Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.

Van Dyke draws a three-step distinction: gratitude as an interior recognition of a benefit, thankfulness as the spontaneous urge to give that recognition outward form, and thanksgiving as the deliberate act of carrying the urge into practice. The progression moves from private emotion to public expression to embodied follow-through, suggesting that moral and spiritual health requires more than feeling appreciative—it requires articulation and action. The phrasing also implies that “thanksgiving” is not confined to a holiday or ritual but is a discipline: completing the movement from received kindness to expressed and enacted acknowledgment, often through words, gifts, service, or worship.