you don't know what you've got
Til it's gone
Gwyn Thomas (1913-1981), Welsh author & poet
Thanksgiving is a special virtue. But ingratitude is opposed to thanksgiving. Therefore ingratitude is a special sin.
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), Italian priest, philosopher & theologian
Learn to appreciate what you have, before time makes you appreciate what you had.
Author unknown
Gratitude – the meanest and most sniveling attribute in the world.
Dorothy Parker (1893-1967), American writer, poet & critic
Gratitude is a sickness suffered by dogs.
Joseph Stalin (1879-1953), Leader of the Soviet Union