Christmas Quotes - 57 quotes

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Christmas

Christmas is an annual holiday commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. It is celebrated on December 25th in many countries around the world. For Christians, Christmas honors the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God as told in the Biblical Gospels of Matthew and Luke in the Bible. Christmas is a time for joy, reflection, and spending time with loved ones. Whether it's the religious significance, cultural traditions, or the sheer magic of the holiday season, Christmas holds a special place in the hearts of many. Christmas is marked by various traditions and customs in various cultures across the world. The date of December 25th was chosen to align with existing pagan festivals celebrating the winter solstice. Over time, Christmas adopted various customs from these traditions, such as homes and public spaces adorned with Christmas trees, lights, ornaments, and nativity scenes. Exchanging gifts is a central part of Christmas, symbolizing the gifts given to Jesus by the Wise Men (Magi). The figure of Santa Claus, derived from Saint Nicholas and various folk traditions, is associated with delivering gifts to children on Christmas Eve. During Christmas, families and friends come together for festive meals, which often include special dishes and treats like Christmas pudding, cookies, and roast dinners. Christmas carols and songs, such as "Silent Night" and "Jingle Bells," are sung and played throughout the Christmas season.

quote icon Christmas Eve was a night of song that wrapped itself about you like a shawl. But it warmed more than your body. It warmed your heart...filled it, too, with melody that would last forever.

- Bess Streeter Aldrich

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quote icon For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given; and the government shall be upon his shoulders; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God, the everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace.

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quote icon And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men...

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quote icon Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.

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quote icon There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions.

- Bill McKibben

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quote icon Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food, and beer.... Who'd have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment, and spirituality would mix so harmoniously?

- Bill Watterson

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quote icon The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

- Burton Hillis

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quote icon Christmas is not a time nor a season, but a state of mind. To cherish peace and goodwill, to be plenteous in mercy, is to have the real spirit of Christmas.

- Calvin Coolidge

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quote icon Happy, happy Christmas, that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!

- Charles Dickens

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quote icon 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 own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.

- Charles Dickens

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quote icon I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round — apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that — 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, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys.

- Charles Dickens

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quote icon I will honor Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year.

- Charles Dickens

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quote icon Hark the herald angels sing, Glory to the new-born king." Peace on earth, and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!

- Charles Wesley

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quote icon In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it 'Christmas' and went to church; the Jews called it 'Hanukkah' and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say 'Merry Christmas!' or 'Happy Hanukkah!' or (to the atheists) 'Look out for the wall!'

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quote icon "The account of the first Christmas in the Book of Mormon helps us to learn and more fully understand that Jesus Christ is the “light which shineth in darkness” (see D&C 10:57–61). In every season of our lives, in all of the circumstances we may encounter, and in each challenge we may face, Jesus Christ is the light that dispels fear, provides assurance and direction, and engenders enduring peace and joy. "Many of our memorable and enduring Christmas traditions include different kinds of lights — lights on trees, lights in and on our homes, candles on our tables. May the beautiful lights of every holiday season remind us of him who is the source of all light."

- David A. Bednar

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quote icon Maybe Christmas..., he thought, "...Doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas... perhaps... means a little bit more!

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quote icon And the Grinch, with his Grinch-feet ice cold in the snow, stood puzzling and puzzling, how could it be so? It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store? What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more?

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quote icon To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year.

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quote icon Christmas is the time for looking ahead courageously through the gates of the swiftly approaching new year … of resolving that the coming months will reflect a kinder, more forgiving and less heedless person than mirrored in the past.

- Ellen V. Morgan

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quote icon There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.

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quote icon At some point, someone who worked at Rockefeller Center must have said, "Boys, I have a great idea for Christmas. Let's kill a beautiful tree that's been alive for seventy-five years and bring it to New York City. We'll stand it up in Rockefeller Plaza and conceal its natural beauty by hanging shiny, repulsive, man-made objects on it, and let it stand there slowly dying for several weeks while simpleminded children stare at it and people from Des Moines take pictures of it. That way, perhaps we can add our own special, obscene imprint to Christmas in Midtown."

- George Carlin

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quote icon During the beautiful and holy season of Christmas, our hearts are filled with the same wonder, gratitude, and joy that led the psalmist of old to ask, “When I consider Thy heavens, the work of Thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which Thou hast ordained, What is man, that Thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that Thou visitest him?” At Christmas, we, too, rejoice in the mystery of God’s love for us – love revealed through the gift of Christ’s birth.

- George H. W. Bush

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quote icon We embrace the spirit of the Prince of Peace so that we might find peace in our own hearts and in our own land, and hopefully in the world as well.

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quote icon Christmas is a bridge. We need bridges as the river of time flows past.

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quote icon There is far-reaching appropriateness in the fact that the world's immortal baby story, that of Bethlehem, should be a story of turning things upside down — for that is a baby's chief business.

