Saying thank you is more than good manners. It is good spirituality.

The remark draws a deliberate distinction between etiquette and inner life. “Good manners” frames gratitude as a social lubricant—polite, expected, and outward-facing. By calling it “good spirituality,” Painter elevates gratitude into a formative practice that shapes character and one’s relationship to others (and, implicitly, to the divine or to life itself). The quote suggests that thanking is not merely transactional; it is a discipline of attention that recognizes gifts, dependence, and interconnectedness. In that sense, gratitude becomes a moral and spiritual posture—one that counters entitlement and cultivates humility, reverence, and generosity.