Let these Christmas quotes warm your heart and remind you of the true spirit of the season
58 Best Christmas Quotes That Capture the Warmth of the Holiday
Updated on Nov. 27, 2024
Best Christmas quotes
1. “A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together.” —Garrison Keillor
2. “Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.” —Mary Ellen Chase
3. “At Christmas, play and make good cheer, for Christmas comes but once a year.” —Thomas Tusser
4. “From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it.” —Katharine Whitehorn
5. “‘Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house, Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse; The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.” —Clement Clarke Moore
6. “There is nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child. … Time, self-pity, apathy, bitterness and exhaustion can take the Christmas out of the child, but you cannot take the child out of Christmas.” —Erma Bombeck
7. “For a good conscience is a continual Christmas.” —Benjamin Franklin
8. “And numerous indeed are the hearts to which Christmas brings a brief season of happiness and enjoyment.” —Charles Dickens
9. “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 traveler, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home!” —Charles Dickens
10. “It is my heart-warmed and world-embracing Christmas hope and aspiration that all of us, the high, the low, the rich, the poor, the admired, the despised, the loved, the hated, the civilized, the savage (every man and brother of us all throughout the whole earth), may eventually be gathered together in a heaven of everlasting rest and peace and bliss, except the inventor of the telephone.” —Mark Twain
11. “Christmas is a time in which, of all times in the year, the memory of every remediable sorrow, wrong and trouble in the world around us, should be active with us, not less than our own experiences, for all good.” —Charles Dickens
12. “Personally, of course, I believe in Santa Claus; but it is the season of forgiveness, and I will forgive others for not doing so.” —G.K. Chesterton
13. “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
14. “Angels come down, with Christmas in their hearts, Gentle, whimsical, laughing, heaven-sent; And, for a day, fair Peace have given me.” —Vachel Lindsay
15. “No one has a right to expect anything at Christmas. It should be a day of unexpected and unlooked-for blessings, which drop as the gentle dew from heaven.” —Margaret Collier Graham
16. “Sometimes the best Christmas present is remembering what you’ve already got.” —Cathy Guisewite
17. “To perceive Christmas through its wrapping becomes more difficult with every year.” —E.B. White
18. “To appreciate Christmas to the full, one must know how it feels to be deprived of its blessings.” —Carlos P. Romulo
19. “Times change; years speed by; but Christmas continues sacred.” —Thomas S. Monson
20. “Welcome Christmas! heel and toe, Come and fill us ere you go!” —Mary Mapes Dodge
21. “We expect too much at Christmas. It’s got to be magical. It’s got to go right. Feasting. Fun. The perfect present. All that anticipation. Take it easy. Love’s the thing. The rest is tinsel.” —Pam Brown
22. “Chill December brings the sleet, Blazing fire and Christmas treat.” —Sara Coleridge
23. “The things we do at Christmas are touched with a certain extravagance, as beautiful, in some of its aspects, as the extravagance of nature in June.” —Robert Collyer
Christmas quotes from books
24. “For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.” —Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
25. “Christmas isn’t a season. It’s a feeling.” —Edna Ferber, Roast Beef, Medium
26. “Christmas was close at hand, in all his bluff and hearty honesty; it was the season of hospitality, merriment, and open-heartedness; the old year was preparing, like an ancient philosopher, to call his friends around him, and amidst the sound of feasting and revelry to pass gently and calmly away.” —Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers
27. “There must be something ghostly in the air of Christmas—something about the close, muggy atmosphere that draws up the ghosts, like the dampness of the summer rains brings out the frogs and snails.” —Jerome K. Jerome, Told After Supper
28. “‘I know it’s hard being a single mother, baby,’ he said, ‘but we’re talking fundamentals here. Homemade cookies are one of the best parts of Christmas. It’s an absolute fundamental.’” —Dean Koontz, Strangers
29. “It was the beginning of the greatest Christmas ever. Little food. No presents. But there was a snowman in their basement.” —Markus Zusak, The Book Thief
30. “The week before Christmas, when snow seemed to lie thickest, was the moment for carol-singing; and when I think back to those nights it is to the crunch of snow and to the lights of the lanterns on it.” —Laurie Lee, Cider with Rosie
Funny Christmas quotes
31. “I didn’t know the full dimensions of forever, but I knew it was longer than waiting for Christmas to come.” —Richard Brautigan
32. “Bloody Christmas, here again, let us raise a loving cup, peace on earth, goodwill to men and make them do the washing up.” —Wendy Cope
