See also Gratitude  

Appreciation is like an insurance policy.
It has to be renewed every now and then.

Dave McIntyre

   
Never pass up an opportunity to speak a kind word of appreciation.  There are six billion people on the planet, and 5.9 billion of them go to bed every night starving for one honest word of appreciation.

Matthew Kelly

      
Being selective in choosing activities, in choosing friends, in choosing material possessions fosters unexpected appreciation.  Too much of any one thing negates whatever specialness might have been realized.  If we surround ourselves with acquaintances, we never fully share in knowing a few people well.  If we surround ourselves with "toys," we never learn how we really want to spend our time.

unattributed
  

Make it a habit to tell people thank you.  To express your appreciation, sincerely and without the expectation of anything in return.  Truly appreciate those around you, and you'll soon find many others around you.  Truly appreciate life, and you'll find that you have more of it.

Ralph Marston

   

You have it easily in your power to increase the sum total of this world's happiness now.  How?  By giving a few words of sincere appreciation to someone who is lonely or discouraged.  Perhaps you will forget tomorrow the kind words you say today, but the recipient may cherish them over a lifetime.

Dale Carnegie

   

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

   

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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.  Do it!  Develop an appreciation
for the present moment.  Seize every second of your
life and savor it.  Value your present moments.  Using them
up in any self-defeating ways means you've lost them forever.

Wayne Dyer

   

What you put out comes back.  The more you sincerely appreciate
life from the heart, the more the magnetic energy of appreciation
attracts fulfilling life experiences to you, both personally and
professionally.  Learning how toappreciate more consistently
offers many benefits and applications.  Appreciation is an
easy heart frequency to activate and it can help shift your
perspectives quickly.  Learning how to appreciate both pleasant
and even seemingly unpleasant experiences is a key
to increased fulfillment.

Doc Childre and Sara Paddision

  

Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are.  Let me
learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart.  Let me
not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow.
Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so.

Mary Jean Irion

  
There is more hunger for love and appreciation in this world than for bread.

Mother Teresa
  

The more one does and sees and feels, the more one is able
to do, and the more genuine may be one's appreciation
of fundamental things like home, and love,
and understanding companionship.

Amelia Earhart

   

Appreciation of life itself, becoming suddenly aware of the miracle
of being alive, on this planet, can turn what we call ordinary life
into a miracle.  We come awake to such a realization when
we recognize our connection to a spiritual dimension.

Dan Wakefield

   
I would rather be able to appreciate things I can not have
than to have things I am not able to appreciate.

Elbert Hubbard
  

Those who are capable of the highest, most disinterested appreciation
find the most in life to enjoy.  The habit of learning to appreciate to the
utmost every situation in life adds wonderfully to the sum total of one's
happiness.  But many people are incapable of real happiness because
they never learn to appreciate anything except that which
appeals to their own comfort, pleasure, or appetite.

Orison Swett Marden
The Joys of Living 

   

Once we discover how to appreciate the timeless values in our daily experiences, we can enjoy the best things in life.

Harry Hepner

Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.

Peter Sellers

Appreciation can make a day--even change a life.  Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary.

Margaret Cousins

  

  

The aim of life is appreciation; there
is no sense in not appreciating
things; and there is no sense in
having more of them if you have
less appreciation of them.

Gilbert Keith Chesterton

 

Appreciation is like looking through
a wide-angle lens that lets you see
the entire forest, not just the one tree
limb you walked up on.

Doc Childre and Sara Paddison

    

  
The word "appreciation" means to be thankful and express
admiration, approval, or gratitude.  It also means to grow or
appreciate in value.  As you appreciate life, you become more
valuable—both to yourself and others.

Sara Paddison
   

Appreciation is a wonderful thing:  It makes what is
excellent in others belong to us as well.

Voltaire

  

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The more I focused on lack and on what I couldn’t have, the more depressed
I became.  The more depressed I became, the more I focused on lack.  My soul
whispered that what I really yearned for was not financial security but financial
serenity.  I was still—quiet enough to listen.  At that moment I acknowledged the
deep longing in my heart.  What I hungered for was an inner peace that the
world could not take away.  I asked for help and committed to following wheresoever
Spirit would lead me.  For the first time in my life I discarded my five-year goals
and became a seeker, a pilgrim, a sojourner.  When I surrendered my desire for
security and sought serenity instead, I looked at my life with open eyes.  I saw that
I had much for which to be grateful.  I felt humbled by my riches and regretted
that I took for granted the abundance that already existed in my life.  How could I
expect more from the universe when I didn’t appreciate what I already had?

