Christmas poems for a magic holiday atmosphere, to enlighten and warm up your festive time by English-culture.com blog and Carl William Brown. Merry Christmas!

Christmas tries to renew our hope, reminding us of what is dearest to our hearts, but the season also awakens our childhood memories and therefore Christmas has the poetic power of enphasizing in our mind the spiritual memories of what is drammaticaly already passed away, of what is tragigally lost for ever and will never come back again. That’s why its atmosphere is a mixture of joy and sadness, and that’s why is very useful to remember this Latin quote, in tristitia hilaris, in hilaritate tristis.
Carl William Brown

Let Every Day Be Christmas

Christmas is forever, not for just one day,
for loving, sharing, giving, are not to put away
like bells and lights and tinsel, in some box upon a shelf.
The good you do for others is good you do yourself.

Peace on Earth, good will to men,
kind thoughts and words of cheer,
are things we should use often
and not just once a year.

Remember too the Christ-child, grew up to be a man;
to hide him in a cradle, is not our dear Lord’s plan.
So keep the Christmas spirit, share it with others far and near,
from week to week and month to month, throughout the entire year!

Norman Wesley Brooks

Where are the children who haven’t got their Christmas tree
with silver snow, fairy lights
and chocolate fruits?
Hurry up, hurry up, gathering,
We go in Chritmas trees land,
I know where it is.

Gianni Rodari

Whose heart doth hold the Christmas glow
Hath little need of Mistletoe;
Who bears a smiling grace of mien
Need waste no time on wreaths of green;
Whose lips have words of comfort spread
Needs not the holly – berries red –
His very presence scatters wide
The spirit of the Christmastide.

John Kendrick Bangs

Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no rootless Christmas trees
hung with candycanes and breakable stars
Christ climbed down
from His bare Tree
this year
and ran away to where
there were no gilded Christmas trees
and no tinsel Christmas trees
and no tinfoil Christmas trees
and no pink plastic Christmas trees
and no gold Christmas trees
and no black Christmas trees
and no powderblue Christmas trees
hung with electric candles
and encircled by tin electric trains
and clever cornball relatives

Lawrence Ferlinghetti

It was the calm and silent night!
Seven hundred years and fifty-three
Had Rome been growing up to might
And now was queen of land and sea.
No sound was heard of clashing wars,
Peace brooded o’er the hushed domain;
Apollo, Pallas, Jove and Mars,
Held undisturbed their ancient reign,
In the solemn midnight,
Centuries ago.

Alfred Domett

It is the Christmas time:
And up and down ‘twixt heaven and earth,
In glorious grief and solemn mirth,
The shining angels climb.

Dinah Maria Mulock

I love the Christmas-tide, and yet,
I notice this, each year I live;
I always like the gifts I get,
But how I love the gifts I give!

Carolyn Wells

‘Tis blessed to bestow, and yet,
Could we bestow the gifts we get,
And keep the ones we give away,
How happy were our Christmas day!

Carolyn Wells

The earth has grown old with its burden of care,
But at Christmas it is always young;
The heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair,
And its soul, full of music, breaks forth on the air
When the song of the angels is sung.
It is coming, Old Earth, it is coming tonight!
On the snowflakes which cover thy sod
The feet of the Christ-child fall gentle and white,
And the voice of the Christ-child tells out with delight
That mankind are the children of God.

Phillips Brooks

Announced by all the trumpets of the sky,
Arrives the snow, and, driving o’er the fields,
Seems nowhere to alight: the whited air
Hides hills and woods, the river, and the heaven,
And veils the farmhouse at the garden’s end.
The sled and traveller stopped, the courier’s feet
Delayed, all friends shut out, the housemates sit
Around the radiant fireplace, enclosed
In a tumultuous privacy of storm.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Let Christmas not become a thing
Merely of merchant’s trafficking,
Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath
And surface pleasure, but beneath
The childish glamour, let us find
Nourishment for soul and mind.
Let us follow kinder ways
Through our teeming human maze,
And help the age of peace to come
From a Dreamer’s martyrdom.

Madeline Morse

Christmas Holidays

Along the Woodford road there comes a noise
Of wheels, and Mr. Rounding’s neat post-chaise
Struggles along, drawn by a pair of bays,
With Reverend Mr. Crow and six small boys,
Who ever and anon declare their joys
With trumping horns and juvenile huzzas,
At going home to spend their Christmas days,
And changing learning’s pains for pleasure’s toys.
Six weeks elapse, and down the Woodford way
A heavy coach drags six more heavy souls,
But no glad urchins shout, no trumpets bray,
The carriage makes a halt, the gate-bell tolls,
And little boys walk in as dull and mum
As six new scholars to the Deaf and Dumb!

Thomas Hood

A White Christmas

‘Twas the night before christmas.
With a blanket of white.
That covered the earth all through the night.
The trees sparkled like diamonds.
With a glitter so bright.
That each little twinkle made its own christmas light.
A hope and a prayer a white christmas would be.
Awaiting the dawn so all could see.
The beauty and joy a white christmas does bring.
To the holiday season as carolers sing.
For twas the night before Christmas.
God answered your prayer.
With a blanket of white.
Placed with God’s loving care.”

Carla Jean Laglia Esely

Christmas At The Orphanage

But if they’d give us toys and twice the stuff most
parents splurge on the average kid, orphans, I submit, need more than enough;
in fact, stacks wrapped with our names nearly hid
the tree: these sparkling allotments yearly
guaranteed a lack of – what? – family? –

I knew exactly what it was I missed as we were lined up number rank and file:
to share my pals’ tearing open their piles
meant sealing the self, the child that wanted
to scream at all You stole those gifts from me;
whose birthday is worth such words? The wish-lists
they’d made us write out in May lay granted
against starred branches. I said I’m sorry.

Bill Knott

Christmas Past

Oh happy days, the snow fell over-night,
we have a white Christmas in our sight.
Only a few more days and nights,
Christmas will shine bright of white.

Remember those beautiful Christmas Eves,
when we gathered round our colorful trees.
Remember when we caroled down the street,
sang Christmas songs oh so sweet.

Memories are precious let’s not forget,
don’t do anything you might regret.
Christmas is the time of year to share,
to treasure family far and near.

This Christmas with the lights shining bright,
reflecting God’s blanket of white.
Sing sweet songs in memory,
past Christmas’s history.

Melvina Germain

Read also our other posts on Christmas  ;

Christmas quotes ;

Best Christmas songs ;

60 great Christmas quotes ;

Christmas tree origin and quotes ; 

Traditional Christmas Carols ;

Christmas markets in England ;

Christmas markets in America ;

Christmas jokes ;

Christmas cracker jokes ;

Christmas food ;

Christmas thoughts ;

Christmas story ;

Christmas in Italy ;

Christmas holidays ;

Christmas songs ;

Christmas poems ;

An Essasy on Christmas by Chesterton ;

Quotes by authors

Quotes by arguments

Thoughts and reflections

Essays with quotes

Entertainment

News and events

Christmas Carols, traditional popular songs and poems with videos, music and decorations, html or pdf version, holy offered by the World of English, the Daimon Club, the Fortattack crew, Aforismi celebri and Carl William Brown.

Twas the Night before Christmas Poem. Clement Clarke Moore (1779 – 1863) wrote the poem Twas the night before Christmas also called “A Visit from St. Nicholas” in 1822. It is now the tradition in many American families to read the poem every Christmas Eve.

The poem ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ has redefined our image of Christmas and Santa Claus. Prior to the creation of the story of ‘Twas the night before Christmas’ St. Nicholas, the patron saint of children, had never been associated with a sleigh or reindeers!

Clement Moore, the author of the poem Twas the night before Christmas, was a reticent man and it is believed that a family friend, Miss H. Butler, sent a copy of the poem to the New York Sentinel who published the poem. The condition of publication was that the author of Twas the night before Christmas was to remain anonymous.

Twas the Night before Christmas Poem

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

Silent Night

Silent night! holy night!
All is calm, all is bright
round yon virgin mother and child,
Holy infant so tender and mild,
sleep in heavenly peace!