- Halford Edward Luccock

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quote icon The meaning of Christmas puts down the mighty things in men's minds from their seats — place, riches, talents — and exalts the things of low degree — humility, simplicity, and trust.

- Halford Edward Luccock

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quote icon The Christmas story puts a new value on every man.

- Halford Edward Luccock

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quote icon The Christmas story puts a new value on every man. He is not a thing to be used, not a chemical accident, not an educated ape.

- Halford Edward Luccock

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quote icon “The best way to send an idea is to wrap it up in a person.” That was what happened at Christmas. The idea of divine love was wrapped up in a person.

- Halford Edward Luccock

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quote icon Christmas brings the universal message to men: "You look important and great; pray correct that error." It overturns the false standards that have blinded the vision and sets up again in their rightful magnitude those childlike qualities by which we enter the Kingdom.

- Halford Edward Luccock

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quote icon This is the Christmas that a war-weary world has prayed for through long and awful years. ... From the manger of Bethlehem came a new appeal to the minds and hearts of men: “A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another.” . . . Would that the world would accept that message in this time of its greatest need! . . . We must strive without ceasing to make real the prophecy of Isaiah: “They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning-hooks: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.” In this day, whether it be far or near, the Kingdoms of this world shall become indeed the Kingdom of God and He will reign forever and ever, Lord of Lords and King of Kings.

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quote icon 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

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quote icon This Christmas, mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love and then speak it again. Christmas is a celebration, and there is no celebration that compares with the realization of its true meaning—with the sudden stirring of the heart that has extended itself unselfishly in the things that matter most.

- Howard W. Hunter

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quote icon They had to find one guy that hated the holiday. I do think it is odd that I have wound up playing these two iconic Christmas haters. It is the same story, in a way. Scrooge is the original Grinch. I think I am perfectly suited, because I have had some dark Christmases.

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quote icon Blow, bugles of battle, the marches of peace; East, west, north, and south let the long quarrel cease; Sing the song of great joy that the angels began, Sing the glory to God and of good-will to man!

- John Greenleaf Whittier

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quote icon Late on a sleepy, star-spangled night, those angels peeled back the sky just like you would tear open a sparkling Christmas present. Then, with light and joy pouring out of Heaven like water through a broken dam, they began to shout and sing the message that baby Jesus had been born. The world had a Savior! The angels called it "Good News, " and it was.

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quote icon “Off to one side sits a group of shepherds. They sit silently on the floor, perhaps perplexed, perhaps in awe, no doubt in amazement. Their night watch had been interrupted by an explosion of light from heaven and a symphony of angels. God goes to those who have time to hear him–and so on this cloudless night he went to simple shepherds.”

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quote icon For just an instant the sky grew luminous with angels, yet who saw the spectacle? Illiterate hirelings who watched the flocks of others, "nobodies" who failed to leave their names...

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quote icon Some celebrate Christmas as the birthday of a great and good philosopher and teacher. Others of us believe in the Divinity of the child born in Bethlehem, that He was and is the promised Prince of Peace. . . . Tonight, in millions of American homes, the glow of the Christmas tree is a reflection of the love Jesus taught us.

- Ronald Reagan

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quote icon I have always believed that the message of Jesus is one of hope and joy. I know there are those who recognize Christmas Day as the birthday of a great and good man, a wise teacher who gave us principles to live by. And then there are others of us who believe that He was the Son of God, that He was Divine. If we live our lives for truth, for love, and for God, we never need be afraid.

- Ronald Reagan

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quote icon We do not know the exact moment the Christ Child was born, only what we would have seen if we’d been standing there as we stand here now: Suddenly, a star from heaven shining in our eyes, shining with brilliant beauty across the skies, a star pointing toward eternity in the night, like a great ring of pure and endless light, and then all was calm, and all was bright. Such was the beginning of one solitary life that would shake the world as never before or since. When we speak of Jesus and of His life, we speak of a man revered as a prophet and teacher by people of all religions, and Christians speak of someone greater – a man Who was and is Divine. He brought forth a power that is infinite and a promise that is eternal, a power greater than all mankind’s military might, for His power is Godly love, love that can lift our hearts and soothe our sorrows and heal our wounds and drive away our fears. . . . If each of us could give but a fraction to one another of what He gave to the whole human family, how many hearts could heal, how much sorrow and pain could be driven away.

- Ronald Reagan

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quote icon They will drink our healths at dinner, those who tell us how they love us, And forget us till another year be gone!

