9 Terrific Toasts for Thanksgiving

A Nonet of Hearty or Humorous Toasts for Thanksgiving Hosts

Are you hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year? What welcoming remarks might you make, as you invite your family and friends to sit at your table for a tremendous Turkey Day feast?

A hospitable host may choose to toast guests at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Remember, you need not drink alcohol to toast. Even young children may raise their glasses (or sippy cups) for a Thanksgiving toast.

A Thanksgiving toast may welcome attendees, recount blessings of the past year, honor a special person who died within the past year or even simply inject humor into the Thanksgiving dinner gathering.

The best Thanksgiving dinner toasts are short and snappy. Some are pithy, and others are poignant. A simple quip or a worthy quote can usually do the trick for a terrific toast, particularly on Thanksgiving. After all, who wants cold turkey?

9 Terrific Toasts for Thanksgiving

Because hospitality toasts tend to be informal saying, passed along through the years, many of the original speakers (or authors) may be difficult to pinpoint. Here are some of our favorite toasts, appropriate for a Thanksgiving dinner gathering.

"God help us to be grateful for our blessings,
never to be guilty of the sin of ingratitude,
and to instill this same gratitude
into the lives of our children."
Ezra Taft Benson

"May you live as long as you want
And may you never want as long as you live."
Irish Blessing

"Reflect on your present blessings,
Of which every man has many,
Not on your past misfortunes,
Of which all men have some."
Charles Dickens

"Never lose an opportunity
Of seeing anything that is beautiful.
For beauty is God's handwriting -
A wayside sacrament.
Welcome it in every fair face,
In every fair sky,
In every fair flower,
And thank God for it
As a cup of blessing.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Love doesn't make the world go 'round,
but it sure makes the ride worthwhile."
Mae West

"May your stuffing be tasty.
May your turkey plump.
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize.
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs."
Author Unknown