33. “The ultimate in longevity is the Christmas fruitcake. It is a cake made during the holidays with fruits that make it heavier than the stove it is cooked in.” —Erma Bombeck
34. “There are 17 more shopping days until Christmas. So, guys, that means 16 more days till we start shopping, right?” —Conan O’Brien
35. “In my experience, clever food is not appreciated at Christmas. It makes the little ones cry and the old ones nervous.” —Jane Grigson
36. “It will be a very traditional Christmas, with presents, crackers, doors slamming and people bursting into tears, but without the big dead thing in the middle.” —Victoria Wood
37. “What I don’t like about office Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.” —Phyllis Diller
38. “‘Twas the night before Christmas, the office was closed, The transom was shut, the staff home in repose … ” —Charles Stross
39. “Michelle will tell you that when we get together for Christmas or Thanksgiving, it’s like a little mini-United Nations. … I’ve got relatives who look like Bernie Mac, and I’ve got relatives who look like Margaret Thatcher. We’ve got it all.” —Barack Obama
Heartwarming Christmas quotes
40. “The sharpest memory of our old-fashioned Christmas Eve is my mother’s hand making sure I was settled in bed.” —Paul Engle
41. “In those days, Christmas still retained a certain aura of magic and mystery. The powdery light of winter, the hopeful expressions of people who lived among shadows and silence, lent that setting a slight air of promise in which at least children and those who had learned the art of forgetting could still believe.” —Carlos Ruiz Zafón
42. “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. Even though you grew up and found you could never quite bring back the magic feeling of this night, the melody would stay in your heart always—a song for all the years.” —Bess Streeter Aldrich
43. “Christmas is the celebration of the keeping of a promise. A saving promise.” —Michael Card
44. “In the midst of the shopping and the wrapping and the arranging of presents under your tree this Christmas, may you not forget the gifts you cannot yet hold in your hands.” —T.D. Jakes
45. “I love snow for the same reason I love Christmas: It brings people together while time stands still.” —Rachel Cohn
46. “I love to observe Christmas in quietude, humility, benevolence, charity, letting goodwill towards man, eloquent silence, prayer and praise express my conception of Truth’s appearing.” —Mary Baker Eddy
47. “Curious, how one remembered Christmas. Perhaps because other days might appeal to the head, but this one appealed to the heart.” —Mary Roberts Rinehart
48. “The magical dust of Christmas glittered on the cheeks of humanity ever so briefly, reminding us of what is worth having and what we were intended to be.” —Max Lucado
Religious Christmas quotes
49. “If we could condense all the truths of Christmas into only three words, these would be the words: ‘God with us.’” —John F. MacArthur
50. “Who among us will celebrate Christmas correctly? Whoever finally lays down all power, all honor, all reputation, all vanity, all arrogance, all individualism beside the manger; whoever remains lowly and lets God alone be high. ” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
51. “Much of the beauty of Christmas lies in its challenge to look further, deeper, until we find its secret in the heart of God. But we never find that unless we look beyond the presents under the tree.” —Dale Evans
52. “The time draws near the birth of Christ; The moon is hid; the night is still; The Christmas bells from hill to hill, Answer each other in the mist.” —Alfred, Lord Tennyson
53. “Christmas in Bethlehem. The ancient dream: a cold, clear night made brilliant by a glorious star, the smell of incense, shepherds and wise men falling to their knees in adoration of the sweet baby, the incarnation of perfect love.” —Lucinda Franks
54. “We tend to focus our attention at Christmas on the infancy of Christ. The greater truth of the holiday is His deity. More astonishing than a baby in the manger is the truth that this promised baby is the omnipotent Creator of the heavens and the earth!” —John F. MacArthur
55. “The very purpose of Christ’s coming into the world was that He might offer up His life as a sacrifice for the sins of men. He came to die. This is the heart of Christmas.” —Billy Graham
56. “Without Christ, there would be no Christmas, and without Christ, there can be no fullness of joy.” —Ezra Taft Benson
57. “It is Christmas every time you let God love others through you.” —Mother Teresa
58. “Christmas is joy, religious joy, an inner joy of light and peace.” —Pope Francis
Along with the Christmas quotes above, let these religious Christmas quotes inspire and motivate you this holiday season.
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite quotes for over 100 years. The sayings and quips that appear in the magazine’s “Quotable Quotes” (formerly “Remarkable Remarks”) are curated from interviews and essays originally published in the magazine, reprints from trusted titles and other verified sources. For this piece on Christmas quotes, Reader’s Digest Associate Editor Mariah Thomas tapped her experience as a lifestyle editor and writer to ensure that all information is accurate. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
