As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge.
Henry Van DykeRead
There is a better thing than the observance of Christmas day, and that is, keeping Christmas.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The essence of Christmas lies in its spirit, not just in the celebration of the day itself.
Henry Van Dyke emphasizes that the true value of Christmas goes beyond the mere celebration of December 25th. Keeping Christmas means embodying the values of love, kindness, and generosity throughout the year, making it a way of life rather than a single day's observance.
Themes
ChristmasSpiritFamilyKindnessCelebration
In practice
Example use cases
During a holiday gathering, you might say this quote to remind everyone of the true meaning of the season.
More from Henry Van Dyke
All quotes βIt is with rivers as it is with people: the greatest are not always the most agreeable nor the best to live with.
Henry Van DykeRead
Let me but find it in my heart to say, When vagrant wishes beckon me astray, "This is my work; my blessing, not my doom; Of all who live, I am the one by whom This work can best be done in the right way."
Henry Van DykeRead
And you will remember that love is not getting, but giving; not a wild dream of pleasure, and a madness of desire β oh no, love is not that β it is goodness, and honour, and peace, and pure living β yes, love is that; and it is the best thing in the world, and the thing that lives longest.
Henry Van DykeRead
Oh, London is a man's town, there's power in the air; And Paris is a woman's town, with flowers in her hair; And it's sweet to dream in Venice, and it's great to study Rome; But when it comes to living, there is no place like home.
Henry Van DykeRead
No amount of energy will take the place of thought. A strenuous life with its eyes shut is a kind of wild insanity.
Henry Van DykeRead
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Parenthood abruptly catapults us into a permanent relationship with a stranger, and the more alien the stranger, the stronger the whiff of negativity. We depend on the guarantee in our children's faces that we will not die. Children whose defining quality annihilates that fantasy of immortality are a particular insult; we must love them for themselves, and not for the best of ourselves in them, and that is a great deal harder to do. Loving our own children is an exercise for the imagination.
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It is the logic of consumerism that undermines the values of loyalty and permanence and promotes a different set of values that is destructive of family life.
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