A Christmas shopper’s complaint is one of long-standing.
—Indian Proverb
We should make the Yuletide season an occasion not merely for the giving of material things but an occasion for the giving of that which counts infinitely more … the giving of self.
—James Cash Penney (1875–1971) American Entrepreneur
From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist it would be necessary to invent it.
—Katharine Whitehorn (1928–2021) English Journalist, Writer, Columnist
Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.
—Hamilton Wright Mabie (1846–1916) American Essayist, Editor
My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others. Come to think of it, why do we have to wait for Christmas to do that?
—Bob Hope (1903–2003) British-born American Comedian
So stick up ivy and the bays, and then restore the heathen ways, green will remind you of the Spring, though this great day denies the thing, and mortifies the earth, and all, but your wild revels, and loose hall.
—Henry Vaughan (1621–95) Anglo-Welsh Metaphysical Poet
So remember while December
Brings the only Christmas day,
In the year let there be Christmas
In the things you do and say.
—Anonymous
Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years… Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.
—George Matthew Adams (1878–1962) American Columnist, Journalist
Christmas is the season of joy, of holiday greetings exchanged, of gift-giving, and of families united.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
A merry Christmas to everybody! A happy New Year to all the world!
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Christmas doesn’t come from a store, maybe Christmas perhaps means a little bit more …
—Theodor Seuss Geisel (‘Dr. Seuss’) (1904–91) American Children’s Books Writer, Writer, Cartoonist, Animator
Heap on the wood!-the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will, We’ll keep our Christmas merry still.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
“Out upon merry Christmas! What’s Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer… If I could work my will,” said Scrooge indignantly, “every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ upon his lips should be boiled with his won pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!”
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
I truly believe that if we keep telling the Christmas story, singing the Christmas songs, and living the Christmas spirit, we can bring joy and happiness and peace to this world.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
How wrong it is to use God as a stop-gap for the incompleteness of our knowledge. If in fact the frontiers of knowledge are being pushed further and further back (and that is bound to be the case), then God is being pushed back with them, and is therefore continually in retreat. We are to find God in what we know, not in what we don’t know.
—Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–45) German Lutheran Pastor, Theologian
I heard the bells on Christmas Day
Their old, familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
May we not “spend” Christmas or “observe” Christmas, but rather “keep” it.
—Peter Marshall
Christmas hath a beauty … lovelier than the world can show.
—Christina Rossetti (1830–94) English Poet, Hymn Writer
Christmas is here: Winds whistle shrill, Icy and chill, Little care we; Little we fear Weather without, Sheltered about The Mahogany Tree
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge, said the gentleman, taking up a pen, “it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. … We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.
—Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867–1957) American Children’s Novelist
Were it not for the shepherds, there would have been no reception. And were it not for a group of stargazers, there would have been no gifts.
—Max Lucado (b.1955) American Christian Author, Minister
“Somehow he [Tim] gets thoughtful sitting by himself so much, and thinks the strangest things you ever heard. He told me, coming home, that he hoped the people saw him in the church, because he was a cripple, and it might be pleasant for them to remember upon Christmas Day, who made lame beggars walk, and blind men see.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Christmas is not just a time for festivity and merry making. It is more than that. It is a time for the contemplation of eternal things. The Christmas spirit is a spirit of giving and forgiving.
—James Cash Penney (1875–1971) American Entrepreneur
If there is no joyous way to give a festive gift, give love away.
—Unknown
Somehow, not only for Christmas, But all the long year through, The joy that you give to others, Is the joy that comes back to you. And the more you spend in blessing, The poor and lonely and sad, The more of your heart’s possessing, Returns to you glad.
—John Greenleaf Whittier (1807–92) American Quaker Poet, Abolitionist
“But I am sure that I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round…as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–70) English Novelist
Christmas is doing a little something extra for someone.
—Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) American Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
‘Twas Christmas broach’d the mightiest ale; ’twas Christmas told the merriest tale; a Christmas gambol oft could cheer the poor man’s heart through half the year.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Christmas is sights, especially the sights of Christmas reflected in the eyes of a child.
—William Saroyan (1908–81) American Playwright, Novelist