Silent night! holy night!
Shepherds quake at the sight;
glories stream from heaven afar,
heavenly hosts sing Alleluia,
Christ, the Saviour, is born!

Silent night! holy night!
Son of God, love’s pure light
radiant beams from thy holy face,
with the dawn of redeeming grace,
Jesus, Lord at thy birth.

All I Want For Christmas

Everybody stops
and stares at me
These two teeth are
gone as you can see
I don’t know just who
to blame for this catastrophe!
But my one wish on Christmas Eve
is as plain as it can be!

All I want for Christmas
is my two front teeth,
my two front teeth,
see my two front teeth!

Gee, if I could only
have my two front teeth,
then I could be with you
“Merry Christmas.”
It seems so long since I could say,
“Sister Susie sitting on a thistle!”

Gosh oh gee, how happy I’d be,
if I could only whistle (thhhh)

All I want for Christmas
is my two front teeth,
my two front teeth,
see my two front teeth.
Gee, if I could only
have my two front teeth,
then I could wish you
“Merry Christmas.”

Deck the Halls

Deck the halls with boughs of holly
Fa la la la la la la la la
‘Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Don we now our gay apparel,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Troll the ancient Yuletide carol,
Fa la la la la la la la la.

Fast away the old year passes,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Hail the new, ye lads and lasses,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Sing we joyous all together,
Fa la la la la la la la la
Heedless of the wind and weather,
Fa la la la la la la la la.

Here Comes Santa Claus

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus!
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
Vixen and Blitzen and all his reindeer
are pulling on the reins.
Bells are ringing, children singing;
All is merry and bright.
Hang your stockings and say your prayers,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Here comes Santa Claus!
Here comes Santa Claus!
Right down Santa Claus Lane!
He’s got a bag that is filled with toys
for the boys and girls again.
Hear those sleigh bells jingle jangle,
What a beautiful sight.
Jump in bed, cover up your head,
‘Cause Santa Claus comes tonight.

Frosty The Snowman

Frosty the snowman was a jolly happy soul
With a corncob pipe and a button nose
and two eyes made out of coal

Frosty the snowman is a fairy tale they say
He was made of snow but the children
know how he came to life one day
There must have been some magic in that
old silk hat they found
For when they placed it on his head
he began to dance around

Frosty the snowman
was alive as he could be
And the children say he could laugh
and play just the same as you and me
Thumpetty thump thump
thumpety thump thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpetty thump thump
thumpety thump thump
Over the hills of snow

Frosty the snowman knew
the sun was hot that day
So he said
“Let’s run and
we’ll have some fun
now before I melt away”
Down to the village
with a broomstick in his hand
Running here and there all
around the square saying
Catch me if you can
He led them down the streets of town
right to the traffic cop
And he only paused a moment when
he heard him holler “Stop!”

For Frosty the snow man
had to hurry on his way
But he waved goodbye saying
“Don’t you cry
I’ll be back again some day”
Thumpetty thump thump
thumpety thump thump
Look at Frosty go
Thumpetty thump thump
thumpety thump thump
Over the hills of snow

Jingle Bells

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
Through the fields we go
Laughing all the way.
Bells on bob-tail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight.

chorus: Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh, O
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way,
Oh what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

A day or two ago
I thought I’d take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side;
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot,
We ran into a drifted bank
And there we got upsot.

A day or two ago
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh
He laughed at me as
I there sprawling laid
But quickly drove away.

Now the ground is white,
Go it while you’re young,
Take the girls along
And sing this sleighing song.
Just bet a bob-tailed bay,
Two-forty as his speed,
Hitch him to an open sleigh
and crack! You’ll take the lead.

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play
And mild and sweet the words repeat,
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

I thought how as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had roll’d along th’ unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bow’d my head:
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong, and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail,
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

‘Til ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime,
Of peace on earth, good will to men!

Jolly Old Saint Nicholas

Jolly old Saint Nicholas,
Lean your ear this way!
Don’t you tell a single soul
What I’m going to say;
Christmas Eve is coming soon;
Now, you dear old man,
Whisper what you’ll bring to me;
Tell me if you can.

When the clock is striking twelve,
When I’m fast asleep,
Down the chimney broad and black,
With your pack you’ll creep;
All the stockings you will find
Hanging in a row;
Mine will be the shortest one,
You’ll be sure to know.

Johnny wants a pair of skates;
Susy wants a dolly;
Nellie wants a story book;
She thinks dolls are folly;
As for me, my little brain
Isn’t very bright;
Choose for me, old Santa Claus,
What you think is right.

See the decorated complete Carols page with also the PDF file

Read also our other posts on Christmas

Christmas markets in England ;

Christmas markets in America ;

Christmas markets in Italy and Germany ;

Christmas songs ;

Christmas quotes ;

60 great Christmas quotes ;

Christmas tree origin and quotes ; 

Christmas jokes ;

Christmas cracker jokes ;

Funny Christmas Stories ;

Amusing Christmas stories ;

Christmas food ;

Christmas thoughts ;

Christmas story ;

Christmas in Italy ;

Christmas holidays ;

Christmas poems ;

An Essay on Christmas by Chesterton ;

Quotes by authors

Quotes by arguments

Thoughts and reflections

Essays with quotes

Entertainment

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The Christmas Tree, an article that explains its legend, origin and tradition, with some enlightening merry quotes to enrich the great value of the Christmas period.

Snowflakes felt so awesome in winter season. There is a main figure in Christmas known as Santa Claus. And the main theme of Christmas is jingle bell, a very famous tune known all other the world. People use this tune a lot all over the Christmas event, and it feels so good like something very positive that will bring peace and happiness in our lives.

Moving between the legs of tables and of chairs, rising or falling, grasping at kisses and toys, advancing boldly, sudden to take alarm, retreating to the corner of arm and knee, eager to be reassured, taking pleasure in the fragrant brilliance of the Christmas tree.
T. S. Eliot

It is curious to what a degree one may become attached to a fine tree, especially when it is placed where trees are rare.
Christian Nestell Bovee

The Christmas tree is the dot on the i.
Frank Taylor

The trees that bud and blossom forth, Throughout the world from south to north, Are tokens that a life will bloom When manhood’s passed beyond the tomb.
T. Augustus Forbes Leith

Three things are needed to make a Christmas tree: ornaments, the tree and faith in the future.
Armenian proverb

I stone got crazy when I saw somebody run down them strings with a bottleneck. My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree and I said that I had to learn.
Muddy Waters

My beer-drenched soul is sadder than all the dead Christmas trees in the world.
Charles Bukowski

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

It’s not what’s under the Christmas tree that matters, it’s who’s around it.
Charlie Brown

A Christian should resemble a fruit tree with real fruit, not a Christmas tree with decorations tied on.
John Stott

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.
Burton Hillis

I grew up with a Christmas tree, I’m going to stay with a Christmas tree.
Thomas Menino

The perfect Christmas tree, all Christmas trees are perfect.
Charles N. Barnard

Some Christmas tree ornaments do more than glitter and glow, they represent a gift of love given a long time ago.
Tom Baker

The Christmas tree is beautiful only when it is finished and when the lights can be turned on, the crib is not, the crib is beautiful when you do it or even when you think about it.
Luciano De Crescenzo

Taking down the Christmas tree makes it feel official: time to get back to joyless and cynical.
Greg Fitzsimmons

I never thought it was such a bad little tree. It’s not bad at all, really. Maybe it just needs a little love.
Linus Van Pelt

What will we find under the Christmas tree this year? Oh my God, I think the roots!
Carl William Brown

Glittering tinsel, lights, glass balls, and candy canes dangle from pine trees.
Richelle E. Goodrich

The best Christmas trees come very close to exceeding nature.
Andy Rooney

There is new life in the soil for every man. There is healing in the trees for tired minds and for our overburdened spirits, there is strength in the hills, if only we will lift up our eyes. Remember that nature is your great restorer.
Calvin Coolidge

The earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine.
James Irwin

Christmas tree stands are the work of the devil and they want you dead.
Bill Bryson

Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.
Eckhart Tolle

He that planteth a tree is the servant of God, He provideth a kindness for many generations, And faces that he hath not seen shall bless him.
Henry Van Dyke

Now I’m an old Christmas tree, the roots of which have died. They just come along and while the little needles fall off me replace them with medallions.
Orson Welles

Never worry about the size of your Christmas tree. In the eyes of children, they are all 25 feet tall.
Larry Wilde

They’ve got plastic Christmas trees now. They’re hard to tell from the real aluminum ones.
Milton Berle

I was only kicking down the Christmas tree to get the star on top.
Ray Bradbury

I don’t know what I believe. I guess that makes me a christmas tree agnostic.
Stephanie Perkins

Only look what is still on the ugly old Christmas tree!” said he, trampling on the branches, so that they all cracked beneath his feet. And the Tree beheld all the beauty of the flowers, and the freshness in the garden; he beheld himself, and wished he had remained in his dark corner in the loft; he thought of his first youth in the woods, of the merry Christmas Eve, and of the little Mice who had listened with so much pleasure to the story of Klumpy-Dumpy.
Hans Christian Andersen

A Christmas tree, the perfect gift for a guy. The plant is already dead.
Jay Leno

The Christmas tree, twinkling with lights, had a mountain of gifts piled up beneath it, like offerings to the great god of excess.
Tess Gerritsen

A dog looking at a lit Christmas tree thinks: they finally put the light in the toilet.
Romano Bertola

Christmas trees don’t grow on trees; they need rainbows, lumberjacks, and Leprechauns on unicorns playing jock jams on glockenspiels.
Ryan Ross

Make your plate look like a Christmas tree, I tell people, mostly green with splashes of other bright colors.
Victoria Moran

There’s no experience quite like cutting your own live Christmas tree out of your neighbor’s yard.
Dan Florence

The smell of pine needles, spruce and the smell of a Christmas tree, those to me, are the scents of the holidays.
Blake Lively

Christmas is a very enjoyable event ever. It is a great feast for everyone. Kids, adults and grandparents. Everyone enjoy this occasion very much. Parents give presents to their children and this brings happiness in their hearts. An enormous amount of joy comes through this period which is a real gem for us. Therefore how could we avoid talking of one of the main symbol of this religious celebration, which is certainly the Christmas Tree, so let’s read about its fascinating history.

The Christmas tree today is a common custom to most of us. There are many interesting connections to ancient traditions such as Egyptian and Roman customs, early Christian practices, and Victorian nostalgia. However, most scholars point to Germany as being the origin of the Christmas tree.

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from his illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes, which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon, farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs.

In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.

One of the earliest stories relating back to Germany is about Saint Boniface. In 722, he encountered some pagans who were about to sacrifice a child at the base of a huge oak tree. He cut down the tree to prevent the sacrifice and a Fir tree grew up at the base of the oak. He then told everyone that this lovely evergreen, with its branches pointing to heaven, was a holy tree – the tree of the Christ child, and a symbol of His promise of eternal life.

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. Another story tells that perhaps it was Martin Luther responsible for the origin of the Christmas tree.

This story says that one Christmas Eve, about the year 1500, he was walking through the snow-covered woods and was struck by the beauty of the snow glistened trees. Their branches, dusted with snow, shimmered in the moon light. When he got home, he set up a small fir tree and shared the story with his children. He decorated the Christmas tree with small candles, which he lighted in honor of Christ’s birth.

Another legend says that in the early 16th century, people in Germany combined two customs that had been practiced in different countries around the globe. The Paradise tree (a fir tree decorated with apples) represented the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden.

The Christmas Light, a small, pyramid-like frame, usually decorated with glass balls, tinsel and a candle on top, was a symbol of the birth of Christ as the Light of the World. Changing the tree’s apples to tinsel balls and cookies and combining this new tree with the light placed on top, the Germans created the tree that many of us know today.

In the 1840s and 50s, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert popularized the Christmas tree in England. Prince Albert decorated a tree and ever since that time, the English, because of their love for their Queen, copied her Christmas customs including the Christmas tree and ornaments. An engraving of the Royal Family celebrating Christmas at Windsor was published in 1848 and their German traditions were copied and adapted.

Another story about the origin of the Christmas tree says that late in the Middle Ages, Germans and Scandinavians placed evergreen trees inside their homes or just outside their doors to show their hope that spring would soon come.

Most 19th-century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.

It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrims’s second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out “pagan mockery” of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against “the heathen traditions” of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated “that sacred event.” In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.

The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.

Research into customs of various cultures shows that greenery was often brought into homes at the time of the winter solstice. It symbolized life in the midst of death in many cultures. The Romans were known to deck their homes with evergreens during of Kalends of January 15. Living trees were also brought into homes during the old Germany feast of Yule, which originally was a two month feast beginning in November. The Yule tree was planted in a tub and brought into the home. But there is no evidence that the Christmas tree is a direct descendent of the Yule tree.

Evidence does point to the Paradise tree however. This story goes back to the 11th century religious plays. One of the most popular was the Paradise Play. The play depicted the story of the creation of Adam and Eve, their sin, and their banishment from Paradise. The only prop on the stage was the Paradise tree, a fir tree adorned with apples. The play would end with the promise of the coming Savior and His Incarnation. The people had grown so accustomed to the Paradise tree, that they began putting their own Paradise tree up in their homes on December 24.

Christmas trees have been sold commercially in the United States since about 1850. In 1979, the National Christmas Tree was not lighted except for the top ornament. This was done in honor of the American hostages in Iran. The tallest living Christmas tree is believed to be the 122-foot, 91-year-old Douglas fir in the town of Woodinville, Washington. The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition began in 1933. Franklin Pierce, the 14th president, brought the Christmas tree tradition to the White House. In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge started the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony now held every year on the White House lawn.

Since 1966, the National Christmas Tree Association has given a Christmas tree to the President and first family. Most Christmas trees are cut weeks before they get to a retail outlet. In 1912, the first community Christmas tree in the United States was erected in New York City. Christmas trees generally take six to eight years to mature. Christmas trees are grown in all 50 states including Hawaii and Alaska. 90 percent of all Christmas trees are grown on farms. More than 1,000,000 acres of land have been planted with Christmas trees. On average, over 2,000 Christmas trees are planted per acre.

You should never burn your Christmas tree in the fireplace. It can contribute to creosote buildup. Other types of trees such as cherry and hawthorns were used as Christmas trees in the past. Thomas Edison’s assistants came up with the idea of electric lights for Christmas trees. In 1963, the National Christmas Tree was not lit until December 22nd because of a national 30-day period of mourning following the assassination of President Kennedy. Teddy Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental reasons. On the contrary the 2020 Christmas Tree is an 18 ½ foot Fraser Fir from West Virginia. It will serve as a centerpiece for Christmas decorations in the Blue Room of the White House. The White House Christmas Tree must stand 18-19 feet tall and reach the ceiling of the Blue Room, where the chandelier is removed each holiday season to accommodate the tree.

