Best ways to say thank you (plus great quotes to get you there)

According to rock music, “sorry” seems to be the hardest word, and it’s hard to argue with Elton John. But when it comes to common sentiments that are difficult to express,“thank you” is right up there in second place. Figuring out a good way to express thanks is an age-old conundrum—how to say “thank you” meaningfully? Boxes of chocolate with a card offer more of a treat than gratitude, while a simple “thanks a lot” lands more like a shrug than a hug.

Yet, gratitude is such an important and powerful emotion. It can light up someone’s life and, if done right, the memory of that thank you can resonate for the recipient through decades to come. According to jazz great Lionel Hampton, “Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.”

The team at Mixbook knows a thing or two about making memories that fill up hearts. And we’re here to help you create a thank you that lives up to the help or kindness that was offered. It’s called a thank you photo book, and it is guaranteed to warm the heart of the recipient.

Photo books that say "thanks"

Photo books that say thank you

It’s likely you have heard of Mixbook’s photo books—the coolest and best way to turn digital photos into a tangible album, one you can flip through while you are sitting on your sofa tomorrow or 10 years from tomorrow. A photo book is fun and easy to create. It’s a simple three-step process: pick a design, upload your chosen photos, then customize the album with text, colors, stickers and other personal touches.

While many Mixbookers create photo books for special milestones, like birthdays, weddings, or graduations, there’s really no limit to what a photo book can celebrate. Thank you photo books are so popular that Mixbook offers theme templates specifically for gratitude books.

Photo books keep memories alive, including memories of gratitude. According to Dr. Christie Chung, Cognitive Psychologist and Provost at Palo Alto University, “the reason why photo books are powerful is because they immediately bring back memories…You don't even have to read anything—you look at a picture and those memories just come rushing back to you.”

Top thank you photo book designs

There’s no shortage of themes when it comes to Mixbook photo books. It’s fun to flip through the 700-plus designs before you start creating, since you might see one that pulls you like a magnet. Keep in mind that every element is customizable, so if you like the layout of a birthday or travel photo book design, you can alter the text and turn it—presto chango—into a thank you photo book.

Here are a handful of our favorite designs specifically created for thank you photo books.

Gratitude Book for Dad by Ilana Griffo

This delightful gratitude book makes a fabulous gift for your father, full of rich colors and bold patterns. The Gratitude Book for Dad by Ilana Griffo theme’s creative photo layouts feature fun decorative frames and imaginative typography for phrases like “You’ll always be my North Star,” “Best dad on the planet,” and “You are the greatest gift.”

Thankful and Grateful

While this fall-themed gratitude book would make a great Thanksgiving gift, it’s also a great vehicle to express how much you appreciate your family or friends on any occasion. The backgrounds—in golds and deep earth tones—are inspired by nature. The Thankful and Grateful design includes text stickers in elegant script with autumn sayings to make photos stand out.

Why I'm Grateful For You

Best friend, best grandma, best neighbor? Photos of your besties make you remember all the reasons you are grateful for having them in your life. The gratitude-inspired Why I'm Grateful For You photo book theme is a wonderful way to let that person know how much they mean to you. The design has a lovely, whimsical aesthetic with its earth tones and illustrations of botanicals and celestial bodies. Just add personal messages of gratitude.

Thankful

The delightful Thankful photo book is perfect for expressing generally all that you have to be grateful for, or specifically, the kindness one person has shown you. The backgrounds feel like they come straight from a deep forest, with subtle textures and patterns in shades of green, chestnut, and silver birch. There are also gold linear accents and illustrated photo frames with confetti sparkles.

20 quotes that express gratitude

When we say you can customize photo books with text, we don’t just mean identifying someone in a photo. In a travel photo book you can use text to describe favorite spots or record your associations. Captions in family photo books are perfect for telling stories and capturing memories.

