Cicero, the famous Roman senator and orator once wrote,
“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent
of all others.” The virtue of gratitude is the ability to
express our thankful appreciation in word or deed, to the person
whose words or actions have benefited us in some way. The truly
humble and noble person will always be grateful for the benefits
received. Ingratitude is an ugly sin. How can the virtue of
gratitude be acquired? Fundamentally, cultivating the spirit of
gratitude requires us to develop humility. We need to understand
that everything that we have and everything that we are is a
gift. We might begin by taking out a pad of paper and a pen and
making a list of all of the wonderful gifts that we receive each
day of our entire life. We could start with life. We have been
given the gift of life. Consider the air that we breathe. We
take such things as air, water and even good health all for
granted. We need to consider our families, the houses that we
live in, the food that we ea