Thanksgiving Quotes for Work: 217 Original Quotes, Sayings and Captions to Share employees, coworkers

It is 4:40 on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. A card is going round the office, a team Slack post needs writing, and every line you can think of sounds like it came off a gas-station greeting card. You do not need a speech. You need one good sentence that sounds like a person wrote it.

This page has 217 original Thanksgiving quotes for work, written for coworkers, employees, bosses, clients and customers: short lines for signs, warm lines for cards, funny lines for the break room and longer thoughts for staff. There is also a small set of real classic quotes with their sources checked, a handful of proverbs and sayings, 20 ready captions for LinkedIn and social media, and a clear way to tell a real quote from one that only looks like a real one.

Every quote below is free to copy. If you want them as pretty graphics, grab the free Thanksgiving Quote Cards and Signs Pack: printable cards, posters and signs, plus square and vertical images ready for Slack, LinkedIn and Pinterest.

Key takeaways

• Pick the quote by where it will live. A sign wants six words. A card wants two sentences. A LinkedIn post wants a caption.
• Specific beats grand. “Thank you for answering the question I was too embarrassed to ask” lands harder than a famous line about gratitude.
• Check the source before you attribute. If you cannot find where a famous quote first appeared, say “unknown” or skip it.
• Keep it kind and optional. No quote should single out a person or assume everyone celebrates.

Pick Your Thanksgiving Quote by Where You Will Use It

Short Thanksgiving Quotes for Work

Six to twelve words, built for signs, desk cards and the bottom of an email. These work as short Thanksgiving quotes for work and as lines for a Thanksgiving quotes for work cards set.

• Thankful for the people who make Monday easier.
• Good work tastes better shared.
• Pull up a chair. There is room at this table.
• The best part of this team is the team.
• Thank you is a full sentence.
• Grateful for every hand that helped.
• We built something good. Together.
• Thankful for coffee and the colleagues who share it.
• One team, many seats, plenty of pie.
• Gratitude is the easiest thing to give away.
• You made this year better. Thank you.
• Say it out loud: thanks.
• Hard work, warm people, second helpings.
• Thankful for people who say, “I’ve got this.”
• A team is a table everyone helps set.
• Today we count our people first.
• Thank you for showing up, again and again.
• Grateful for the quiet fixers.
• Gravy is good. Colleagues are better.
• Here’s to the ones who never ask for credit.
• Thanks for making the work feel lighter.
• Fill your plate. Fill your heart. Thank your team.
• Gratitude grows when you hand it out.
• Small thanks, big difference.
• Thankful for the people I work with, not just the work.
• Every team needs someone who brings dessert. Thank you.
• A grateful team gets through anything.
• Today’s agenda: eat, thank, repeat.
• Thankful for the short coffee break and the long view.
• Not every harvest is loud. Thank the steady ones.

Thanksgiving Gratitude Quotes for Work

Longer, warmer lines for cards and notes. These are the Thanksgiving gratitude quotes for work to pick when you want someone to feel seen. For full messages and email templates, see our Thanksgiving messages to employees.

