“The true Christmas spirit is putting others’ happiness before our own, and finding you’ve never known such happiness.”

“Santa Claus has nothing to do with it,” the latke said. “Christmas and Hanukah are completely different things.””But different things can often blend together,” said the pine tree. “Let me tell you a funny story about pagan rituals.”

“What struck me, in reading the reports from Sri Lanka, was the mild disgrace of belonging to our imperfectly evolved species in the first place. People who had just seen their neighbors swept away would tell the reporters that they knew a judgment had been coming, because the Christians had used alcohol and meat at Christmas or because … well, yet again you can fill in the blanks for yourself. It was interesting, though, to notice that the Buddhists were often the worst. Contentedly patting an image of the chubby lord on her fencepost, a woman told the New York Times that those who were not similarly protected had been erased, while her house was still standing. There were enough such comments, almost identically phrased, to make it seem certain that the Buddhist authorities had been promulgating this consoling and insane and nasty view. That would not surprise me.”

“And now brothers, I will ask you a terrible question, and God knows I ask it also of myself. Is the truth beyond all truths, beyond the stars, just this: that to live without him is the real death, that to die with him the only life?”

“For our lives, incarnation means being focused on the spiritual and the eternal but bringing that focus deep into our life. … This is really the heart of the Christmas theological message: Live in two worlds that overlap but are distinct. Don’t be materialistic, but don’t sacrifice our ordinary physical life for any spiritual ideal. Be lowly and lofty.”

“Christmas is a happy festival.”

“I wish you the magic of Christmas. Let it fill your hearts and minds with love, joy, peace, and happiness.”

“Sometimes, crazy is exactly what we need.”

“I deciced if I were ever to get into booze and women, my line would be, ‘Excuse me, madam, but I would really love to bed and muss you. . . . Are you perchance free this evening?”

“She was an exotic flower amongst the snowdrifts, out of place, a Technicolor misfit in a monochrome Christmas movie.”

“Christmas means the birth of a new beginning, a new mind, and a new life.”

“Christmas is a season of outdoor lights, but it is also the season of enlightening the heart and mind.”

“When I reach the end of one row, I continue straight on away from the barn and the farm and the road. I walk until I come to a pile of hay bales and plop myself down. The sun is bright and the air is sharp. In the distance I hear the lowing of cows. It’s so peaceful here.”Merry Christmas, ” I whisper to myself. “Merry Christmas, Nate.”

“We must look to Mary’s example to know how to deal with the glorious impossibilities of God. Look how she turned the world upside down by making one simple statement …”

“At this time of year it’s easy to forget the true meaning of Christianity – the lies, the corruption, the abuse.”