And last but not least, if you want to choose the perfect Christmas tree visit the website of The American Christmas Tree Association (ACTA) which is a non-profit organization established to help families create holiday memories and build traditions by choosing the perfect Christmas tree. www.christmastreeassociation.org/

Instead if you need a good short story for your children about Christmas or the Christmas tree, you can find many of them at this link:
https://americanliterature.com/author/hans-christian-andersen/short-story/the-fir-tree

Top 10 Tallest Christmas Trees in The World

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Christmas Thoughts, reflections, ideas, various opinions and some quotes on Christmas by the World of English and good will English-culture blog

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. 
Charles Dickens

As our dear old friend Mark Twain used to say, mankind has only one truly effective weapon: laughter. So, in this Christmas season why not read some very good amusing quotes and humorous aphorisms. While I’m fully aware that laughing during this time can be a challenging thing, I still want to have faith and be optimistic. After all, the three things that help us endure adversity, as old Kant reminds us, are precisely: hope, sleep, and laughter. And that’s precisely why I want to bring a breath of joy and lightheartedness to all who will read these funny Christmas quotes that are surely going to bring good tidings to you and your kin and help you get into the holiday spirit.
Carl William Brown

Instead of being a time of unusual behavior, Christmas is perhaps the only time in the year when people can obey their natural impulses and express their true sentiments without feeling self-conscious and, perhaps, foolish.  Christmas, in short, is about the only chance a man has to be himself. 
Francis C. Farley

A man is at his finest towards the finish of the year; He is almost what he should be when the Christmas season’s here; Then he’s thinking more of others than he’s thought the months before, And the laughter of his children is a joy worth toiling for. He is less a selfish creature than at any other time; When the Christmas spirit rules him he comes close to the sublime…
Edgar Guest

Let Christmas not become a thing Merely of merchant’s trafficking, Of tinsel, bell and holly wreath And surface pleasure, but beneath The childish glamour, let us find Nourishment for soul and mind. Let us follow kinder ways Through our teeming human maze, And help the age of peace to come From a Dreamer’s martyrdom.
Madeline Morse

Christmas tries to renew our hope, reminding us of what is dearest to our hearts, but the season also awakens our childhood memories and therefore Christmas has the poetic power of enphasizing in our mind the spiritual memories of what is drammaticaly already passed away, of what is tragigally lost for ever and will never come back again. That’s why its atmosphere is a mixture of joy and sadness, and that’s why is very useful to remember this Latin quote, in tristitia hilaris, in hilaritate tristis.
Carl William Brown

I hear that in many places something has happened to Christmas; that it is changing from a time of merriment and carefree gaiety to a holiday which is filled with tedium; that many people dread the day and the obligation to give Christmas presents is a nightmare to weary, bored souls; that the children of enlightened parents no longer believe in Santa Claus; that all in all, the effort to be happy and have pleasure makes many honest hearts grow dark with despair instead of beaming with good will and cheerfulness. 
Julia Peterkin

If a man called Christmas Day a mere hypocritical excuse for drunkeness and gluttony, that would be false, but it would have a fact hidden in it somewhere. But when Bernard Shaw says that Christmas Day is only a conspiracy kept up by Poulterers and wine merchants from strictly business motives, then he says something which is not so much false as startling and arrestingly foolish. He might as well say that the two sexes were invented by jewellers who wanted to sell wedding rings.
G.K. Chesterton

The great majority of people will go on observing forms that cannot be explained; they will keep Christmas Day with Christmas gifts and Christmas benedictions; they will continue to do it; and some day suddenly wake up and discover why.
G.K. Chesterton

We hear the beating of wings over Bethlehem and a light that is not of the sun or of the stars shines in the midnight sky.  Let the beauty of the story take away all narrowness, all thought of formal creeds.  Let it be remembered as a story that has happened again and again, to men of many different races, that has been expressed through many religions, that has been called by many different names.  Time and space and language lay no limitations upon human brotherhood.
New York Times, 25 December 1937

Scrooge went to the church, and walked about the streets, and watched the people hurrying to and for, and patted the children on the head, and questioned beggars, and looked down into the kitchens of homes, and up to the windows, and found that everything could yield him pleasure.
Charles Dickens

I sometimes think we expect too much of Christmas Day. As for me, I like to take my Christmas a little at a time, all through the year. And thus I drift along into the holidays – let them overtake me unexpectedly – waking up some fine morning and suddenly saying to myself: “Why, this is Christmas Day!”
David Grayson

The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful. We ring the bells when princes are born, or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away. Nations have their red-letter days, their carnivals and festivals, but once in the year and only once, the whole world stands still to celebrate the advent of a life. Only Jesus of Nazareth claims this world-wide, undying remembrance. You cannot cut Christmas out of the Calendar, nor out of the heart of the world.
Anonymous

We see Jesus in the manger. We adore Him; we worship Him; we glorify Him. We stand oppressed before such love – a love stronger than death – a love so strong that it did die that we might live. We thank Thee for the sweetness of human love, but how could we ever have dared to think that such love was in the heart of God for us! We look on nature and see Thy beauty and Thy majesty, but we are afraid, for we have sinned. And then we learn that Thou has sent Thy Son, to be bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh; and before such inconceivable love we can only worship and adore. We are so weary of our failures and our slow growth toward Thee. Cleanse us deeply from sin, strengthen our moral purposes.
Maltbie Davenport Babcock

We therefore welcome our Christmas in December. The “worship of Christ” could not have a better setting than amid the domestic festivities, social forces, and generous and man helping deeds of our merry Christmas-tide. In no more fitting way can we say farewell to the closing year, and All hail! to the new. “Christ is born.” We therefore must put off the old man – his moroseness and selfishness, his sadness and despair, his peevishness and fretfulness, his feebleness and decay – and put on the new man, which, after Christ, is created in true joy, large faith, energetic service, lowly duty, devout obedience, and death-daring self-sacrifice.
John Clifford

If we were to fancy a wholly Christianized world, it would be a world inspired by the spirit of Christmas – a bright, friendly, beneficent, generous, sympathetic, mutually helpful world. A man who is habitually mean, selfish, narrow, is a man without Christmas in his soul. Let us cling to Christmas all the more as a day of the spirit which in every age some souls have believed to be the possible spirit of human society. The earnest faith and untiring endeavor which see in Christmas a forecast are more truly Christian, surely, than the pleasant cynicism of Atheists, etc., which smiles upon it as the festival of a futile hope. Meanwhile we may reflect that from good natured hopelessness to a Christmas world may not be farther than from star dust to a solar system.
George William Curtis

Christmas has been a season of mixed interests and meanings, but the very foundation, of course, is its religious significance. No matter what other personal desires or crises we have faced, I’ve never forgotten that this is the time to celebrate the birth of the Baby Jesus, and the impact of this event on the history of the world.
Jimmy Carter

The lovely legends of the day; the stories and the songs and the half-fairy lore that gather around it; the ancient traditions of dusky woods and mystic rites; the magnificence or simplicity of Christian observance, from the pope in his triple tiara, borne upon his portative throne in gorgeous state to celebrate pontifical high mass at the great altar of St. Peter’s, to George Herbert humbly kneeling in his rustic church at Bemerton, or to the bare service in some missionary chapel upon the American frontier; the lighting of Christmas trees and hanging up of Christmas stockings, the profuse giving, the happy family meetings, the dinner, the game, the dance they are all the natural signs and symbols, the flower and fruit, of Christmas. For Christmas is the day of days which declares the universal human consciousness that peace on earth comes only from good will to men.
George William Curtis

The “first Christmas” was a simple time of beauty and wonder. The birth of Christ was less about celebration than it was about family. Though many today may grow tired of the commercialization of Christmas, in reality it has opened the door for Christ to once again become the focal point of the season, and for family, especially children, to be at the heart of the celebration.
Ace Collins

Christmas is … a time to mark our progress through this earthly journey. Every December we can look back and marvel at the designs of God and realize how very little we are in control of the events that shaped the past year. Then, with hearts full, look to the celebration of that silent, holy night, and all its certainty. Because of Christmas, this we know: Christ was born for us. He is love, and the plans he has for us always surpass those of our own.
Karen Kingsbury

I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round – apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that – as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on their journeys.
Charles Dickens

More and more people each year are going abroad for Christmas… Fed up with the fact that commercial Christmas starts in October. Fed up with carols. Dreading the arrival of Christmas cards from people they have forgotten to send a card to. Unable to bear yet another family get-together with Auntie Mary puking up in the corner after sampling too much of the punch. You see in the airports the triumphant glitter in the eyes of people who are leaving it all behind, including the hundredth rerun of Miracle on 34th Street.
M.C. Beaton

On Christmas Eve, down there in Texas, we always went to the church first for the lovely service, and then to the town square with its breath-taking, brilliantly lighted Christmas tree, where there were little gifts for the children. And when we woke up in the morning, there was another Christmas tree which had appeared “miraculously” as we slept; the whole family gathered around it, and again we sensed the spirit of love running through the circle. There were gifts for everyone – but not too much! How grateful I am for that now! The real gift was the love we had for one another and the sheer joy of just being together.
Dale Evans