• Somewhere in your inbox is a thank-you you forgot to send. Today is a good day for it.
• The projects get the credit. The people get us there. Thank you for being the people.
• Gratitude at work is simple: notice what someone did, and tell them.
• We spend most of our waking weeks with the people on this team. That is worth a pie and a thank-you.
• The best thank-you is specific. “You stayed calm when the client called” beats “great job” every time.
• Some of the biggest things on this team happened quietly. Thank you to everyone who did them.
• A thank-you costs nothing and gets remembered for years.
• Thankful for the person who answers the question you were too embarrassed to ask.
• Thank you to the people who read the whole email and still replied kindly.
• Gratitude is not a mood. It is a habit, and a team can practice it.
• Thankful for the colleague who remembers how you take your coffee and how your week is going.
• We do not say thank you enough, so let’s say it twice this week.
• Thank you for the favors that never made it into a status report.
• Being thanked at work feels like being seen. Let’s see each other.
• The harvest looks different at every desk. Thank you for yours.
• Thanks for the extra mile that no one asked you to run.
• A team that says thank you in March is easier to work with in November.
• Gratitude turns a group of coworkers into a table of people who like each other.
• The long hours are noticed. The kindness in them is remembered.
• Thank you for staying patient while we figured it out.
• Thankful for the person who always says “let me help.”
• A kind word on a hard day can carry someone for a week. Thank you for yours.
• Appreciation is the cheapest way to make a good team better.
• Say thank you before the meeting starts. It changes the room.
• We are thankful for the work. We are more thankful for who we did it with.
• Behind every deadline met is a person who gave up their lunch. Thank you.
• When we count our blessings, many of them have names and desks near ours.
• Thankful for the people who make hard days feel like shared ones.
• A quiet thank-you at the right moment is worth more than a loud one at the wrong time.
• This year taught us who to lean on. Thank you for being someone to lean on.

Thanksgiving Inspirational Quotes for Work

Use these as a meeting opener or on a slide. They are Thanksgiving inspirational quotes for work, Thanksgiving motivational quotes for work and Thanksgiving quotes for success that lean on the harvest, not on hustle.

• The harvest belongs to everyone who showed up in the spring.
• Success is rarely a solo dish. It takes a whole kitchen.
• You reap what you plant, so plant kindness on the team and watch what grows.
• Good work is slow like bread: it needs time, warmth and people who trust the process.
• Growth does not always look like a promotion. Sometimes it looks like finally saying no.
• Gratitude does not make the work easier. It makes the person doing it stronger.
• Every season at work has something to teach. Autumn teaches us to harvest and let go.
• Look at what grew this year, not just what you planned to grow.
• The strongest teams do not have fewer problems. They have more thank-yous.
• Slow progress is still progress. Be thankful for every inch.
• You do not need a perfect year to have a thankful one.
• Plant the seed, tend the field, thank the helpers. Repeat.
• Success tastes better when you can name everyone who helped you cook it.
• Gratitude is a growth strategy that costs nothing.
• Be thankful for what you built, and for what the hard parts built in you.
• Leaders are remembered for what they notice and who they thank.
• What you appreciate grows. This is true in gardens and in teams.
• Some of your best work was done on days no one clapped. It still counts.
• A thankful team looks past the last miss and forward to the next harvest.
• The goal is not to work harder. It is to work with people you are glad to see.
• Some seasons are for planting. Some are for harvesting. All of them are for thanking.
• Success at work is a group photo, not a solo portrait.
• Even a short thank-you can turn a tough quarter around.
• Ambition gets you to the table. Gratitude keeps you welcome at it.
• Look for the progress you did not notice, then thank the people behind it.
• Do good work, share the credit and remember who held the ladder.
• Gratitude makes the road ahead look shorter and the people on it look closer.
• The year was not perfect. The people were. Start there.
• Be the person who thanks first. Others will follow.
• You cannot control the season, but you can choose to be thankful in it.

Thanksgiving Teamwork Quotes

For a team Slack post or a Thanksgiving quotes for teams card.

• A great team is a long table where everyone helps pass the dishes.
• We are not a group of people who work in the same place. We are a team that carries each other.
• The best teams make room at the table for one more chair.
• Teamwork is the unglamorous art of covering for each other without keeping score.
• The team that eats together communicates better. At least, that is our excuse for the pie.
• Alone you can finish quickly. Together you finish with pie.
• A team is a recipe. Each person is an ingredient, and nobody tastes good alone.
• Thankful for the people who turn “my problem” into “our problem.”
• Every team has a gravy person, a pie person and a person who remembers the napkins. All are essential.
• Our work gets better when we share it before it is ready.
• Thankful for teammates who ask, “How can I help?” before anyone asks.
• Real teamwork looks like someone picking up a task without being asked.
• You do not need to be the loudest person on the team to be the most valued.
• Together we turned a messy plan into a good year. Thank you for your part.
• We are better as a team than as a to-do list.
• A team is a family you choose to work with every day. Choose to say thanks.
• The best teams share the credit and carry the blame together.
• We fill each other’s gaps, and the gaps make us stronger.
• Thankful for a team that celebrates other people’s wins like their own.
• The group chat, the shared calendar and the leftover cake are all signs of a team that cares.
• When you add gratitude to teamwork, you get trust.
• Our best meetings end with someone saying thank you.
• A team that says thank you will outlast a team that only says good job.
• Look around the table. This is what a good year looks like.
• Thankful for the people who make “we” the most used word in the room.

