Once, when my feet were bare, and I had not the means of
obtaining shoes I came to the chief of Kufah in a state
of much dejection, and saw there a man who had no feet.
I returned thanks to God and acknowledged his mercies, and
endured my want of shoes with patience
- Sadi, The Gulistan
The pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts …
nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving.
- H. W. Westermayer
Do not get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged
and give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the
appropriate time.
- Galatians 6:9
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been
filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful
skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed
that we are prone to forget the source from which they
come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary
a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften
even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever
watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a
civil war of unequalled magnitude and severity, which
has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to
provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with
all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have
been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere
except in the theatre of military conflict; while that
theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies
and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth
and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to
the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the
shuttle, or the ship; the axe had enlarged the borders
of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and
coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more
abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased,
notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp,
the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing
in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor,
is permitted to expect continuance of years with large
increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor
hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They
are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while
dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless
remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that
they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged
as with one heart and voice by the whole American People.
I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part
of the United States, and also those who are at sea and
those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart
and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day
of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who
dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that
while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for
such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also,
with humble penitence for our national perverseness and
disobedience, commend to his tender care all those who
have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in
the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably
engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the
Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to
restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine
purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity
and Union. It is the duty of nations as well as of men
to own their dependence upon the overruling power of God;
to confess their sins and transgressions in humble sorrow,
yet with assured hope that genuine repentance will lead
to mercy and pardon; and to recognize the sublime truth,
announced in the Holy Scriptures and proven by all history,
that those nations are blessed whose God is the Lord.
- Abraham Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation October
3, 1863
May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
and your pies take the prize,
and may your Thanksgiving dinner
stay off your thighs!
- Unknown
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.
- Konrad von Gesner
An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving
Day.
- Irv Kupcinet
