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85 Holiday Quotes to Spread Some Serious Christmas Cheer

Merry Chrismukkah

holiday-quotes: a present, a letter, and two candy canes under a tree.
Kseniya Ovchinnikova/Getty Images

As soon as the cool air rolls in, you know the holiday season has officially begun. Rather than indulge our inner Scrooge (which, trust, is easy to do), we like to go the route of Buddy the Elf and embrace the Christmas cheer full on. Need a little help getting there? Allow these 85 holiday quotes to instill you with plenty of spirit. Whether you're celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or even just counting down the days to the New Year, the perfect quote is waiting for you. (You can also find them on our Inspirational Quotes Pinterest board.)

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1. “Once again, we come to the holiday season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice.” – Dave Barry

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2. “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.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder

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3. “Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind.” – Mary Ellen Chase

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4. “One of the most glorious messes in the world is the mess created in the living room on ChristmasDay. Don’t clean it up too quickly.” – Andy Rooney

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5. “A good holiday is one spent among people whose notions of time are vaguer than yours.” –John B. Priestley

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6. “Merry Christmas, movie house! Merry Christmas, Emporium! Merry Christmas, you wonderful old Building and Loan! – George Bailey, It’s A Wonderful Life

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7. “No! No! I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred-shot range model air rifle!” – Ralphie, A Christmas Story

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8. The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear.” – Buddy the Elf , Elf

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9. “May your eyeliner be even and your holidays be bright.” – Mary Kay

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10. “All I want for Christmas is you.” – Mariah Carey (duh)

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11. “Chrismukkah is unruinable. It’s got twice the resistance of any normal holiday.” – Seth Cohen, The O.C.

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12. “It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree that matters but who’s around it.” – Charlie Brown, A Charlie Brown Christmas

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13. “Maybe Christmas, he thought, doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.” – Dr. Seuss, The Grinch

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14. “At Christmas, all roads lead home.” – Marjorie Holmes

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15. “Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.” – Oprah Winfrey

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16. “There's coconut in the Hanukkah Menor-eos.”— Ross Gellar, Friends

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17. “Christmas will always be as long as we stand heart to heart and hand in hand.” – Dr. Seuss

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18. “Christmas is the day that holds all time together.” – Alexander Smith

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19. “My idea of Christmas, whether old-fashioned or modern, is very simple: loving others.” – Bob Hope

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20. “It's Christmas Eve. It's the one night of the year when we all act a little nicer, we smile a little easier, we cheer a little more. For a couple of hours out of the whole year, we are the people that we always hoped we would be.” – Frank Cross, Scrooged

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21. “I don't think Christmas is necessarily about things. It's about being good to one another.” – Carrie Fisher

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22. “Presents are the best way to show someone how much you care. It's like this tangible thing you can say, ‘Hey man, I love you this many dollars-worth.’” – Michael Scott, The Office

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23. “Nothing says holidays, like a cheese log.” – Ellen DeGeneres

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24. “Christmas is a season not only of rejoicing but of reflection.” – Winston Churchill

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25. “Christmas isn't just a day, it's a frame of mind.” – Valentine Davies, Miracle On 34th Street

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26. “The smells of Christmas are the smells of childhood.” – Richard Paul Evans

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27. “Nobody's walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas.” – Clark Griswold, National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation

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28. “There has to be at least one day of the year to remind us that we're here for something else besides ourselves.” – Eric Sevareid

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29. “There's nothing cozier than a Christmas tree all lit up.” – Jenny Han

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30. “Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.” – Hamilton Wright Mabie

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31. “Christmas isn't a season. It's a feeling.” – Edna Ferber

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32. “We have religious holidays and we have secular holidays. I see Kwanzaa as an opportunity for African-Americans to reaffirm ourselves if we choose to, a chance to rebuild and renew our focus. I see Kwanzaa as a holiday of the spirit.”– Jessica Harris

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33. “There are three stages of man: he believes in Santa Claus; he does not believe in Santa Claus; he is Santa Claus.” – Bob Phillips

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34. “Nothing ever seems too bad, too hard or too sad when you've got a Christmas tree in the living room.” – Nora Roberts

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35. “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched. They must be felt with the heart. Wishing you happiness.” – Helen Keller

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36. “T’was the night before Christmas, when all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.” – Clement Clarke Moore

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37. “Sharing the holiday with other people, and feeling that you’re giving of yourself, gets you past all the commercialism.” – Caroline Kennedy

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38. “It's not how much we give but how much love we put into giving.” – Mother Theresa

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39. “I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was six. Mother took me to see him in a department store and he asked for my autograph.” – Shirley Temple

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40. “You can tell a lot about a person by the way they handle three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.” – Maya Angelou

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41. “Christmas is a day of meaning and traditions, a special day to spend in the warm circle of family and friends.” – Margaret Thatcher

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42. “Small cheer and great welcome make a merry feast.” – William Shakespeare

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43. “And now we welcome the new year. Full of things that have never been.”– Rainer Maria Rilke

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44. "My New Year's resolution is to learn how to play guitar. You know those special skills I have listed on my resumé? I would love it if one of those was true." – Joey Tribbiani, Friends

