--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you ever feel to express proper…" description: "\"“If you ever feel to express proper gratitude for the good things of this life, be sure that you express your gratitude for the right thing. Very likel..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/mary-maclane-10500_bitterness_if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-grati_2334258.jpg" --- # If you ever feel to express proper gratitude for the good… ![“If you ever feel to express proper gratitude for the good things of this life, be sure that you express your gratitude for the right thing. Very likely you will not have a great deal of gratitude, and you must not waste any of it but what you do have will be of the most excellent quality. For it…” quote by Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/mary-maclane-10500_bitterness_if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-grati_2334258.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/mary-maclane-10500_bitterness_if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-grati_2334258.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/mary-maclane-10500_bitterness_if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-grati_2334258.jpg) > ““If you ever feel to express proper gratitude for the good things of this life, be sure that you express your gratitude for the right thing. Very likely you will not have a great deal of gratitude, and you must not waste any of it but what you do have will be of the most excellent quality. For it will accumulate, and the accumulation will all go to quality. And the things for which you are to be grateful are the bitternesses you have known. If you have had it in mind ever to give way to bursts of gratitude for this air that comes from off the salt sea, for that line of pearls and violets that you see just above the horizon, for the health of your body, for the sleep that comes to you at the close of the day, for any of those things, then get rid of the idea at once. Those things are quite well, but they are not really given to you. They are merely placed where any one can reach them with little effort. The kind fates don't care whether you get them or not. Their responsibility ends when they leave them there. But the bitternesses they give to each person separately. They give you yours, Mary MacLane, for your very own. Don't say they never think of you.”” [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. True gratitude arises from recognizing hardship as the source of growth, not from easy comforts that are taken for granted. **In simple terms:** Gratitude should focus on challenges that shape us. Key Takeaway Value struggle over comfort. Themes gratitude hardship growth Mood reflective thoughtful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal reflection - spiritual practice - mental health - overcoming entitlement Key Concepts Existentialism Stoicism Questions to Reflect On - How can you reframe daily comforts as opportunities for deeper gratitude? - What hardships have most shaped your character? A Different Perspective Easy comforts are fleeting and unearned, limiting depth of appreciation. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bitterness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterness/) [Express Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/express-gratitude/) [Fates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fates/) [Good things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/good-things/) [Gratitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gratitude/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Right thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/right-thing/) ## Related quotes > [When you cross a bridge, try to touch it with your hand! That will be a symbolic gratitude for the good service it gives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/when-you-cross-a-bridge-try-to-touch-it-with-your-hand-that-will-be-a/) [Mehmet Murat Ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Resilience comes from deep within us and from support outside us. It comes from gratitude for what’s good in our lives and from leaning…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-sandberg/resilience-comes-from-deep-within-us-and-from-support-outside-us-it-3/) [Sheryl Sandberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-sandberg/) > [Whatever you have received more than others-in health, in talents, in ability, in success, in a pleasant childhood, in harmonious conditions of home life-all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-schweitzer/whatever-you-have-received-more-than-others-in-health-in-talents-in/) [Albert Schweitzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-schweitzer/) > [Showing gratitude for the good things you have is the most powerful happiness boosting activity there is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-barker/showing-gratitude-for-the-good-things-you-have-is-the-most-powerful/) [Eric Barker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-barker/) > [“...for some of us, books are as important as anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamont/for-some-of-us-books-are-as-important-as-anything-else-on-earth-what/) Anne Lamont > [“Books help us understand who we are and how we are to behave. They show us what community and friendship mean/ they show us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/books-help-us-understand-who-we-are-and-how-we-are-to-behave-they/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [“Because for some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/because-for-some-of-us-books-are-as-important-as-almost-anything-else/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [With feelings of gratitude for all that is good in this world, I put down my pen. Well, I'll be leaving now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/satoshi-kon/with-feelings-of-gratitude-for-all-that-is-good-in-this-world-i-put/) [Satoshi Kon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/satoshi-kon/) > [I love my job as a musician, and I am filled with gratitude that good people support my endeavors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-gilbert/i-love-my-job-as-a-musician-and-i-am-filled-with-gratitude-that-good/) [Paul Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-gilbert/) > [We are our own fates.- Our deeds are our own doomsmen.