Funny Thanksgiving Quotes for Workplace

Office-safe humor. None of these make fun of a person, a role or a belief. Skip any joke that your workplace might not enjoy.

• I’m thankful for my team, my coffee and the fact that the printer worked once this year.
• This Thanksgiving, I’m grateful for the person who brings the good dessert and doesn’t say a word.
• My work friends are like stuffing: not the main event, but the day would be sad without them.
• I’m thankful for mute buttons, meeting-free afternoons and the person who says “let’s circle back” and means it.
• Nothing says gratitude like a potluck with five bowls of mashed potatoes and no spoon.
• Thankful for coworkers who steal my snacks and leave me a thank-you note.
• The turkey is optional. The leftover pie in the break room is not.
• Thankful for reply-all being used only once this year. Okay, twice.
• I’m grateful that my job lets me wear soft pants on video calls.
• Bring a dish, bring a smile, and for the love of all things, bring a serving spoon.
• I am thankful for the friend at work who laughs at my jokes and also at the ones I didn’t mean to make.
• Please join us for the annual office debate about who ate the last roll.
• I’m thankful that this year’s Thanksgiving email chain was shorter than last year’s.
• Pie is a team-building exercise with better results.
• I’m grateful for the person on my team who says “quick question” and means it.
• My office has two seasons: spreadsheet and potluck. Today, thankfully, it’s potluck.
• Be thankful for the coworker who makes the coffee, and silently forgive the one who doesn’t refill the pot.
• Thanksgiving at work means two meals: the one you bring and the one you wish you brought.
• I’m thankful for my team, who helped me realize that “per my last email” is not a love language.
• The dish I brought was fine. The dish my coworker brought was the reason we are friends.
• Turkey makes people sleepy. Cranberry sauce makes people argue. Pie makes everyone one team again.
• Grateful for the colleague who knows where the good chairs are hiding.
• Thankful that we survived another year of “let’s take this offline.”
• Just here for the team, the stuffing and the one person who brings the secret recipe.
• May your inbox be light, your pie be warm and your coworkers be only slightly late.

Thanksgiving Quotes for Coworkers and Colleagues

Personal and short, for a note you leave on a desk. These double as Thanksgiving quotes for colleagues.

• Thank you for being the first person I think of when the work gets hard and the last one I forget when it goes well.
• You make the office feel like a place I want to be. Thank you.
• Thankful for a coworker who is also a friend.
• Thanks for covering for me on the day I needed it most. I won’t forget.
• Working beside you made this year better. Happy Thanksgiving.
• Thank you for the laughs, the coffee and the quiet help.
• Thankful for the good morning in the hallway that makes the day start well.
• You are the colleague everyone hopes to get. Thank you for being that person.
• Thank you for every time you explained it twice without sighing.
• A good coworker is a gift. Thank you for being one.
• Happy Thanksgiving to the person who keeps me sane at 4 p.m.
• You make hard days feel lighter. Thank you.
• Thank you for being you on a team that needs more of you.
• Thankful for your kindness, your humor and your sticky-note reminders.
• I’m grateful our desks are close and our lunches are long.

Thanksgiving Quotes for Employees

For a manager or leader to say to staff. See also our Thanksgiving ideas for employees for ways to back the words up.

