Home | Quotes | Tips & Guidance | Samples | Gifts | Teachers | Kids & Teens | Resources | Get Help

Thank You Quotes & Sayings for Difficult Times: Expressing Gratitude in Tough Times & Times of Loss

"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars."
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American philosophical writer & poet
When someone is going through a challenging time, it can be insensitive to simply suggest that they 'count their blessings'. However, being thankful and expressing gratitude is a positive step and can encourage the healing process.
Sponsored links
Here are thank you and gratitude quotes that may help to keep things in perspective and cast at least some things in a better light.



Every day may not be good... But there's something good in every day.
Author unknown


Every problem has a gift for you in its hands.
Richard Bach (b. 1936), American writer


If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.
Robert Quillen (1887-1948), American journalist and humorist


I still miss those I loved who are no longer with me but I find I am grateful for having loved them. The gratitude has finally conquered the loss.
Rita Mae Brown (b. 1944), American writer


I have a kind soul that would give you thanks / And knows not how to do it but with tears.
William Shakespeare (~1564-1616), English playwright & poet. From: King John, Act V, Scene 7


Pain is a very precious gift. Do not waste it.
Martha Singleterry


We give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way.
Sacred ritual chant. From: A Little Book of Thank Yous


Give thanks for a little and you will find a lot.
Nigerian proverb



Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some.
Charles Dickens (1812-1870), English writer & novelist


Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn't learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn't learn a little,
at least we didn't get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn't die;
so, let us all be thankful.

Attributed to The Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama (~5th century BC), founder of Buddhism


For every bad there might be a worse; and when one breaks his leg, let him be thankful it was not his neck.
Joseph Hall (1574-1656), English bishop & writer


How far that little candle throws his beams! / So shines a good deed in a naughty world.
William Shakespeare (~1564-1616), English playwright & poet. From: The Merchant of Venice, Act V, Scene 1 (N.B. changed to '... a good deed in a weary world,' in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory).


If we thanked God for the good things, there wouldn't be time to weep over the bad.
Yiddish Proverb


Praise God even when you don't understand what He is doing.
Attributed to Henry Jacobsen


So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done.
Marian Wright Edelman (b. 1939), American activist for the rights of children


Once I dive into some sort of giving back, I feel useful and grateful that I have something to give.
From Quantum Wellness (2008) by Kathy Freston, American wellness guru & author


Real friendship is shown in times of trouble; prosperity is full of friends.
Euripides (~480-406 BC), ancient Greek dramatist (also attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson)


No one is as capable of gratitude as one who has emerged from the kingdom of night.
Elie Wiesel (b. 1928), Jewish-American writer, academic, activist, Nobel laureate & Holocaust survivor


There is always, always, always something to be thankful for.
Author unknown


I do not think of all the misery, but of the glory that remains. Go outside into the fields, nature and the sun, go out and seek happiness in yourself and in God. Think of the beauty that again and again discharges itself within and without you and be happy.
Anne Frank (1929-1945), diarist and Jewish victim of the Holocaust


Pain makes you stronger, tears make you braver, heartbreak makes you wise. So thank the past for a better future.
Author unknown


We can always find something to be thankful for, and there may be reasons why we ought to be thankful for even those dispensations which appear dark and frowning.
Albert Barnes (1798-1870), American theologian


I'm thankful for every break in my heart,
I'm grateful for every scar,
Some pages turned,
Some bridges burned,
But there were lessons learned.

Carrie Underwood, lyrics to Lessons Learned


Be grateful for whatever comes because each has been sent as a guide from beyond.
Rumi (1207-1273), Persian poet & mystic


When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.
Author Unknown


I think one of life's great milestones is when a person can look back and be almost as thankful for the setbacks as for the victories.
Bob Dole (b. 1923), American Senator


The highest tribute to the dead is not grief but gratitude.
Thornton Wilder (1897-1975), American playwright and novelist


I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God.
Helen Keller (1880-1968), American deafblind author, activist & lecturer


If you count all your assets, you always show a profit.
Robert Quillen (1887-1948), American journalist & humorist