Christmas is the time of year we love to eat and drink with our nearest and dearest, and put niggling worries aside. The festive period is geared towards social festivities and can be very busy, but there is an overwhelming temptation to shut out the world for a few hours, get cosied up by the fire, and delve into a classic book. Why not make time to do that? Writers have been captivated with the idea of Christmas over the centuries, and the festive season offers a glittering backdrop to many of our all-time favourite perfect bound books. Let’s take inspiration from some of our favourite literary characters and learn what Christmas means to them.
- “I will honour Christmas in my heart and try to keep it all the year.”
A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
- “One can never have enough socks. Another Christmas has come and gone, and I didn’t get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books.”
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K Rowling
- “A lovely thing about Christmas is that it’s compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together”
Leaving Home by Garrison Keillor
- “It struck him that how you spent Christmas was a message to the world about where you were in life”
About a Boy by Nick Hornby
- “Fine old Christmas, with the snowy hair and ruddy face, had done his duty that year in the noblest fashion, and had set off his rich gifts of warmth and color with all the heightening contrast of frost and snow”
The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot
- “At one time, most of my friends could hear the bell, but as years passed, it fell silent for all of them. Even Sarah found one Christmas that she could no longer hear its sweet sound. Though I’ve grown old, the bell still rings for me, as it does for all who truly believe.”
The Polar Express by Chris Van Allsburg
- “The rooms were very still while the pages were softly turned, and the winter sunshine crept in to touch the bright heads and serious faces with a Christmas greeting.”
Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
- “There are very few moments in a man’s existence when he experiences so much ludicrous distress, or meets with so little charitable commiseration, as when he is in pursuit of his own hat.”
The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
- “Christmas is the season for kindling the fire of hospitality in the hall, the genial flame of charity in the heart”
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
After reading all of these classic quotes, hopefully it helped to put you in the Christmas spirit! Until the big day is upon us, get your self a warm cup of wine and bar of chocolate, and curl up with some of your favourite festive fiction.
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