The herald angels are singing still, and we hear their “Peace on earth, good will to men,” once more, as we have often done. What can we do but answer back in glad strains: “Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace”? It is His presence that fills our homes with mirth and song. If he will come again, turning life’s water into wine, touching our sick that they may be healed, cleansing, pardoning, blessing us all- as He will if we make room for Him – then, indeed, we must be glad.
Christian at Work

Shorn, however, as it is, of its ancient and festive honours, Christmas is still a period of delightful excitement in England. It is gratifying to see that home-feeling completely aroused which seems to hold so powerful a place in every English bosom. The preparations making on every side for the social board that is again to unite friends and kindred; the presents of good cheer passing and repassing, those tokens of regard, and quickeners of kind feelings; the evergreens distributed about houses and churches, emblems of peace and gladness; all these have the most pleasing effect in producing fond associations, and kindling benevolent sympathies.
Washington Irving

And when we give each other Christmas gifts in His name, let us remember that He has given us the sun and the moon and the stars, and the earth with its forests and mountains and oceans – and all that lives and move upon them. He has given us all green things and everything that blossoms and bears fruit and all that we quarrel about and all that we have misused – and to save us from our foolishness, from all our sins, He came down to earth and gave us Himself.
Sigrid Undset

I am sorry to have to introduce the subject of Christmas into these articles. It is an indecent subject; a cruel, gluttonous subject; a drunken, disorderly subject; a wasteful, disastrous, subject; a wicked, cadging, lying, filthy, blashphemous, and demoralizing subject. Christmas is forced on a reluctant and disgusted nation by the shopkeepers and the press: on its own merits it would wither and shrivel in the fiery breath of universal hatred; and any one who looked back to it would be turned into a pillar of greasy sausages.
George Bernard Shaw

After dinner, eaten, let it be confessed, with more haste and less accompaniment of talk than usual, the parlour doors were opened, and there stood the Christmas tree in a glow of light, its wonderful branches laden with all manner of strange fruits not to be found in the botanies. The wild shouts, the merry laughter, the cries of delight as one coveted fruit after another dropped into long-expectant arms still linger in my ears now that the little tapers are burnt out, the boughs left bare, and the actors in the perennial drama are fast asleep, with new and strange bedfellows selected from the spoils of the night. Cradled between a delightful memory and a blissful anticipation, who does not envy them?
Hamilton Wright Mabie

There is something about Christmas that requires a rug rat. Little kids make Christmas fun. I wonder if could rent one for the holidays. When I was tiny we would buy a real tree and stay up late drinking hot chocolate and finding just the right place for the special decorations. It seems like my parents gave up the magic when I figured out the Santa lie. Maybe I shouldn’t have told them I knew where the presents really came from. It broke their hearts.
Laurie Halse Anderson

There is a time and a season for all things, as we are told, and the time and the season to decorate our firesides and homes is at Yuletide, when with holly branch and mistletoe we make our Christmas green; with flowers we make it bright and fragrant; with presents we make it bountiful, and with the spirit of peace on earth, goodwill toward men, we make life worth living.
Lee James

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

Read also:

Christmas quotes ;

60 great Christmas quotes ;

Christmas tree origin and quotes ;

Christmas markets in England ;

Christmas markets in America ;

Christmas markets in Italy and Germany ;

Christmas short stories ;

Traditional Christmas Carols ;

Ella Gray A Christmas story ;

Christmas jokes ;

Christmas cracker jokes ;

Christmas food ;

Christmas thoughts ;

Christmas story ;

Christmas in Italy ;

Christmas holidays ;

Christmas songs ;

Christmas poems ;

An Essasy on Christmas by Chesterton ;

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Christmas best humorous quotes, a collection of famous amusing aphorisms and funny quotes about Christmas for your holy laughter to spend a wonderful Christmas.

As our dear old friend Mark Twain used to say, mankind has only one truly effective weapon: laughter. So, in this Christmas season, when age is advancing, money is scarce, and the death toll continues to rise, I’ve decided to publish a new selection of humorous aphorisms and funny jokes about Christmas. While I’m fully aware that laughing during this time can be a challenging thing, I still want to have faith and be optimistic. After all, the three things that help us endure adversity, as old Kant reminds us, are precisely: hope, sleep, and laughter. And that’s precisely why I want to bring a breath of joy and lightheartedness to all who will read these funny Christmas quotes that are surely going to bring good tidings to you and your kin and help you get into the holiday spirit.
Carl William Brown

At Christmas, we must all be kinder, not more stupid!
Carl William Brown

Everyone’s nicer at Christmas. It’s the before and after that worries me.
Lucy van Pelt

After the Christmas holidays, my wife always puts me on a diet, but this year I don’t feel like it, and in protest, I’ve started a hunger strike!
Bilbo Baggins

It’s Christmas. I’m torn between feeling a great sense of brotherhood and going skiing in Cortina.
Altan

No one respects me. For Christmas, I gave my son a BB gun. And he gave me a T-shirt with a target on the back.
Rodney Dangerfield

You did it for me! So thank you. That means I’ll put your lover on my Christmas list, but only if I can find a letter bomb.
Woody Allen

During the Christmas holidays my parents always took me to my grandparents, but I didn’t enjoy the cemetery at all.
Carl William Brown

Okay, Christmas is an intimate holiday… but stop giving me underwear!
Boris Dress

According to a recent statistic, the most read phrase during the Christmas holidays is: “Batteries not included.”
Mauroemme

The last time I felt the Christmas spirit, the Ghostbusters were taking care of it.
Waxen

Mom, mom, why are we putting up a Christmas tree in October? How can I tell you you have cancer!
Anonymous

My father was a real bastard. At Christmas, he’d take us into the woods and say, ‘Children, the presents are under the tree. Guess which one?’
Mario Zucca

From a commercial standpoint, if Christmas didn’t exist, it would have to be invented.
Katherine Whitehorn

Christmas: A special day dedicated to the exchange of gifts, gluttony, drunkenness, the most sentimentality, general boredom, and domestic virtues.
Ambrose Bierce

Dear Baby Jesus, in this pandemic year of 2020, you took away my favorite singer: Juliette Gréco; my favorite actor: Sean Connery; my favorite soccer player: Diego Maradona; my favorite theatrical actor, Gigi Proietti; my favorite philosopher, Giulio Giorello (so to speak, of course). Listen to me now, I wanted to tell you that my favorite politician is … (insert the politician you think deserves to leave us as soon as possible) and that the year isn’t over yet! Best wishes again, and try your best.
Carl William Brown

As a child, it was tough. For Christmas, I was given batteries, with the words “Toy not included” written on them.
Rodney Dangerfield

There’s nothing sadder than waking up on Christmas morning and discovering you’re not a child.
Erma Bombeck

There’s so much crisis during this Christmas pandemic that the markets will surely open with a sharp decline.
Carl William Brown

Have you ever noticed that life seems to follow patterns? For example, I’ve noticed that every year around this time of year I hear Christmas music.
Tom Sims

We’re having a baby soon. Are you kidding? No, I’m actually having a baby: the doctor told me… it’ll be my Christmas present! But a tie was enough for me!
Woody Allen

Some enterprising youth should go from door to door on Christmas morning peddling batteries.
Jean Kerr

The ultimate in longevity is the Christmas fruitcake. It is a cake made during the holidays with fruits that make it heavier than the stove it is cooked in.
Erma Bombeck

What I don’t like about Christmas parties is looking for a job the next day.
Phyllis Diller

The tradition of Festivus begins with the Airing of Grievances. I’ve got a lot of problems with you people! And now, you’re going to hear about it!
Frank Costanza

Rich, peaceful nations sell weapons to poor, war-torn nations; then at Christmas they collect toys to send to the children of families devastated by the planet’s various conflicts.
Carl William Brown

I stopped believing in Santa Claus when I was 6. Mother took me to see him in a department store, and he asked for my autograph.
Shirley Temple

Turkey is good for Christmas, but Christmas is not good for turkey.
Achille Campanile