- Man's life was made not for creeds but actions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/we-are-our-own-fates-our-deeds-are-our-own-doomsmen-man-s-life-was/) [Robert Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Earl of Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bulwer-lytton-1st-earl-of-lytton/) > [“God doesn’t put that much prep into something that is insignificant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-doesn-t-put-that-much-prep-into-something-that-is-insignificant/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“In my view, fate is like intelligence, or beauty, or type z + lymphocytes - some individuals have a greater supply than others. I,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-my-view-fate-is-like-intelligence-or-beauty-or-type-z-lymphocytes/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Bad fates do not always follow those who deserve them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-bardugo/bad-fates-do-not-always-follow-those-who-deserve-them/) [Leigh Bardugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-bardugo/) > [“Just another case of sometimes. Sometimes fates plans are different from your own. Sometimes the beautiful things are right in your reach but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everance-caiser/just-another-case-of-sometimes-sometimes-fates-plans-are-different/) [Everance Caiser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everance-caiser/) > [As children grow, they gravitate to their fates.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-albom/as-children-grow-they-gravitate-to-their-fates/) [Mitch Albom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-albom/) ## More by Mary MacLane > [I want fame more than I can tell. But more than I want fame I want happiness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-want-fame-more-than-i-can-tell-but-more-than-i-want-fame-i-want/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Fame is indeed beautiful and benign and gentle and satisfying, but happiness is something at once tender and brilliant beyond all things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/fame-is-indeed-beautiful-and-benign-and-gentle-and-satisfying-but/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“I Don’t Know whether lust is a human coarseness or a human fineness: I don’t know why death holds a so sweet lure since…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-don-t-know-whether-lust-is-a-human-coarseness-or-a-human-fineness-i/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Are there many things in this cool-hearted world so utterly exquisite as the pure love of one woman for another woman?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/are-there-many-things-in-this-cool-hearted-world-so-utterly-exquisite/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“It is of the dubious inevitable side of human nature—like gold teeth and tinned salmon and bastard lacy valentines”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/it-is-of-the-dubious-inevitable-side-of-human-nature-like-gold-teeth/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I would rather be a fairly happy wife and mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-would-rather-be-a-fairly-happy-wife-and-mother/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I am not good. I am not virtuous. I am not sympathetic. I am not generous. I am merely and above all a creature…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-am-not-good-i-am-not-virtuous-i-am-not-sympathetic-i-am-not/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“And it is in New York I have those strangest things of all: human friendships. Not many friendships and not of spent familiarities: for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/and-it-is-in-new-york-i-have-those-strangest-things-of-all-human/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I've never made plans for more than a day ahead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-ve-never-made-plans-for-more-than-a-day-ahead/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [“May I never, I say, become that abnormal, merciless animal, that deformed monstrosity— a virtuous woman. Anything, Devil, but that.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/may-i-never-i-say-become-that-abnormal-merciless-animal-that-deformed/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [I am lithe, but fragile from constant involuntary self-analysis.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/i-am-lithe-but-fragile-from-constant-involuntary-self-analysis/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Genius of a kind has always been with me; an empty heart that has taken on a certain wooden quality; an excellent, strong woman's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/genius-of-a-kind-has-always-been-with-me-an-empty-heart-that-has/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [at this point I meet Me face to face. I am Mary MacLane: of no importance to the wide bright world and dearly and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/at-this-point-i-meet-me-face-to-face-i-am-mary-maclane-of-no/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [Just why I sent it to the publishers would be hard to say, but when I had finished it I felt that it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/just-why-i-sent-it-to-the-publishers-would-be-hard-to-say-but-when-i/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) > [The highest thing one can do in literature is to succeed in saying that thing which one meant to say. There is nothing better…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/the-highest-thing-one-can-do-in-literature-is-to-succeed-in-saying/) [Mary MacLane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) [Explore all 65 Mary MacLane quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/) ## More Bitterness quotes > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [If Japanese tea 'stands,' it acquires a coarse bitterness and an unwholesome astringency. Milk and sugar are not used.