• Thank you for the work you do and the care you put into it. We see it.
• Our company is only as good as the people in it, and you make it good.
• Thank you for every shift, every call and every extra hour. It matters.
• You showed up this year. That is a quiet kind of courage, and we are grateful for it.
• This year asked a lot of you. You answered with skill and kindness. Thank you.
• We are thankful for your ideas, your effort and your patience when we asked for more.
• Your work is noticed, and so is the way you do it. Thank you.
• Thank you for treating this team like it matters. It does, because you do.
• We could not do this without you, and we do not say it often enough.
• Thank you for the hours no one counted and the help no one asked for.
• Your talent got us here. Your character kept us together.
• Thank you for choosing to work with us. We are glad you did.
• Every person here is part of why we have something to be thankful for.
• Thank you for caring about the people at the other end of your work.
• Happy Thanksgiving to a team that has earned a long rest and a big plate.

Thanksgiving Quotes for Boss or Manager

Respectful, specific and short. A boss will remember a specific line.

• Thank you for trusting us with real work and for backing us when we tried something new.
• Thankful for a manager who says thank you out loud.
• Thank you for the patience, the clear answers and the days you protected our time.
• You make it easier to do good work. Thank you for leading with kindness.
• Thank you for listening before deciding.
• Thankful for a leader who gives credit and takes responsibility.
• Thank you for treating us like people with lives, not just roles.
• Thank you for the flexibility when life got complicated.
• You taught me something this year that I did not know I needed. Thank you.
• Thank you for believing in me before I did.
• Thankful for a boss who knows when to push and when to pause.
• Happy Thanksgiving to a manager who makes the team feel like a team.

Thanksgiving Quotes for Clients and Customers

Warm without being pushy. For longer client wording see our Thanksgiving messages for clients and customers. These also work as Thanksgiving quotes for customers.

• Thank you for trusting us with your business this year. We never forget that it is a choice.
• We are thankful for clients who become partners. Thank you for being one.
• Your confidence in us is the best compliment we receive. Thank you.
• Thank you for your patience, your feedback and your loyalty.
• We are grateful for the chance to work with you. Happy Thanksgiving.
• Thanks for being part of our year. We hope to be part of yours for many more.
• Every project with you taught us something. Thank you for the lessons.
• We could not do what we do without people like you. Thank you.
• Thank you for choosing us. We will keep earning it.
• Wishing you a warm Thanksgiving and a good year ahead.

Thanksgiving Business Quotes

For a website banner, a newsletter or a post. These are Thanksgiving business quotes and Thanksgiving quotes for business.

• We measure our year in customers, and we are thankful for every one.
• Great businesses are built on small thank-yous and big promises kept.
• Gratitude is the best business strategy that never shows up on a balance sheet.
• Every sale begins with trust. Thank you for giving us yours.
• Our thanks to the people who shop with us, work with us and believe in us.
• A business is a group of people trying to do something useful together. Thank you for being part of ours.
• We are thankful for the customers who came back and the ones who gave us a chance.
• This season, we give thanks to the people behind the counter, the screen and the phone.
• Good businesses grow when people feel seen. Thank you for seeing us.
• We are grateful for a year of learning, serving and getting better together.
• A thankful business treats customers like neighbors.
• The best thing we sell is the experience of being cared about. Thank you for letting us.
• Thank you to the small businesses on our street and the people who keep them going.
• We are thankful for our customers’ stories. Every one is a lesson.
• Giving thanks is the oldest marketing plan, and still the best.

Thanksgiving Thoughts for Staff

Longer paragraphs for a newsletter, a team email or a card from leadership. These are Thanksgiving thoughts for staff that sound like a person wrote them.

• As the year winds down, we want to pause and say that this team is the reason we have something to celebrate. Thank you for the effort, the patience and the good humor.
• If this year felt long, it is because you carried a lot. We saw it, and we are grateful.
• Thanksgiving is a reminder to look up from the to-do list and see the people on it. You are the best part of this job.
• We celebrate the big wins, but today we celebrate the small ones: the check-ins, the shared lunches and the thank-yous that came when they were needed.
• At the end of the year, what matters is not how much we did but how well we did it together. Thank you.
• Our team grew this year, not just in size but in trust. For that, we give thanks.
• There is a lot we could not plan for this year. We are thankful that we did not have to face it alone.
• May you have more than enough on your plate and less than enough on your calendar. Thank you for everything.
• Rest well this Thanksgiving. You have earned it, and we will be here, grateful, when you return.
• Whatever this holiday means to you, we are glad you are part of this team.

