By Kirsty Doole
Everyone at Oxford World’s Classics wishes you a very Merry Christmas. Here are a few of our favourite seasonal quotations.
“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.” – The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens
“‘Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents,’ grumbled Jo, lying on the rug.” – Little Women by Louisa M. Alcott
“I sincerely hope your Christmas in Hertfordshire may abound in the gaieties which that season generally brings, and that your beaux will be so numerous as to prevent your feeling the loss of the three of whom we shall deprive you.” – Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
“At Christmas I no more desire a rose
Than wish a snow in May’s new-fangled shows;
But like of each thing that in season grows.” – Love’s Labour’s Lost by William Shakespeare
“For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child himself.” — A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
“Whenever five or six English-speaking people meet round a fire on Christmas Eve, they start telling each other ghost stories.” – Jerome K. Jerome, author of Three Men in a Boat
“Humpbacked Father Christmas then made a complete entry, swinging his huge club, and in a general way clearing the stage for the actors proper, while he informed the company in smart verse that he was come, welcome or welcome not; concluding his speech with:
‘Make room, make room, my gallant boys,
And give us space to rhyme;
We’ve come to show Saint George’s play,
Upon this Christmas time.’” – The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy
‘A Merry Christmas to us all, my dears. God bless us!’ Which all the family re-echoed.
‘God bless us every one!’ said Tiny Tim, the last of all. – A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Kirsty Doole is Publicity Manager for Oxford World’s Classics.
For over 100 years Oxford World’s Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford’s commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more. You can follow Oxford World’s Classics on Twitter, Facebook, or here on the OUPblog. Subscribe to only Oxford World’s Classics articles on the OUPblog via email or RSS.
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Image credit: Scrooge’s third visitor. By John Leech [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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