Sarah Ban Breathnach

  

Whatever our individual troubles and challenges may be, it's important
to pause every now and then to appreciate all that we have, on every level.
We need to literally "count our blessings," give thanks for them, allow
ourselves to enjoy them, and relish the experience of prosperity we already have.

Shakti Gawain

    
   

Appreciation is the oil that lubricates life and keeps your wheels turning
easily and freely.  Without appreciation, your wheels will still spin, but they
are apt to become rusted with resentment and exhaustion.  Since there is
great truth in the well-known statement "We teach people how to treat us,"
you can start teaching others to shower you with appreciation
by showering yourself first.

Sue Patton Thoele

   

I know how bad a thing it is to be a slave and I know how terrible it was but
I don't believe that there's a free person in the whole world that knows
how good a cup full of water can taste.  Because you have to be a deprived slave,
to be kept waiting for your water like we were to really appreciate how good just
one swallow can be.  When we finally got a drop on our tongues it was like
something straight from the hands of the Almighty.

Walter Mosley
from his novel 47

    

I once succumbed to the fad of fasting and went for six days and nights without eating.
It wasn't difficult.  I was less hungry at the end of the sixth day than I was at the end
of the second.  Yet I know, as you know, people who would think they had
committed a crime if they let their families or employees go for six days without food;
but they will let them go for six days, and six weeks, and sometimes sixty years without
giving them the hearty appreciation that they crave almost as much as they crave food.

Dale Carnegie

  

There cannot be a sense of abundance or the experience of prosperity
without appreciation.  You cannot find beauty unless you appreciate beauty.
You cannot find friendship unless you appreciate others.  You cannot find
love unless you appreciate loving and being loved.
If you wish abundance, appreciate life.

William R. Miller

   

After one has been in prison, it is the small things that one appreciates:
being able to take a walk whenever one wants, going into a shop and
buying a newspaper, speaking or choosing to remain silent.
The simple act of being able to control one’s person.

Nelson Mandela

   

  

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.  Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader).  All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another.  Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!

   

Appreciation is to humans what the sun is for plants.

Frank Iversen

   

We are so often caught up in our destination that we forget to
appreciate the journey, especially the goodness of the people we
meet on the way.  Appreciation is a wonderful feeling; don't overlook it.

unattributed

   

A grower of chrysanthemums awaited a visit from the emperor,
who was coming to enjoy his blossoms, of which there were
hundreds in bloom.  The grower selected one magnificent specimen,
then cut down all the others, leaving this one perfect flower.  The
emperor arrived and sat for several hours quietly gazing at this
beautiful flower, letting its beauty have its way with him.  Can you
imagine being so caught up in appreciation of one flower that
everything else fades into the background?

John Marks Templeton
Worldwide Laws of Life

   
  
A habit for all of us to develop would be to look for something to
appreciate in everyone we meet.  We can all be generous with
appreciation.  Everyone is grateful for it.  It improves every human
relationship, it brings new courage to people facing difficulties, and
it brings out the best in everyone.  So, give appreciation
generously whenever you can.  You will never regret it.

Carl Holmes
  

One of the most neglected virtues of our daily existence is appreciation.
Somehow, we neglect to praise our son or daughter when he or she brings
home a good report card, and we fail to encourage our children when they
first succeed in baking a cake or building a birdhouse.  Nothing pleases
children more than this kind of parental interest and approval.
The next time you enjoy a meal at a restaurant, send word to the chef that
it was excellently prepared, and when a tired salesperson shows
you unusual courtesy, please mention it.
Every minister, lecturer, and public speaker knows the discouragement of
pouring himself or herself out to an audience and not receiving a single ripple
of appreciative comment.  What applies to professionals applies doubly to
workers in offices, shops and factories and our families and friends.
In our interpersonal relations we should never forget that all our
associates are human beings and hunger for appreciation.
It is the legal tender that all souls enjoy.

Dale Carnegie
How to Win Friends and Influence People

   

The vibration of appreciation is also the highest, fastest vibration
we can use for attraction.  If we would shoot appreciation at
anything and everything, all day long, we'd be guaranteed to have
heaven on earth in no time, living happily ever after with more friends,
more money, more beautiful relationships, in total safety, and closer
to the God of our Being than it's possible to fathom.

Lynn Grabhorn

   

        

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(Found online images come from a variety of unattributed
sources from various social media pages.  They're too nice
not to share!)

   

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.