Thanksgiving Sayings and Proverbs for Work

Traditional proverbs and sayings, shown with where they fit. They are old, short and easy to use on a card or a sign. If a saying has a commonly cited author, we say so, and we say when the credit is shaky. These are Thanksgiving sayings for work and Thanksgiving proverbs that carry no copyright worry.

Real Thanksgiving and Gratitude Quotes From Classic Sources

A few real quotes, each matched against its source. All are public domain: older literature and a US government proclamation. We keep this list short on purpose, because many famous gratitude quotes cannot be traced to a real source.

Sources checked: the Shakespeare line against the Folger Shakespeare Library text, the Stevenson and Austen lines against Wikisource, the Cicero wording through Wikiquote’s record of the Ramage translation (Cicero’s Latin is in section 80 of the speech) and the Kennedy line against the American Presidency Project. A different translation of Cicero will word it differently.

Thanksgiving in 60 seconds (good for a card or a trivia break)

• 1789: George Washington’s proclamation set aside Thursday, November 26, 1789 for a day of thanksgiving. That is the same calendar date as Thanksgiving this year. The text is in the National Archives’ Founders Online.
• 1863: Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation on October 3 setting the last Thursday of November as a day of thanksgiving.
• 1941: Congress passed, and Franklin Roosevelt signed on December 26, a law making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving Captions for Business and Social Media

Twenty short captions for Thanksgiving captions for business, LinkedIn, Instagram and company pages. Add your own hashtag, and tag people only if they have said yes. These also work as Thanksgiving quotes for social media and Thanksgiving quotes for LinkedIn posts.

• Thankful for this team today and every day. #Thanksgiving #TeamGratitude
• Our break room is full of pie and good people. Happy Thanksgiving from all of us.
• Gratitude board is up. Add yours.
• Giving thanks to the people who make our work worth doing.
• Thank you to our customers. You make this a business we love.
• A potluck, a pie and a lot of thank-yous. That is how we do Thanksgiving.
• Thankful for the team behind the work.
• Wishing you a warm Thanksgiving from our team to yours.
• We are closed Thursday and Friday so our people can be with theirs. We will see you after the holiday. Thank you for your trust.
• Thankful for the people who show up. Thank you.
• A big thank-you to everyone who worked this week so others could rest.
• Counting our blessings, and they all have names.
• Our year, in one word: grateful.
• Gratitude looks good on this team.
• Happy Thanksgiving to those who work it, host it and survive it.
• Today, our team ate, laughed and thanked each other. 10 out of 10.
• Thanks to our partners, clients and neighbors. We are lucky to know you.
• A table full of food and a team full of heart. Happy Thanksgiving.
• Grateful for another year of learning with you.
• From our table to yours: thank you.

How to Use a Thanksgiving Quote at Work

Do

• Use it as a start, then add a specific line of your own. “Thankful for this team. Priya, your Friday rewrite saved the launch.”
• Match the room. A funny line suits a break-room board, not a condolence card.
• Keep it optional. Not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving, and some people see the day differently.
• Credit a real source. If you use a classic quote, name the author and the work.

Do not

• Do not use a quote that targets a person, a role or a team.
• Do not attach a famous name to a line you cannot trace.
• Do not copy a long passage from a book or a song. A short line with credit is the limit.
• Do not make the quote the whole message. It works best next to something you wrote yourself.

Where a quote works well: a Thanksgiving quotes for work email signature for the week, a Thanksgiving quotes for the office sign by the kitchen, a Thanksgiving quotes for bulletin board display on a gratitude wall, and a Thanksgiving quotes workplace channel in Slack. A short line at the top of a happy Thanksgiving quotes for work card is enough.

