Importance of Gratitude

Virtually nothing is as significant to a good life as gratitude. Gratitude is the mother of both happiness and goodness. The ungrateful can be neither happy nor good. All happy people and all good people are grateful people. Anything that undermines gratitude undermines happiness and goodness. And nothing undermines gratitude as much as taking something or someone for granted.

Dennis Prager, The Rational Bible, Deuteronomy: God, Blessings, and Curses, pg.155

Gratitude

In many ways, gratitude is the most important of all the good character traits. It is the most indispensable trait to both happiness and goodness. One can neither be a happy person nor a good person without gratitude. The less gratitude one has, the more one sees oneself as a victim; and nothing is more likely to produce a bad person or a bad group than defining oneself or one’s group as a victim. Victims, having been hurt, too often believe they have a license to hurt others. As for happiness, if you think of all the people you know, you will not be able to name one who is ungrateful and happy. The two are mutually exclusive.

Dennis Prager, The Rational Bible, Exodus: God, Slavery, and Freedom, pg.440

Gratitude Needs Remembrance

Only when people remember the good others have done for them will they have gratitude. Unfortunately, however, most people remember the bad people have done to them far longer than the good. Or to put it another way, gratitude takes effort; resentment is effortless.

Dennis Prager, The Rational Bible, Exodus: God, Slavery, and Freedom, pg.111