--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I would maintain that thanks are the…" description: "\"I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.\" — Gilbert K. Chesterton" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_gratitude_i-would-maintain-that-thanks-are-the-hig_1328611.png" --- # I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of… ![“I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” quote by Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_gratitude_i-would-maintain-that-thanks-are-the-hig_1328611.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_gratitude_i-would-maintain-that-thanks-are-the-hig_1328611.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/de9/gilbert-k-chesterton-223_gratitude_i-would-maintain-that-thanks-are-the-hig_1328611.png) > “I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.” [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Gratitude elevates thought, turning simple thanks into a deeper, doubled happiness linked with awe. **In simple terms:** Thankfulness deepens joy when mixed with wonder. Key Takeaway Cultivate gratitude and wonder together. Themes gratitude joy mindset philosophy Mood warm reflective Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - personal reflection - daily journaling - teaching gratitude - mindfulness practice Key Concepts appreciation wonder happiness thought doubling Questions to Reflect On - How does wonder change your experience of thanks? - What practices help you notice gratitude daily? A Different Perspective May become gratitude feel forced or superficial without genuine feeling. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Gratitude Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude-happiness/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Wonder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wonder/) ## Related quotes > [“GK Chesterton once said that “thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-fargo/gk-chesterton-once-said-that-thanks-are-the-highest-form-of-thought/) [Tim Fargo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-fargo/) > [“I have a sure knowledge that Thanks are the highest form of thought, and that true gratitude brings unbounded happiness doubled by miracles.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raymond-d-longoria-jr/i-have-a-sure-knowledge-that-thanks-are-the-highest-form-of-thought/) [Raymond D. Longoria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raymond-d-longoria-jr/) > [Gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/gratitude-is-happiness-doubled-by-wonder/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Thanks are the highest form of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/thanks-are-the-highest-form-of-thought/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Happiness is doubled when you share them together and sadness is halved when you share them together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-yoona/happiness-is-doubled-when-you-share-them-together-and-sadness-is/) [Im Yoona](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/im-yoona/) > [If it is a new thought to you that gratitude brings your whole mind into closer harmony with the creative energies of the universe,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wallace-d-wattles/if-it-is-a-new-thought-to-you-that-gratitude-brings-your-whole-mind/) [Wallace D. Wattles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wallace-d-wattles/) > [Gratitude goes beyond the 'mine' and 'thine' and claims the truth that all of life is a pure gift. In the past I always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/gratitude-goes-beyond-the-mine-and-thine-and-claims-the-truth-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I do not, in my private capacity, believe that a baby gets his best physical food by sucking his thumb; nor that a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-k-chesterton/i-do-not-in-my-private-capacity-believe-that-a-baby-gets-his-best/) [G.K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-k-chesterton/) > [There is no quality I would rather have, and be thought to have, than gratitude. For it is not only the greatest virtue, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-tullius-cicero/there-is-no-quality-i-would-rather-have-and-be-thought-to-have-than/) [Marcus Tullius Cicero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-tullius-cicero/) > [You'll never meet a happy ungrateful person, or an unhappy grateful person because gratitude and happiness go together. Sometimes happiness precedes gratitude but often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/you-ll-never-meet-a-happy-ungrateful-person-or-an-unhappy-grateful/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [“Age brought wisdom, but it also brought a genuine gratitude for the happiness of sharing life with someone as much liked as loved.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-mccullough/age-brought-wisdom-but-it-also-brought-a-genuine-gratitude-for-the/) [Colleen McCullough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-mccullough/) > [“Being able to feel love, loyalty, gratitude and happiness means you have a soul? Then all my pets are bound for heaven.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jury-nel/being-able-to-feel-love-loyalty-gratitude-and-happiness-means-you/) [Jury Nel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jury-nel/) > [It is not happiness that gives you gratitude but it is gratitude that give you happiness!!!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-not-happiness-that-gives-you-gratitude-but-it-is-gratitude-that/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Most people showed gratitude or happiness in a smile or a bouquet of flowers-Peter sucked cock. Not a whole lot of debate on which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dani-alexander/most-people-showed-gratitude-or-happiness-in-a-smile-or-a-bouquet-of/) [Dani Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dani-alexander/) > [When we live in the spirit of gratitude, there will be much happiness in our life. The one who is grateful is the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nhat-hanh/when-we-live-in-the-spirit-of-gratitude-there-will-be-much-happiness/) [Nhat Hanh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nhat-hanh/) ## More by Gilbert K. Chesterton > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Youth is always too serious, and just now it is too serious about frivolity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/youth-is-always-too-serious-and-just-now-it-is-too-serious-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Tradition does not mean a dead town; it does not mean that the living are dead but that the dead are alive. It means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/tradition-does-not-mean-a-dead-town-it-does-not-mean-that-the-living/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [It is shorter to state the things forbidden than the things permitted; precisely because most things are permitted and only a few things forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/it-is-shorter-to-state-the-things-forbidden-than-the-things-permitted/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Everyone seems to assume that the unscrupulous parts of journalism will be the frivolous or jocular parts. This is against all ethical experience. Jokes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/everyone-seems-to-assume-that-the-unscrupulous-parts-of-journalism/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [A building is akin to dogma; it is insolent, like dogma. Whether or no it is permanent, it claims permanence, like a dogma. