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U.S. Congressional Thanksgiving Proclamation (1777)

It is therefore recommended to the legislative or executive powers of these United States, to set apart Thursday, the 18th day of December next, for solemn thanksgiving and praise; ''that with one heart and one voice the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate themselves to the service of their divine benefactor"; and that together with their sincere acknowledgments and offerings, they may join the penitent confession of their manifold sins, whereby they had forfeited every favor, and their humble and earnest supplication that it may please God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, mercifully to forgive and blot them out of remembrance; that it may please him graciously to afford his blessings on the governments of these states respectively, and prosper the public council of the whole; to inspire our commanders both by land and sea, and all under them, with that wisdom and fortitude which may render them fit instruments, under the providence of Almighty God, to secure for these United States the greatest of all blessings, independence and peace; that it may please him to prosper the trade and manufactures of the people and the labor of the husbandman, that our land may yield its increase; to take school and seminaries of education, so necessary for cultivating the principles of true liberty, virtue and piety, under his nurturing hand, and to prosper the means of religion for the promotion and enlargement of that kingdom which consisteth in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

And it is further recommended, that servile labor, and such recreation as, though at other times, innocent, may be unbecoming the purpose of this appointment, be omitted on so solemn an occasion.

Other Notable Quotes

This race is never grateful; from the first,
One fills their cup at supper with pure wine,
Which back they give at cross-time on a sponge,
In bitter vinegar.
--Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The gratitude of most men is but a secret desire of receiving greater benefits.
--Francis, Duc de La Rochefoucauld

Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more -- a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
--George Herbert

Let independence be our boast,
Ever mindful what it cost;
Ever grateful for the prize,
Let its altar reach the skies!
--Joseph Hopkinson

Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.
--Samuel Johnson

One can never pay in gratitude; one can only pay "in kind" somewhere else in life.
--Anne Morrow Lindberg

Swinish gluttony
Ne'er looks to heav'n amidst his gorgeous feast,
But with besotted base ingratitude
Crams, and blasphemes his feeder.
--John Milton

A grateful mind
By owing owes not, but still pays, at once
Indebted and discharg'd.
--John Milton

O Lord that lends me life, Lend me a heart replete with thankfulness!
--William Shakespeare

He who thanks but with the lips thanks but in part:
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
--J.A. Shedd

We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.
--Thornton Wilder