Nobody’s walking out on this fun, old-fashioned family Christmas.
Clark Griswold

Ugster vinyl pumps, Partridge Family records, plastic daisy jewelry, old postcards … It’s a magpie Christmas market.
Francesca Lia Block

It’s Christmas Eve. This morning in the shop, a woman asked me what time Midnight Mass is…
Sarotta

I would like a nice slice of Christmas Pam. Side of candy Pams. And perhaps some Pam chops with mint.
Michael Scott

Some people are born for Halloween, and some are just counting the days until Christmas.
Stephen Jones

You say you hate Washington’s birthday or Thanksgiving, and nobody cares, but you say you hate Christmas, and people treat you like you’re a leper.
Kate Beringer

My mother-in-law has come round to our house at Christmas seven years running. This year we’re having a change. We’re going to let her in.
Les Dawson

Our children await Christmas presents like politicians getting in election returns: There’s the Uncle Fred precinct and the Aunt Ruth district still to come in.
Marcelene Cox

Christmas, that annual celebration of parental guilt and juvenile greed.
P.D. James

At Christmas, one in three Italians will go into debt for Christmas Eve dinner. The other two will go into debt for dinner.
Don Eugenio Iodice

I got myself for Secret Santa. I was supposed to tell somebody, but I didn’t.
Kevin Malone

Christmas is the season when people run out of money before they run out of friends.
Larry Wilde

I grew up on a Christmas Tree Farm, so this is a good season for me. I was too young to help with the hauling of the trees up the hills and putting them onto cars. So, it was my job to pull the praying mantis pods off of the Christmas trees. The problem with that is if you leave them on there, people bring them into their house. I forgot to check one time, and they hatched all over these people’s house – and there were hundreds of thousands of them!
Taylor Swift

The main reason Santa is so jolly is because he knows where all the bad girls live.
George Carlin

I was Christmas shopping and ran into a guy on the street. I noticed his watch and said that it runs slow. He said, ‘So does the guy I stole it from.’
David Letterman

I got myself for Secret Santa. I was supposed to tell somebody, but I didn’t.
Kevin Malone

Don’t send funny greeting cards on birthdays or at Christmas. Save them for funerals when their cheery effect is needed.
P.J. O’Rourke

Christmas is a time when you get homesick, even if you’re home.
Carol Nelson

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

Wife and husband at the table: “Of course, of course, dear, I like Christmas leftovers… but not in April!”
Anonymous

You have such a pretty face. You should be on a Christmas card.
Buddy, Elf

What are you doing for Christmas?” “I’m getting fat.”
Daniele Villa

Aren’t we forgetting the true meaning of Christmas? You know, the birth of Santa.
Bart Simpson

Last Christmas, I was so broke that, to avoid disappointing my son, I had to tell him I’d bought him the Invisible Man doll.
Paolo Burini

No matter how many Christmas presents you give your child, there’s always that terrible moment when he’s opened the very last one. That’s when he expects you to say, ‘Oh yes, I almost forgot,’ and take him out and show him the pony.
Mignon McLaughlin

What about an authentic Pennsylvania Dutch Christmas? Drink some gluhwein, enjoy some hasenpfeffer.
Dwight Schrute

Christmas is awesome. First of all, you got to spend time with people you love. Secondly, you can get drunk and no one can say anything.
Michael Scott

But what do I care about having a good Christmas? The problem is the other 364 days.
Francesco De Collibus

Christmas, that annual celebration of parental guilt and juvenile greed.
P.D. James

It will be a very traditional Christmas, with presents, crackers, doors slamming and people bursting into tears.
Victoria Wood

Down the chimney? You want me to take the toys down the chimney into a strange house, in my underwear?
Scott Calvin

Let’s be naughty and save Santa the trip.
Gary Allan

It’s always consoling to know that today’s Christmas gifts are tomorrow’s garage sales.
Milton Berle

Rome, the Baby Jesus was stolen from the nativity scene in the Imperial Forums. Word has spread that his father is very high up.
Lia Celi

If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, it would be Christmas every day.
John Boehner

It’s easier to feel a little more spiritual with a couple of bucks in your pocket.
Craig Ferguson

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

You can’t fool me – there ain’t no Sanity Clause!
Chico Marx

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

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

A Christmas miracle is when your family doesn’t get into a single argument all day.
Melanie White

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

One thing I learned from drinking is that if you ever go Christmas caroling, you should go with a group of people. And also go in mid-December.
Louis C.K.

I left Santa gluten-free cookies and organic soy milk, and he put a solar panel in my stocking.
Earthman Adam

In the old days, it was not called the Holiday Season; the Christians called it ‘Christmas’ and went to church; the Jews called it ‘Hanukkah’ and went to synagogue; the atheists went to parties and drank. People passing each other on the street would say ‘Merry Christmas!’ or ‘Happy Hanukkah!’ or (to the atheists) ‘Look out for the wall!’
Dave Barry

Christmas: It’s the only religious holiday that’s also a federal holiday. That way, Christians can go to their services, and everyone else can sit at home and reflect on the true meaning of the separation of church and state.
Samantha Bee

Christmas is a baby shower that went totally overboard.
Andy Borowitz

I don’t want Christmas season to end because it’s the only time I can legitimately indulge in one particular addiction: glitter.
Eloisa James

God invites us to humility and simplicity,” said the man who wore golden vestments while officiating Christmas Mass.
Massimo Meoni

Nothing’s as mean as giving a little child something useful for Christmas.
Kin Hubbard

The ideal Christmas gift is money, but the trouble is you can’t charge it.
Bill Vaughan

That’s the true spirit of Christmas; people being helped by people other than me.
Jerry Seinfeld

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

Santa Claus wears a red suit. He must be a communist. And long hair. He must be a pacifist. What’s in that pipe he’s smoking?
Arlo Guthrie

I just want to be rich enough to buy enough ornaments to cover more than one side of the tree.
Charlotte Christmas

I once bought my kids a set of batteries for Christmas with a note on it saying, ‘Toys not included.’
Bernard Manning

Today I put up the Christmas tree. With the current crisis, I’m trying to earn some money by dressing up as a Christmas tree.
Massimo Bozza

Christmas is almost here. I’ll try to escape through the window.
Anonymous

Of course, Santa is dead. You force a guy to eat a billion cookies in one night, what do you think is going to happen?
Jimmy Kimmel

This past Christmas, I told my girlfriend for months in advance that all I wanted was an Xbox. That’s it. Beginning and end of list, Xbox. You know what she got me? A homemade frame with a picture of us from our first date together. Which was fine. Because I got her an Xbox. Anthony Jeselnik

This holiday season, no matter what your religion is, please take a moment to reflect on why it’s better than all the other ones.
Guy Endore Kaiser

Share these funny holiday quotes with your friends and family to spread Christmas joy, or use them as clever Christmas-themed Instagram captions. You can even use them on coffee mugs or T-shirts and give them as gifts!
Keep Watching

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people only once a year.
Victor Borge

Oh look, yet another Christmas TV special! How touching to have the meaning of Christmas brought to us by cola, fast food and beer…Who’d have ever guessed that product consumption, popular entertainment and spirituality would mix so harmoniously?
Bill Watterson

Sending Christmas cards is a good way to let your friends and family know that you think they’re worth the price of a stamp.
Melanie White

‘Mistletoe,’ said Luna dreamily, pointing at a large clump of white berries placed almost over Harry’s head. He jumped out from under it. ‘Good thinking,’ said Luna seriously. ‘It’s often infested with nargles.’
J.K. Rowling

More than Santa Claus, your sister knows when you’ve been bad and good.
Linda Sunshine

It’s all fun and games until Santa checks the naughty list.
Unknown

You can just hear Santa saying ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ when you receive your credit card statement in January.
Kate Summers

Synthetic literature. Today: Christmas theme. Title: “I went with my girlfriend to see a nativity scene.” Development: “Two hearts, a hut.”
Andrea Balestrero

Christmas songs are like sexual intercourse: after the third one, you can’t take it anymore.
Flavio Oreglio