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/a-building-is-akin-to-dogma-it-is-insolent-like-dogma-whether-or-no/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The triangle of truisms, of father, mother and child, cannot be destroyed; it can only destroy those civilizations which disregard it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-triangle-of-truisms-of-father-mother-and-child-cannot-be/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Criticism is only words about words, and of what use are words about such words as these?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/criticism-is-only-words-about-words-and-of-what-use-are-words-about/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place...The old humility was a spur that prevented a man from stopping; not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/what-we-suffer-from-today-is-humility-in-the-wrong-place-the-old/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Plato was only a Bernard Shaw who unfortunately made his jokes in Greek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/plato-was-only-a-bernard-shaw-who-unfortunately-made-his-jokes-in/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [The word good has many meanings...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-word-good-has-many-meanings/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/music-with-dinner-is-an-insult-both-to-the-cook-and-the-violinist/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Eugenics asserts that all men must be so stupid that they cannot manage their own affairs; and also so clever that they can manage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/eugenics-asserts-that-all-men-must-be-so-stupid-that-they-cannot/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) [Explore all 868 Gilbert K. Chesterton quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) ## More Gratitude quotes > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One can put some trust in the gratitude of a sovereign, and also in that of his family; under certain conditions, one can even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-von-bismarck/one-can-put-some-trust-in-the-gratitude-of-a-sovereign-and-also-in/) [Otto von Bismarck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/otto-von-bismarck/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [“A treacherous President stood in the way; and it can be easily seen how reluctant good men might be to admit an apostasy which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/a-treacherous-president-stood-in-the-way-and-it-can-be-easily-seen/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [We only enter into the full life if our faith gives thanks. Because how else do we accept His free gift of salvation if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/we-only-enter-into-the-full-life-if-our-faith-gives-thanks-because/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [I listen to heavy metal thanks to my son. When I argue with him on the kind of music he is listening to, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zeenat-aman/i-listen-to-heavy-metal-thanks-to-my-son-when-i-argue-with-him-on-the/) [Zeenat Aman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zeenat-aman/) > [“Thanks for teaching us to talk. Thanks for teaching us to be of the world and in the world and to make our way.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-isay/thanks-for-teaching-us-to-talk-thanks-for-teaching-us-to-be-of-the/) [Dave Isay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-isay/) > [Wine is one of the most civilized things in the world and one of the most natural things of the world that has been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/wine-is-one-of-the-most-civilized-things-in-the-world-and-one-of-the/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [I want to thank each and every one of you for having extinguished yourselves this session.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gib-lewis/i-want-to-thank-each-and-every-one-of-you-for-having-extinguished/) [Gib Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gib-lewis/) > [There is nothing that we can properly call our own but our time, and yet everybody fools us out of it who has a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/there-is-nothing-that-we-can-properly-call-our-own-but-our-time-and/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [Be in a state of gratitude for everything that shows up in your life. Be thankful for the storms as well as the smooth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-dyer/be-in-a-state-of-gratitude-for-everything-that-shows-up-in-your-life/) [Wayne Dyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-dyer/) > [“Good Seeds! Gratitude is the Greatest Attitude that has no Substitute.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-kelvin-clive/good-seeds-gratitude-is-the-greatest-attitude-that-has-no-substitute/) [Bernard Kelvin Clive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-kelvin-clive/) > [Man has an almost infinite capacity for taking things and people for granted and thereby missing out on the pleasure of being grateful that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/man-has-an-almost-infinite-capacity-for-taking-things-and-people-for/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“and man, though idiotic, and knowing not what he does, yet full of the sweet things of love and gratitude.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-melville/and-man-though-idiotic-and-knowing-not-what-he-does-yet-full-of-the/) [Herman Melville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-melville/) [Browse all 9,111 Gratitude quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would maintain that thanks are the highest form of thought, and that gratitude is happiness doubled by wonder.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gilbert K. 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