How to Tell if a Famous Quote Is Real

Misattributed quotes spread fast at Thanksgiving. Before you put a famous name under a line:

1. Search for the first source. A real quote has a book, speech, letter or document you can name, and a date.
2. Be wary of “attributed to.” That phrase usually means nobody has found the source.
3. Check a research site. Quote Investigator and Wikiquote both list sources and flag misattributions.
4. Look for the exact wording. Many “quotes” are paraphrases that grew over time.
5. If you cannot verify it, say “unknown” or use one of our originals instead.

How to Make a Thanksgiving Quote Graphic in Two Minutes

1. Pick one short quote, under 20 words.
2. Choose a plain background in orange, burgundy, olive, plum or cream.
3. Set the quote in a serif font, centered, with lots of space around it.
4. Add a small leaf or pumpkin, nothing busy.
5. Export a square (1080 x 1080) for Slack and LinkedIn and a tall one (1080 x 1920) for stories and Pinterest.

Or skip it: the free pack has 36 square and 12 tall images already made.

Free Printable: Thanksgiving Quote Cards and Signs Pack

The free pack gives you ready-to-use pieces so you do not have to design anything:

• 24 printable quote cards to cut out and leave on desks.
• 6 posters for the break room or a hallway.
• 12 door and desk signs.
• 36 square images for Slack, Teams and LinkedIn.
• 12 tall images for stories and Pinterest.
• A make-your-own quote card page.

Frequently Asked Questions About Thanksgiving Quotes for Work

What are good Thanksgiving quotes for work?

The best ones are short, specific and kind: “Thankful for the people who make Monday easier,” or “You made this year better. Thank you.” Pick one that fits where you will use it.

What is a good Thanksgiving quote for coworkers?

Something personal and short, such as “Thank you for being the first person I think of when the work gets hard.” Add the person’s name and one thing they did.

What are good Thanksgiving quotes for employees?

Lines that name effort and care: “Thank you for the hours no one counted and the help no one asked for.” A manager can pair the quote with a specific thank-you.

What are short Thanksgiving quotes for work?

Under ten words: “Good work tastes better shared,” “Pull up a chair. There is room at this table,” or “Thank you is a full sentence.”

What are funny Thanksgiving quotes for work?

Light jokes about pie, potlucks and meetings, such as “Pie is a team-building exercise with better results.” Avoid jokes about people or beliefs.

What are good Thanksgiving captions for business?

Short, warm lines for LinkedIn or a company page: “Thankful for the team behind the work,” or “From our table to yours: thank you.” Tag people only with permission.

Are the quotes on this page original?

Yes. The 217 quotes are written by Work Wizardry for this page. The five classic quotes and the proverbs are real, with sources shown.

Can I use these quotes on my own posts and cards?

Yes, for your workplace, cards, signs and posts. Please do not resell them or republish the page as your own.

Who said “gratitude is the memory of the heart”?

It is often credited to Jean-Baptiste Massieu, a French educator. The credit is repeated widely but is not firmly sourced, so we call it a saying.

How do I know a Thanksgiving quote is real?

Find the first source (a book, speech or document) and its date. If you cannot, treat the credit as unreliable and leave the name off.

What should I put in a Thanksgiving card for coworkers?

One quote and one sentence of your own: who you are thanking and for what. Specific beats general.

What are good Thanksgiving thoughts for staff?

A short paragraph that names the year’s effort and ends with thanks, as in the “Thanksgiving thoughts for staff” section above. Rest and gratitude go well together.

Sources: Folger Shakespeare Library (Henry VI, Part 2); Wikisource (Stevenson, Austen); Wikiquote (Cicero, Ramage 1884); American Presidency Project (Proclamation 3560, 1963); Founders Online, National Archives (Washington, 1789); National Archives (Lincoln 1863 and the 1941 law). The 217 numbered-by-section quotes are original to Work Wizardry. This is general information.