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17 Holiday Quotes That'll Fill You With Yuletide Joy

by Ni'Kesia Pannell

The holiday season is here and there's no better time of the year to feel and show your love. Though many people relate the month of December with Christmas, there's so much more to be said about the month. From Hanukkah and Kwanzaa to showing selfless acts of love, this season is all about spreading cheer. Even something as simple as reciting a few holiday quotes can get you, and everyone around you, in the mood for what's to come.

For me specifically, the holidays mean more than people will ever know. Not only does it bring back the memories of great times during my childhood, it reminds me how good it feels to do something kind for someone else. No matter how big or little the action is, being able to bring joy to someone else during this time of year is a feeling that can't be explained. It's also a time to educate and be educated on the other holidays that surround the month.

Though I don't celebrate Hanukkah or Kwanzaa, it's always a great feeling to be introduced to the traditions of my friends and learn more about the holidays that mean the most to them. Something as simple as a meaningful quote about it can open the eyes and hearts of someone that you least expect.

So, whether you express them in your holiday cards or just give them a quick post on Facebook, these 17 quotes are perfect for helping you spread the holiday cheer.

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

"The darkness of the whole world cannot swallow the glowing of a candle." — Robert Altinger

"The seven principles of Kwanzaa — unity, self-determination, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith — teach us that when we come together to strengthen our families and communities and honor the lesson of the past, we can face the future with joy and optimism." — William J. Clinton

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

"A candle is a small thing. But one candle can light another. And see how its own light increases, as a candle gives its flame to the other. You are such a light." — Moshe Davis

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

"Kwanzaa is a special time to remember the ancestors, the bridge builders and the leaders." — Dorothy Winbush Riley

"Blessed is the match consumed in kindling flame. Blessed is the flame that burns in the secret fastness of the heart." — Hannah Senesh

"Christmas waves a magic wand over the world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful." — Norman Vincent Peale

"We light candles in testament that faith makes miracles possible." — Nachum Braverman

"Kwanzaa is a holiday that should be celebrated by everyone, not just the black community." — Jacqui Lewis

"We have religious holidays and we have secular holidays. I see Kwanzaa as an opportunity for African-Americans to reaffirm ourselves if we choose to, a chance to rebuild and renew our focus. I see Kwanzaa as a holiday of the spirit." — Jessica Harris

"Gifts of time and love are surely the basic ingredients of a truly Merry Christmas." — Peg Bracken

"May your walls know joy, may every room hold laughter, and every window open to great possibility." — Mary Anne Radmacher

"Kwanzaa does not replace Christmas and is not a religious holiday. It is a time to focus on Africa and African-inspired culture and to reinforce a value system that goes back for generations." — Eric V. Copage

"Hanukkah is about the spark of the divine in all of us made in God's image." — Suzanne Fields

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