Christmas Wisdom
Let's get started (Compliments of www.QuoteGarden.com) with Louisa May Alcott who said, Very gay they were with snow and sleigh-bells, holly-boughs, and garlands below, and Christmas sunshine in the winter sky above. All faces shone, all voices had a cheery ring, and everybody stepped briskly on errands of good-will. Norman Vincent Peale joined in, Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. Carol Nelson added, Christmas is a time when you get homesick — even when you're home. Roy L Smith was there too, He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree. Of course, Charles Dickens brought his unique perspective, I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable 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. W J Cameron was also along with a thought for careful consideration, Christmas is the gentlest, loveliest festival of the revolving year — and yet, for all that, when it speaks, its voice has strong authority. Burton Hillis makes us smile, The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree, the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. And along came Andy Rooney to remind us not to get in too much of a rush to clear the happy evidence, One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on Christmas day. Don't clean it up too quickly. Naturally Charles Dickens has more than one thought for the holiday, 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! Lest we forget, W J Cameron reminds us, There has been only one Christmas, the rest are anniversaries. Thanks go to Eric Sevareid for resetting our perspective when he pointed out that, Christmas is a necessity. There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves. We can all agree with Laura Ingalls Wilder when she reminds us that, 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 Christmas time. Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall. Thank you Larry Wilde, it's too true. Washington Irving is also here to remind us, Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart. Peg Bracken definitely gets it. We can only hope that we do too. She said, Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas. Kate L Bosher said, Isn't it funny that at Christmas something in you gets so lonely for — I don't know what exactly, but it's something that you don't mind so much not having at other times. And Marjorie Holmes knows what we get so lonely for. She said, At Christmas, all roads lead home. It may be sad but true that Francis C Farley is correct. He said, Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish. Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself. Harlan Miller has an idea worth following up, I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month. What would a collection of thoughtful thoughts be without Dave Barry. Dave said, In the old days,