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabella-bird/if-japanese-tea-stands-it-acquires-a-coarse-bitterness-and-an/) [Isabella Bird](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabella-bird/) > [Stronger than alcohol, vaster than poetry, Ferment the freckled red bitterness of love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/stronger-than-alcohol-vaster-than-poetry-ferment-the-freckled-red/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [“What?" I ask. I try not to get snappy with her. She hasn't really done anything wrong. Falling in love with Turner isn't a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-m-stunich/what-i-ask-i-try-not-to-get-snappy-with-her-she-hasn-t-really-done/) [C.M. Stunich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-m-stunich/) > [“The fairest things have fleetest end, Their scent survives their close: But the rose’s scent is bitterness To him that loved the rose. —Francis…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-rule/the-fairest-things-have-fleetest-end-their-scent-survives-their-close/) [Ann Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-rule/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“No," I say. "I didn't know that," and as I say it I feel flooded with bitterness at all the things Ingrid kept secret…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-lacour/no-i-say-i-didn-t-know-that-and-as-i-say-it-i-feel-flooded-with/) [Nina LaCour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-lacour/) > [Forgiving someone who've done you wrong or didn't treat you right could mean that you are allowing yourself to end up away from bitterness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/april-t-pascua/forgiving-someone-who-ve-done-you-wrong-or-didn-t-treat-you-right/) [April T Pascua](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/april-t-pascua/) > [You cannot be inspired if you are surrounded with negativity, open the door and step into the inspirational garden of nature. Do not let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kemmy-nola/you-cannot-be-inspired-if-you-are-surrounded-with-negativity-open-the/) [Kemmy Nola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kemmy-nola/) > [It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. Carry it by the comfortable handles of gratitude for what's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-horne/it-s-not-the-load-that-breaks-you-down-it-s-the-way-you-carry-it/) [Lena Horne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-horne/) > [Not forgiving prolongs hurt and anger and leads to smoldering resentment, which will make us miserable until it kills us. Resentment destroys the perception…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-walters/not-forgiving-prolongs-hurt-and-anger-and-leads-to-smoldering/) Richard Walters > [Let us not give in to pessimism, to that bitterness that the devil offers us every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/let-us-not-give-in-to-pessimism-to-that-bitterness-that-the-devil/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“Sometimes it is good to remind ourselves how bitterness tastes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rin-chupeco/sometimes-it-is-good-to-remind-ourselves-how-bitterness-tastes/) [Rin Chupeco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rin-chupeco/) > [What folly made young people, even those in middle age, think they were immortal? How much better, their lives, if they could remember the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rohinton-mistry/what-folly-made-young-people-even-those-in-middle-age-think-they-were/) [Rohinton Mistry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rohinton-mistry/) > [Be sure there is something waiting for you after much patience, to astonish you to a degree, that you forget the bitterness of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/be-sure-there-is-something-waiting-for-you-after-much-patience-to/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) [Browse all 1,210 Bitterness quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bitterness/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If you ever feel to express proper gratitude for the good things of this life, be sure that you express your gratitude for the right thing. Very likely you will not have a great deal of gratitude, and you must not waste any of it but what you do have will be of the most excellent quality. For it will accumulate, and the accumulation will all go to quality. And the things for which you are to be grateful are the bitternesses you have known. If you have had it in mind ever to give way to bursts of gratitude for this air that comes from off the salt sea, for that line of pearls and violets that you see just above the horizon, for the health of your body, for the sleep that comes to you at the close of the day, for any of those things, then get rid of the idea at once. Those things are quite well, but they are not really given to you. They are merely placed where any one can reach them with little effort. The kind fates don't care whether you get them or not. Their responsibility ends when they leave them there. But the bitternesses they give to each person separately. They give you yours, Mary MacLane, for your very own. Don't say they never think of you.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary MacLane" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-gratitude-for-the-good-things-of/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bitterness" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-gratitude-for-the-good-things-of/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/mary-maclane-10500_bitterness_if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-grati_2334258.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/mary-maclane-10500_bitterness_if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-grati_2334258.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d3b/mary-maclane-10500_bitterness_if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-grati_2334258.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you ever feel to express proper gratitude for the good things of this life, be sure that you express your…” — Mary MacLane", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Mary MacLane", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-maclane/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“If you ever feel to express...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-gratitude-for-the-good-things-of/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-maclane/if-you-ever-feel-to-express-proper-gratitude-for-the-good-things-of/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```