Once again we find ourselves enmeshed in the Holiday Season, that very special time of year when we join with our loved ones in sharing centuries-old traditions such as trying to find a parking space at the mall. We traditionally do this in my family by driving around the parking lot until we see a shopper emerge from the mall, then we follow her, in very much the same spirit as the Three Wise Men, who 2,000 years ago followed a star, week after week, until it led them to a parking space. – Dave Barry, “Peace on Earth but No Parking”
The Church does not superstitiously observe days, merely as days, but as memorials of important facts. Christmas might be kept as well upon one day of the year as another; but there should be a stated day for commemorating the birth of our Savior, because there is danger that what may be done on any day, will be neglected. – Samuel Johnson in James Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson
This holiday which only reminds me of the birth of a Jew who gave the world debilitating and devitalizing theories. – Benito Mussolini, December 1941
I know many Americans think of Christmas as a single day and like to clear away the trappings of the season well before the fifth of January, but that is sheer barbarism, if you ask me, morally only a few steps removed from human sacrifice, cannibalism, or golf. – David Bentley Hart, The Dream-Child’s Progress and Other Essays
There is a remarkable breakdown of taste and intelligence at Christmastime. Mature responsible men wear neckties made out of holly leaves and drink alcoholic beverages with raw eggs and cottage cheese in them. – P.J. O’Rourke
I return your seasonal greeting card with contempt. May your hypocritical words choke you and may they choke you early in the New Year, rather than later. – Professor Kennedy Lindsay, a Vanguard member of the Northern Assembly, returning a Christmas card from the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr Garret FitzGerald, in the Irish Times
So if a Christian is touched only once a year, the touching is still worth it, and maybe on some given Christmas, some quiet morning, the touch will take. – Harry Reasoner