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.
Bill Murray

The worst gift is a fruitcake. There is only one fruitcake in the entire world, and people keep sending it to each other.
Johnny Carson

Christmas: the one time of year when you can’t avoid the nuts in your family muesli.
Charles Stross

So I’ve started wearing sweatpants to bed because I really don’t need Santa seeing me in my underwear.
Jeff Kinney

I hate, loathe and despise Christmas. It’s a time when single people have to take cover or get out of town.
Kristin Hunter

Waiting for a special occasion to kill me? Christmas is coming.
Cassandra Clare

I wish we could put some of our Christmas spirit in jars and open one up every month.
Unknown

There are 17 more shopping days until Christmas. So, guys, that means 16 more days till we start shopping, right?
Conan O’Brien

I’ve learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way he handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage and tangled Christmas tree lights.
Maya Angelou

Mail your packages early so the post office can lose them in time for Christmas.
Johnny Carson

My wife, like many women, actually likes wrapping things. If she gives you a gift that requires batteries, she wraps the batteries separately, which to me is very close to being a symptom of mental illness.
Dave Barry

From a commercial point of view, if Christmas did not exist, it would be necessary to invent it.
Katharine Whitehorn

Do you know why so many people love Jesus? Without Jesus, no Christmas.
Melanie White

The Supreme Court has ruled that they cannot have a nativity scene in Washington D.C. This wasn’t for any religious reasons. They couldn’t find three wise men and a virgin.
Jay Leno

I never get to see Santa Claus come down the chimney because I always get too tired and fall asleep from eating all his cookies while waiting for him.
Theodore W. Higginsworth

There are a lot of things money can’t buy. Not one of them is on my son’s list.
Milton Berle

Christmas is the season when you buy this year’s gifts with next year’s money.
Unknown

Christmas to a child is the first terrible proof that to travel hopefully is better than to arrive.
Stephen Fry

My husband’s idea of getting the Christmas spirit is to become Scrooge.
Melanie White

Even before Christmas has said Hello, it’s saying ‘Buy Buy.’
Robert Paul

I bought my brother some gift wrap for Christmas. I took it to the Gift Wrap department and told them to wrap it, but in a different print so he would know when to stop unwrapping.
Steven Wright

At Christmas, tea is compulsory. Relatives are optional.
Robert Godden

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas. But if the white runs out, I’ll drink the red.
Unknown

It was two weeks before Christmas. A slow time of year for raising the dead.
Laurell K. Hamilton

People are so worried about what they eat between Christmas and New Year, but they really should be worried about what they eat between the New Year and Christmas.
Anonymous

One good thing about Christmas shopping is it toughens you for the January sales.
Grace Kriley

People really act weird at Christmas time! What other time of year do you sit in front of a dead tree in the living room and eat nuts and sweets out of your socks?
Unknown

The older I get, the fewer useless gifts I get. The fewer I get, the less I have to wrap to re-gift for next Christmas.
Robert Rivers

The office Christmas party is a great opportunity to catch up with people you haven’t seen for 20 minutes.
Julius Sharpe

Christmas is such a carefree, low-pressure time – that’s one of the things I love about it.
Stephen King

I haven’t taken my Christmas lights down. They look so nice on the pumpkin.
Winston Spear

Christmas is a box of tree ornaments that have become part of the family.
Charles M. Schulz

Nothing says holidays like a cheese log.
Ellen Degeneres

Thank you, Stockings, for being a long flammable piece of fabric people like to hang over a roaring fireplace.
Jimmy Fallon

Once you stop believing in Santa, you get underwear for Christmas.
Unknown

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

Why is Christmas just like a day at the office? You do all the work, and the fat guy with the suit gets all the credit.
Unknown

Well, they’ll bark you down like carneys, sell you Christmas cards in June.
Tom Waits

Whenever you give someone a present or sing a holiday song, you’re helping Santa Claus. To me, that’s what Christmas is all about. Helping Santa Claus!
Louis Sachar

Our children await Christmas presents like politicians getting in election returns: There’s the Uncle Fred precinct and the Aunt Ruth district still to come in.
Marcelene Cox

Hey, great idea: if you have kids, give your partner reading vouchers next Christmas. Each voucher entitles the bearer to two hours’ reading time *while the kids are awake*. It might look like a cheapskate present, but parents will appreciate that it costs more in real terms than a Lamborghini.
Nick Hornby

Read also our other posts on Christmas;

Christmas markets in England ;

Christmas markets in Italy and Germany ;

Christmas quotes ;

60 great Christmas quotes ;

Christmas tree origin and quotes ; 

Ella Gray A Christmas story ;

Traditional Christmas Carols ;

Christmas short stories ;

Christmas jokes ;

Christmas cracker jokes ;

Funny Christmas Stories ;

Amusing Christmas stories ;

Christmas food ;

Christmas thoughts ;

Christmas story ;

Christmas in Italy ;

Christmas holidays ;

Christmas songs ;

Christmas poems ;

An Essay on Christmas by Chesterton ;

Quotes by authors

Quotes by arguments

Thoughts and reflections

Essays with quotes

News and events

Entertainment

Best Christmas Songs with videos, lyrics, famous quotes and carols to enjoy the atmosphere of this magic festival and to practice the English language having great fun.

The good and the beautiful are not forgotten; they live in legend and song.
Hans Christian Andersen

Using songs with lyrics is a very useful means to improve English skills and to have fun at the same time. The advantage of using pop songs to learn English is that you will also be learning something about English speaking culture, which could come in handy.

Music means a lot to people. Songwriters use their talent to communicate messages that are important to them, experiences that they’ve had in their lives and life lessons. And then there are those of us who enjoy listening to the songs and finding inspiration, motivation, support and so many other emotions from the words. But not all songs are meant to teach deep life lessons. Some are purely just meant to be enjoyed.

Can you believe that famous old songs by Michael Jackson, The Beatles and Elvis Presley are perfect for learning English grammar? Well, it’s not just about making learning fun, it’s about philosophy. The ancient philosopher Plato said that “Musical training is a more potent instrument than any other, because rhythm and harmony find their way into the inward places of the soul.” Of course, Plato lived thousands of years ago, so that quote may seem a bit complicated to us today but in any case music is excellent because it has the power to move us.

If you want to learn actively, you can listen to the songs while following along with the lyrics. You can also simply listen to the songs without taking any notes. You won’t exactly “absorb” the English vocabulary and grammar structures automatically, but you may be surprised how much you can learn just by passively listening to songs. And if you hear something that catches your interest, you can always return to the song later on to find more information about the words or structures.

Christmas is such a joyous time of year. For many, the holidays bring back memories of family, food, fun and music. Studies show that hearing certain songs can cue specific memories in people’s brains. One very familiar type of song is the Christmas carol. From music lovers and churchgoers, to people all around the world who celebrate Christmas, carols are the beloved musical backbone of the festive season. Christmas carols are based on Christian lyrics and relate, in the main, to the Nativity. Christmas carols were introduced into church services by St. Francis of Assisi in the 12th century. Here you can find the 30 best Christmas Carols.

And now here are some best quotes from very popular English Christmas songs.

