As Charles Dickens wrote in A Christmas Carol... 

"But I am sure that I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round... 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."

This truly is the season that makes emotions run wild...unfortunately, it seems that it has been filled with more stress and anxiety than necessary. We wanted to give you a few quotes on giving that will keep you focused on the real reason we gather together with friends and family. And no...it is not to just have some of Aunt Carol's coconut cake. Although...that sounds delicious.

You give but little when you give of your possessions.  It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.  ~Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet 

 The only gift is a portion of thyself.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 We should give as we would receive, cheerfully, quickly, and without hesitation; for there is no grace in a benefit that sticks to the fingers.  ~Seneca

 If instead of a gem, or even a flower, we should cast the gift of a loving thought into the heart of a friend, that would be giving as the angels give.  ~George MacDonald

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

 A hug is a great gift - one size fits all, and it's easy to exchange.  ~Author Unknown

 '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

 To give and then not feel that one has given is the very best of all ways of giving.  ~Max Beerbohm

 Pleasure is spread through the earth
 In stray gifts to be claimed by whoever shall find.
 ~William Wordsworth, 1806

 What we are is God's gift to us.  What we become is our gift to God.  ~Eleanor Powell

 The Christmas season has come to mean the period when the public plays Santa Claus to the merchants.  ~John Andrew Holmes 

 May Peace be your gift at Christmas and your blessing all year through!  ~Author Unknown

 You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving.  ~Author Unknown

 I hate the giving of the hand unless the whole man accompanies it.  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

 God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today.  Have you used one to say "thank you?"  ~William A. Ward

 Feeling gratitude and not expressing it is like wrapping a present and not giving it.  ~William Arthur Ward

 It isn't the size of the gift that matters, but the size of the heart that gives it.  ~Quoted in The Angels' Little Instruction Book by Eileen Elias Freeman, 1994

 Each day comes bearing its own gifts.  Untie the ribbons.  ~Ruth Ann Schabacker

 Love is, above all, the gift of oneself.  ~Jean Anouilh

 Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  And today?  Today is a gift.  That's why we call it the present.  ~Babatunde Olatunji

 Happy Holidays from the staff at Senior Life Online!