In a thank you photo book, you’ll want to use captions and text to describe the kindness of the person honored and how much their love has meant to you. Or you can use the words of famous others as photo captions. These might be thank you for everything quotes, appreciation thank you quotes, or general thanks quotes.

These words have passed the test of time, so don’t hesitate to appropriate them to express your own gratitude. Think about pairing one of these thank you quotes with a photo of yourself enjoying the gift you were given.

• “If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.”
• —Meister Eckhart
• “You have influenced my life in such a positive way words cannot express my appreciation. You are truly an inspiration.”
• —Catherine Pulsipher
• “We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.”
• —John F Kennedy
• “Kindness is a language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
• —Mark Twain
• “Gratitude is a quality similar to electricity: it must be produced and discharged and used up in order to exist at all.”
• —William Faulkner
• “A thankful heart is not only the greatest virtue, but the parent of all other virtues.
• —Cicero
• “There's no possible way I could ever repay, How I wish, there were more I could do, But, I thank you friend, my friend to the end.”
• —Jim Thistle
• “When we give cheerfully and accept gratefully, everyone is blessed.”
• —Maya Angelou
• “Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity…Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.”
• —Melodie Beattie
• "I feel a very unusual sensation—if it is not indigestion, I think it must be gratitude."
• —Benjamin Disraeli
• “He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”
• ―Epictetus
• “The unthankful heart discovers no mercies; but the thankful heart will find, in every hour, some heavenly blessings.”
• ―Henry Ward Beecher
• When we focus on our gratitude, the tide of disappointment goes out and the tide of love rushes in.”
• —Kristin Armstrong
• "The power of finding beauty in the humblest things makes home happy and life lovely."
• —Louisa May Alcott
• “‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say.”
• —Alice Walker
• "Let us be grateful to the people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom."
• —Marcel Proust
• “I thank you wholeheartedly because you cannot imagine all the happiness you are giving me.”
• ―Oscar Auliq-Ice
• “How do you say thank you to someone who has made your life complete? How do you say thank you to someone you can’t imagine your life without?”
• ―T.J. Klune, The Art of Breathing
• “The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.”
• —Oscar Wilde
• “No duty is more urgent than that of returning thanks.”
• —James Allen

Popular thank you cards

More ways to say thank you

In addition to thank you quotes, consider the following list of simple phrases and sayings that you can use on thank you photo books, calendars or cards. Choose one of these expressions or use one as a starting point for saying “thank you” in your own words.

• Thank you for being a ray of sunshine even on my darkest days.
• Thank you for always being my greatest supporter. I am lucky to have you in my life.
• Thank you for being so incredible. I feel so grateful to have such a loving family.
• Thank you for opening your arms, home, and heart.
• Thank you to my wonderful friend. Thank you for being you. You’re all I could ask for and more!
• Thank you for coming into my life. Thank you for making me smile like crazy. Thank you for making me happy.
• There are many things for which I am thankful in my life, and you are at the top of the list.
• When I count my blessings, I count you twice.
• Thank you for your love, support, and encouragement!
• Thank you for the amazing job you do every day. You are an important part of the team.
• Thanks for the little ways that you help me and make me happy every day.
• I'm the luckiest wife/husband to have you as my life partner. Thank you for being so kind and loving.
• Thank you for brightening my world.
• Thank you for all that you have taught me.
• But most of all, thank you for loving me like no one else ever has, or ever will.
• This is from my heart, to thank you for everything you have done for me, for all the times I forgot to tell you how I feel about you, and how happy I am that you are in my life.
• Thanks for being by my side and supporting my decisions every step of the way. Without you my life would be incomplete.
• Thank you for every hug, word of encouragement, and all the love you've given me. I am blessed to have you in my life.

Go to Mixbook Studio™ to get your “thank you” going

There’s no better way to offer sincere and heartfelt thanks than with a thank you photo book or card. Each photo awakens memories of the special connection between the two of you, and helps those precious memories last year after year. Head to Mixbook and get started today!