21 Thanksgiving Quotes That Will Inspire the Perfect Holiday Toast

The holiday season is truly the most wonderful time of the year, from festive decorations to special gatherings, traditions, and of course, all the feasting. Thanksgiving is one of those sacred days to spend with family and friends to celebrate another year around the sun and all the blessings each person has experienced. 

We’ve rounded up 21 conversation-starting quotes inspired by family, gratitude, and cooking to spark the perfect Turkey Day toast or simply change the subject from politics to something lighter. From comedic thoughts on family to inspirational quotes on the importance of gratitude, one of these is sure to fit the vibe of your Thanksgiving celebration.

1.. “Be present in all things and thankful for all things.” —Maya Angelou

2. “A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all the other virtues.” —Charlotte Brontë

3. “Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving.” —W.T. Purkiser

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

5. “Even in the trials of life, if we have eyes to see them, we can find good things everywhere we look.” —Joanna Gaines

6. “Let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome evil and welcome good.” —Maya Angelou

7. “Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.” —Epicurus

8. “Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.” —Marcel Proust

9. “After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one’s own relations.” —Oscar Wilde

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

11. “It’s not too much food. This is what we’ve been training for our whole lives. This is our destiny, this is our finest hour.” —Lorelai Gilmore, “Gilmore Girls”

12. “If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance.” —George Bernard Shaw

13. “The turkey. The sweet potatoes. The stuffing. The pumpkin pie. Is there anything else we all can agree so vehemently about? I don’t think so.” —Nora Ephron

14. “Laughter is brightest in the place where food is.” —Irish Proverb

15. “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” —Virginia Woolf

16. “It is easy to think of potatoes, and fortunately for men who have not much money it is easy to think of them with a certain safety. Potatoes are one of the last things to disappear, in times of war, which is probably why they should not be forgotten in times of peace.” —M.F.K. Fisher

17. “So the pie isn’t perfect? Cut it into wedges. Stay in control, and never panic.” —Martha Stewart

18. “If you think about a Thanksgiving dinner, it’s really like making a large chicken.” —Ina Garten

19. “I think preparing food and feeding people brings nourishment not only to our bodies but to our spirits. Feeding people is a way of loving them, in the same way that feeding ourselves is a way of honoring our own createdness and fragility.” —Shauna Niequist

20. “The world begins at a kitchen table.” —Joy Harjo

21. “There are times when wisdom cannot be found in the chambers of parliament or the halls of academia but at the unpretentious setting of the kitchen table.” —E.A. Bucchianeri