Life

13 Inspirational Holiday Quotes For 2016

by Chelsey Grasso
christmas, holiday, wreath
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Christmas isn't only a holiday, and it isn't only a season either. As these 13 inspirational holiday quotes for 2016 express, Christmas is a way of living. What exactly do I mean by that? At the root of the Christmas holiday is love, giving, and thinking of others before yourself. You don't need a specific day of the year (or even season, for that matter) to accomplish those three things. If anything, Christmas should be a reminder of how you should be acting year round.

These 13 quotes highlight the beauty of Christmas, from the joys of spending time with your family and friends to the traditions that make up one's childhood. In the present day, Christmas can become a time of stress because of the excessive amount of commitments we all often find ourselves signing up for... but you know what? Christmas isn't about the holiday parties and the sample sales and the expensive gift buying.

If you need a reminder of what exactly Christmas is about, make sure you read through these 13 quotes. They'll brighten up your spirit and help to excite you about the crazy season of Christmas that comes around at the end of every year.

1. "There is no ideal Christmas; only the one Christmas you decide to make as a reflection of your values, desires, affections, traditions." — Bill McKibben

2. "Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love." — Hamilton Wright Mabie

3. "As we struggle with shopping lists and invitations, compounded by December's bad weather, it is good to be reminded that there are people in our lives who are worth this aggravation, and people to whom we are worth the same." — Donald E. Westlake

4. "The joy of brightening other lives, bearing each others' burdens, easing others' loads and supplanting empty hearts and lives with generous gifts becomes for us the magic of the holidays." — W. C. Jones

5. "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

6. "Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, your heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good example. To yourself, respect." — Oren Arnold

7. "Love the giver more than the gift." — Brigham Young

8. "A lovely thing about Christmas is that it's compulsory, like a thunderstorm, and we all go through it together." — Garrison Keillor

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

10. "Don’t let the past steal your present. This is the message of Christmas: We are never alone." — Taylor Caldwell

11. "I wish we could put up some of the Christmas spirit in jars and open a jar of it every month." — Harlan Miller

12. "Sharing the holiday with other people, and feeling that you’re giving of yourself, gets you past all the commercialism." — Caroline Kennedy

Images: Eye Ubiquitous/Universal Images Group/Getty Images; Giphy