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas, just like the ones I used to know. Where the treetops glisten and children listen, to hear sleigh bells in the snow.
White Christmas  (Karaoke)

He sees you when you’re sleeping, he knows when you’re awake. He knows when you’ve been bad or good, so be good, for goodness sake!
Santa Claus is Coming to Town  (Karaoke)

A very Merry Christmas and a happy new year. Let’s hope it’s a good one, without any fear.
Happy Xmas (War is Over)  (Karaoke)

Jingle Bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way! Oh what fun it is to ride, in a one horse open sleigh.
Jingle Bells  (Karaoke)

I won’t ask for much this Christmas. I won’t even wish for snow. And I’m just gonna keep on waiting, underneath the mistletoe. All I want for Christmas is you, yeah. (And I) Don’t care about the presents. Underneath the Christmas tree. I don’t need to hang my stocking. There upon the fireplace (Ah) Santa Claus won’t make me happy.
All I Want For Christmas Is You  (Karaoke)

“Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree”. Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. At the Christmas party hop. Mistletoe hung where you can see. Every couple tries to stop. Rockin’ around the Christmas tree. Let the Christmas spirit ring. Later we’ll have some pumpkin pie.
Rockin’ Around The Christmas Tree  (Karaoke)

Last Christmas, I gave you my heart, but the very next day, you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears, I’ll give it to someone special.
Last Christmas  (Karaoke)

Good tidings we bring to you and your kin. We wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
We Wish You a Merry Christmas  (Karaoke)

Oh the fire is slowly dying. And, my dear, were still good-bye-ing. But as long as you love me so, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.
Let it Snow  (Karaoke)

Christmas Eve will find me, where the lovelight gleams. I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.
I’ll be Home for Christmas  (Karaoke)

Sing a song of gladness and cheer For the time of Christmas is here Look around about you and see What a world of wonder This world can be.
A Christmas Carol lyrics  (Karaoke)

Our Playlist of best Christmas songs

There must have been some magic in that old silk hat they found, for when they placed it on his head, he began to dance around!
Frosty the Snowman  (Karaoke)

What a bright time, it’s the right time, to rock the night away.
Jingle Bell Rock  (Karaoke)

Santa, tell me if he really cares. ‘Cause I can’t give it all away if he won’t be here next year. [Bridge] Oh, I wanna have him beside me, like oh-woo-oh. On the 25th, by that fireplace, oh-woo-oh. But I don’t want a new broken heart. This year I’ve got to be smart. Oh, baby.
Santa Tell Me  (Karaoke)

Doesn’t it feel like Christmas (it feels lovely) Doesn’t it feel like Christmas (feels so lovely) Doesn’t it feel like Christmas (oh oh oh oh) Yes, it feels like Christmas Doesn’t it feel like Christmas (it feels lovely) Doesn’t it feel like Christmas (feels so lovely) Doesn’t it feel like Christmas (the spirit of Christmas) Yes, it feels like Christmas
8 Days of Christmas Destiny’s Child  (Karaoke)

And so, I’m offering this simple phrase to kids from one to 92. Although it’s been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.
The Christmas Song (Merry Christmas to You)  (Karaoke)

Silent night! Holy night! All is calm! All is bright!
Silent Night  (Karaoke)

Christmas won’t be the same without you. Christmas won’t be the same if you go. You’re all I need to see, standing by my Christmas tree. ‘Cause Christmas won’t be the same without you.
Christmas Won’t be the Same Without You  (Karaoke)

Holidays are joyful, there’s always something new. But ev’ryday’s a holiday, when I’m near to you.
Merry Christmas, Darling  (Karaoke)

There’ll be parties for hosting, marshmallows for toasting and caroling out in the snow.
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year  (Karaoke)

But I’d never steal from Santa, cause that ain’t right. So I’m going home to mail it back to him that night. But when I got home I bugged, cause under the tree, was a letter from Santa, and all the dough was for me!
Christmas in Hollis  (Karaoke)

Hark now, hear the angels sing, a King was born today.
Mary’s Boy Child  (Karaoke)

Have yourself a merry little Christmas. Let your heart be light. From now on your troubles will be out of sight.
Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas  (Karaoke)

Christmas time is here, happiness and cheer. Fun for all that children call, their favorite time of year.
Christmas Time is Here  (Karaoke)

Sleigh bells ring, are you listening? In the lane, snow is glistening. A beautiful sight, we’re happy tonight. Walking in a winter wonderland.
Winter Wonderland  (Karaoke)

Merry Christmas, here I am, boy Gonna love you, gonna give you all I can, boy Merry Christmas, here I am, boy I’m the present and you know it, here I am, boy Merry Christmas, here I am, boy Gonna love you, gonna give you all I can, boy Merry Christmas, here I am, boy I’m the present and you know it, boy.
December Ariana Grande  (Karaoke)

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock Jingle bells swing and jingle bells ring Snowin’ and blowin’ up bushels of fun Now the jingle hop has begun.
Jingle Bell Rock Delta Goodrem  (Karaoke)

Jingle bell, jingle bell, jingle bell rock Jingle bell chime in jingle bell time Dancin’ and prancin’ in Jingle Bell Square In the frosty air.
Jingle Bell Rock Mean Girls (Funny video)  (Karaoke)

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, toys in ev’ry store. But the prettiest sight to see, is the holly that will be on your own front door.
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas  (Karaoke)

Said the little lamb to the shepherd boy, do you hear what I hear?
Do You Hear What I Hear?  (Karaoke)

Grandma got run over by a reindeer, walking home from our Christmas eve. You can say there’s no such thing as Santa, but as for me and Grandpa, we believe.
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer  (Karaoke)

Rocking around the Christmas tree, have a happy holiday. Everyone dancing merrily, in a new old-fashioned way.
Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree  (Karaoke)

O Christmas tree, O Christmas tree, how faithful are thy branches?
O Christmas Tree  (Karaoke)

The mood is right, the spirits up. We’re here tonight and that’s enough. Simply having a wonderful Christmas time.
Wonderful Christmas Time  (Karaoke)

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: a partridge in a pear tree.
12 Days of Christmas  (Karaoke)

Oh, what a laugh, it would have been, if Daddy had only seen, Mommy kissing Santa Claus last night.”
I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus  (Karaoke)

I’ll have a blue Christmas without you. I’ll be so blue just thinking about you. Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree, won’t be the same dear, if you’re not hear with me.
Blue Christmas  (Karaoke)

Deck the halls with boughs of holly, fa la la la la, la la la la. Tis the season to be jolly, fa la la la la, la la la la.
Deck the Halls  (Karaoke)

Hark how the bells Sweet silver bells All seem to say Throw cares away Christmas is here Bringing good cheer To young and old Meek and the bold Ding-dong, ding-dong That is the song With joyful ring All caroling (Oh, oh, ah).
Carol of the Bells  (Karaoke)

Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, had a very shiny nose. And if you ever saw it, you would even say it glows.
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer  (Karaoke)

Joy to the world, the Lord is come! Let earth receive her King.
Joy to the World  (Karaoke)

Away in a manger, no crib for a bed. The little Lord Jesus laid down his sweet head.
Away in a Manger  (Karaoke)

Come and trim my Christmas tree, with some decorations bought at Tiffany. I really do believe in you, let’s see if you believe in me.
Santa Baby  (Karaoke)

Joy to the world, the Lord is come, let earth receive her King.
Joy to the World  (Karaoke)

Silver bells, silver bells, it’s Christmas time in the city. Ring-a-ling, hear them ring, soon it will be Christmas day.
Silver Bells  (Karaoke)

I really can’t stay (but baby, its’s cold outside). I’ve got to go away (but baby, it’s cold outside).
Baby It’s Cold Outside  (Karaoke)

Do they know it’s Christmastime at all? Feed the world. Feed the world.
Do They Know It’s Christmas?  (Karaoke)

Merry Christmas baby, sure do treat me nice. You bought me all those good ole presents, I love you baby, rest of my life.
Merry Christmas Baby  (Karaoke)

Happy New Year, Happy New Year May we all have a vision now and then Of a world where every neighbour is a friend Happy New Year, Happy New Year May we all have our hopes, our will to try If we don’t, we might as well lay down and die You and I
Happy New Year  Abba (Karaoke)

Read also our other posts on Christmas

Christmas songs ;

Christmas markets in England ;

Christmas markets in America ;

Christmas markets in Italy and Germany ;

Christmas quotes ;

Best songs ever ;

Entertainment ;

60 great Christmas quotes ;

Christmas tree origin and quotes ; 

Christmas jokes ;

Christmas cracker jokes ;

Christmas best humorous quotes ;

Christmas best humorous quotes ;

Traditional Christmas Carols ;

Funny Christmas Stories ;

Amusing Christmas stories ;

Christmas food ;

Christmas thoughts ;

Christmas story ;

Christmas in Italy ;

Christmas holidays ;

Christmas poems ;

An Essay on Christmas by Chesterton ;

See also the decorated complete carols page where you can also download the pdf file!

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