- Rudyard Kipling

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quote icon "There is no better time than now, this very Christmas season, for all of us to rededicate ourselves to the principles taught by Jesus the Christ. It is the time to love the Lord, our God, with all our heart — and our neighbors as ourselves. It is well to remember that he who gives money gives much; he who gives time gives more; but he who gives of himself gives all. "Let us make Christmas real. It isn’t just tinsel and ribbon, unless we have made it so in our lives. Christmas is the spirit of giving without a thought of getting. It is happiness because we see joy in people. It is forgetting self and finding time for others. It is discarding the meaningless and stressing the true values. It is peace because we have found peace in the Savior’s teachings. It is the time we realize most deeply that the more love is expended, the more there is of it for others."

- Thomas S. Monson

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quote icon A song was heard at Christmas To wake the midnight sky: A saviour's birth, and peace on earth, And praise to God on high. The angels sang at Christmas With all the hosts above, And still we sing the newborn King His glory and his love.

- Timothy Dudley-Smith

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quote icon Our culture expects parents, basically, to lie to our children that their presents were left by a jolly fat man who flies in a sleigh pulled by reindeer through the sky. And so of course one might ask, is this OK? We all surely want our children to grow up to be honest people. Shouldn’t we set a good example, as far as possible, by telling them the truth? To which I would say: well, no. We shouldn’t be honest about Santa – at least not at first. It is morally OK, to the point of being actively morally good, for parents to participate in the grand Santa lie.

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quote icon When you think back to your first experiences of Christmas, do you really think they would have been improved if your parents had been honest about Santa? Without that sweet embellishment, there would be no ritual of writing to him, of leaving out sherry and mince pies, of waiting desperately to see if “he’s been” on Christmas morning.

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quote icon Without the Santa myth, what would Christmas for the average child even be? An arbitrary date when they are finally allowed to play with presents their parents maybe bought months in advance. What would be the point?

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quote icon If I felt compelled to tell my children everything, I would pull no punches in relating the wretched state of the world, of existence, of my still-deepening resignation that nothing positive can be done about it. I would inflict the full brunt of my money worries, my health concerns, my (mostly irrational) worries about them. And this would leave them, what? Emotionally healthier than the children of parents who gifted them a moderately sugar-coated sense of the world?

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quote icon As we’re growing up, we probably do on some level need to believe that the world is good and just: the sort of place where a jolly man runs a workshop staffed by elves, rewarding the nice children and (lightly) punishing the naughty.

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quote icon And when our children do finally see through the myth? This is surely good for their moral development as well. It was very positive for me to realise that I had seen through my parents’ lies. I didn’t feel angry at them – and research suggests only a minority of children do, in this situation. Instead, I was left with a healthy suspicion for the received wisdom being ventriloquised by my parents.

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quote icon This I guess is the extent to which I think lying about Santa is justified. Parents should surely maintain the myth while their children remain small, but answer honestly when confronted directly. When a child finally asks, at the age of six or seven, “is Santa real?” – that’s when they no longer need the noble lie.

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quote icon Ultimately in raising children, our concern should always be with how we are shaping them. If we want to raise critical citizens, with a powerful sense that the world can be improved – and with a healthy suspicion of those in charge – the Santa myth is surely one mechanism through which this might possibly be achieved.

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quote icon So here comes Gabriel again, and what he says is "Good tidings of great joy … for all people." … That's why the shepherds are first: they represent all the nameless, all the working stiffs, the great wheeling population of the whole world.

- Walter Wangerin Jr

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quote icon Christmas is not in tinsel and lights and outward show. The secret lies in an inner glow. It's lighting a fire inside the heart. Good will and joy a vital part. It's higher thought and a greater plan. It's glorious dream in the soul of man.

- Wilfred A. Peterson

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quote icon Have you any old grudges you would like to pay, Any wrongs laid up from a bygone day? Gather them now and lay them away When Christmas comes. Hard thoughts are heavy to carry, my friend, And life is short from beginning to end; Be kind to yourself, leave nothing to mend When Christmas comes.

- William Lytle

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quote icon The same God that placed that star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will, illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only lead others but warm them as well. (That My Family Should Partake, p. 86) This is a stunning thing for us to contemplate in all seasons! His planning and precision pertain not only to astrophysical orbits but to human orbits as well.... Therefore, what about our individualized orbits and schedules? Do we appear on the scene on time, and "shine as lights in the world" as the Apostle Paul urged? (Philippians 2:15). YES, there is a personalized plan for each of us. Like the Christmas star, each of us, if faithful, has an ordained orbit, a prescribed path, as we pass through this second estate. (The Christmas Scene, Deseret Book, p.3) There cannot be a grand plan of salvation for all mankind, unless there is also a plan for each individual. The salvational sum will reflect all its parts. (Ensign, Feb. 1979, 69)

- Neal A. Maxwell

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quote icon And is it true? And is it true, This most tremendous tale of all, Seen in a stained-glass window's hue, A Baby in an in ox's stall? The Maker of the stars and sea Became a Child on earth for me?

- Sir John Betjeman

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