Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us here at the Weekly Newspapers. To help keep you in that holiday spirit, I’ll present some festive Christmas quotes from wise people throughout the ages.
- “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!” – Dr. Seuss, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!”
- “How many observe Christ’s birthday! How few, His precepts!” – Benjamin Franklin
- “Want to keep Christ in Christmas? Feed the hungry, clothe the naked, forgive the guilty, welcome the unwanted, care for the ill, love your enemies, and do unto others as you would have
done unto you.” – Steve Maraboli
- “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” – Norman Vincent Peale
- “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!’” – Dave Barry
- “The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington, D.C. This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.” – Jay Leno
- “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
- “The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.” – George Carlin
- “A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” – Garrison Keillor
- “If my Valentine you won’t be, I’ll hang myself on your Christmas tree.” – Ernest Hemingway
- “‘There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,’ returned the nephew. ‘Christmas among the rest. But 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. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!’” – Charles Dickens
- “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.” – Andy Rooney
- “What kind of Christmas present would Jesus ask Santa for?” – Salman Rushdie
- “Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.” – Larry Wilde
- “Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly merry Christmas.” – Peg Bracken
- “I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month.” – Harlan Miller
In the spirit of all that’s good on Christmas, I’d like to invite you to join me for a special Christmas Night Acoustic Concert on Facebook Live at 7:30 p.m. on… well, Christmas Night! I’ll be playing some of my favorite holiday music, and I’ll bet it’s some of yours as well. Find the concert at my Facebook page: www.facebook.com/john.bartus
Catch John Wednesdays at Herbie’s, Thursdays at Sparky’s Landing, Fridays on Facebook Live for the Social Distancing Concerts, Saturday afternoon at Boondocks and Saturday night at the Key Colony Inn, and this Sunday at Boondocks. Music available wherever you get your streaming. www.facebook.com/john.bartus