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45. “Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful.” – W.T. Ellis

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46. “The joy of brightening other lives becomes for us the magic of the holidays.” – W.C. Jones

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47. “Your children need your presence more than your presents.” – Jesse Jackson

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48. “Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.” – Anne Frank

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49. “May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility.” – Mary Anne Radmacher

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50. “I find that it’s the simple things that remind you of family around the holidays.” – Amy Adams

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51. “Christmas is like candy; it slowly melts in your mouth sweetening every taste bud, making you wish it could last forever.” – Richelle E. Goodrich

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52. “You know what? I am going to be happy this year. I'm going to make myself happy. Every day, I am going to do one thing I have never done before. That, my friends, is my New Year's resolution.” – Ross Geller, Friends

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53. “Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.” – Victor Borge

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54. “Like snowflakes, my Christmas memories gather and dance—each beautiful, unique, and gone too soon.” – Deborah Whipp

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55. “Merry Christmas, you filthy animal!” – Kevin McCallister, Home Alone 2

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56. “Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 30 feet tall.” – Larry Wilde

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57. “The spirit of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is shared by all people who love freedom.” – Norma Simon

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58. “I’ll just be hanging around the mistletoe, hoping to be kissed. – Mia, Love Actually

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59. “New Year's Day is every man's birthday.” – Charles Lamb

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60. “You're skipping Christmas! Isn't that against the law?” – Spike Frohmeyer, Christmas with the Kranks

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61. “Winter, a lingering season, is a time to gather golden moments, embark upon a sentimental journey, and enjoy every idle hour.” – John Boswell

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62. “The proper response, as Hanukkah teaches, is not to curse the darkness but to light a candle.” – Irving Greenberg

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63. “There’s something about a holiday that isn’t all about how much money you spend.” – Hilarie Burton

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64. “Holidays—any holiday—are such a great opportunity to focus on bringing the family together.” – Lidia Bastianich

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65. “For me, I think everybody with half a heart tries to do their best to do their part of good during the holiday season.” – Darren Criss

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66. "Heap on the wood! the wind is chill; But let it whistle as it will. We'll keep our Christmas merry still.” – Sir Walter Scott

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67. “This is Christmas spirit, as in spirits, booze.” – Michael Scott, The Office

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68. “At the Festivus dinner you gather your family around and tell them all the ways they have disappointed you over the past year.” – Frank Costanza, Seinfeld

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69. “Christmas is always the most fun. I start looking forward to Christmas before it’s even summertime.” - Mariah Carey

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70. “The true beauty of Christmas is revealed when we adore the season, not like some weary adult, but like a bubbly little child.” - Michael Bassey Johnson

holiday quotes john j geddes

71. “Freshly cut Christmas trees smelling of stars and snow and pine resin—inhale deeply and fill your soul with wintry night.” – John J. Geddes

holiday quotes phoebe buffay

72. “Monica, Monica, have a happy Hannukah.” – Phoebe Buffay, Friends

holiday quotes roy l smith

73. “He who has not Christmas in his heart will never find it under a tree.” –Roy L. Smith

holiday quotes bridger winegar

74. “Keep your friends close, your enemies closer, and receipts for all major purchases.” – Bridger Winegar

holiday quotes brigham young

75. “Love the giver more than the gift.” – Brigham Young

holiday quotes charles dickens

76. “I will honor Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.” – Charles Dickens

holiday quotes charles reznikoff2

77. “The miracle, of course, was not that the oil for the sacred light—in a little cruse—lasted as long as they say; but that the courage of the Maccabees lasted to this day: Let that nourish my flickering spirit.” – Charles Reznikoff

holiday quotes harry styles

78. “Polishing my dreidel and searching for oil. Chanukah sameach, everybody.” – Harry Styles

holiday quotes helen steiner rice

79. “Peace on earth will come to stay, when we live Christmas every day.” – Helen Steiner Rice

holiday quotes dorothy winbush riley

80. “Kwanzaa is a special time to remember the ancestors, the bridge builders and the leaders.” – Dorothy Winbush Riley

orange image with a quote: “Some people are born for Halloween, and some are just counting the days until Christmas.”

81. “Some people are born for Halloween, and some are just counting the days until Christmas.” – Stephen Graham Jones

a pink image with a quote: “Christmas is a stocking stuffed with sugary goodness.”

82. “Christmas is a stocking stuffed with sugary goodness.” – Mo Rocca

a blue image with a quote: "Kwanzaa is a pan-African celebration of heritage and culture and family and community. The principles and the manner of observing the holiday lift up traditional values that are key to our lives."

83. "Kwanzaa is a Pan-African celebration of heritage and culture and family and community. The principles and the manner of observing the holiday lift up traditional values that are key to our lives." – Janine Bell

"What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future."

“What is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future.” – Agnes M. Pharo

holiday quotes andy borowitz

85. “Christmas is a baby shower that went totally overboard.” – Andy Borowitz


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Editorial Assistant, Candle Connoisseur, Honorary Beyhive Member Since ‘99

Courtney Mason (she/her) is an Editorial Assistant at PureWow. She has three years of experience writing for digital publications and covering fashion, beauty, pop culture, and...