20 December Quotes for Quiet Moments
December arrives as the year’s grand finale, wrapping the world in frost, twinkling lights, and hushed anticipation. It’s a threshold month where endings and beginnings meet, a time to celebrate how far we’ve come while standing ready for what’s next. Homes glow warmer, traditions come alive, and even the stillness feels meaningful as winter settles in around us.
December: Key Dates
- Hanukkah (dates vary, usually December): The Jewish Festival of Lights, an eight-day celebration commemorating the miracle of the oil and the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem.
- Human Rights Day (December 10th): Commemorates the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations.
- Winter Solstice (December 21st or 22nd): The shortest day and longest night of the year, marking winter’s official start and the gradual return of light.
- Christmas (December 25th): A major Christian holiday celebrating the birth of Jesus, now a global phenomenon marked by gift-giving, gatherings, and acts of kindness.
- Boxing Day (December 26th): Celebrated in the UK and Commonwealth nations, historically a day for giving to those in need, now associated with post-holiday relaxation.
- Kwanzaa (December 26th – January 1st): A week-long celebration honoring African heritage and culture, focusing on seven core principles known as Nguzo Saba.
- New Year’s Eve (December 31st): The final hours of the year, celebrated worldwide with fireworks, reflection, and resolutions for the future.
- Famous Birthdays: Notable December birthdays include writers Rainer Maria Rilke, Emily Dickinson, Jane Austen, Philip K. Dick, and Rudyard Kipling.
Whether you’re seeking words for holiday cards, year-end reflections, or personal mantras, December quotes capture the warmth of nostalgia, the joy of giving, and the profound beauty of endings that are actually beginnings in disguise.
Will you love me in December as you do in May… Jack Kerouac, The Town and the City (1950), Book I, Part III
A long December and there’s reason to believe, maybe this year will be better than the last. Adam Duritz, 'A Long December' from the album Recovering the Satellites (1996)
Chill December brings the sleet, Blazing fire, and Christmas treat. Sara Coleridge, Pretty Lessons in Verse, for Good Children (ed. John W. Parker & Son, 1853), Page 10
God gave us memory so that we might have roses in December.James M. Barrie, Rectorial Address delivered at the University of St Andrews in Scotland on May 3, 1922
On cold December fragrant chaplets blow, and heavy harvests nod beneath the snow. Alexander Pope, The Dunciad (ed. Princeton University Press, 1929), Book I, Page 7
December is the holdout month, all the others torn away. Anne Gisleson, The Futilitarians (Little, Brown & Co., 2017), Page 227
In a drear-nighted December, too happy, happy tree, thy branches ne’er remember their green felicity. John Keats, The Poetical Works of John Keats (ed. DeWolfe, Fiske, & Co., 1884), Page 238
In December, we are reminded that the year is drawing to a close, and a new one is waiting to begin.Anonymous
It is December, and nobody asked if I was ready. Sarah Kay, No Matter The Wreckage (ed. Write Bloody Publishing, 2014), Page 100
I heard a bird sing in the dark of December; a magical thing, and sweet to remember.Oliver Herford, The Century Magazine (1913), Volumne 87, 'Hope', Page 375
December drops no weak, relenting tear, by our fond summer sympathies ensnared; nor from the perfect circle of the year can even winter’s crystal gems be spared. Christopher Pearse Cranch, The Bird and the Bell (ed. James R. Osgood & Co., 1875), Page 191
In December days, though fields be bare, and the winds blow cold, we are surrounded by goodwill and cheer.Anonymous
Yet my heart loves December’s smile as much as July’s golden beam; then let us sit and watch the while the blue ice curdling on the stream. Emily Brontë, The Complete Poems of Emily Jane Brontë (ed. George H. Doran Co., 1924), Page 99
If we make it through December, everything’s gonna be alright I know; it’s the coldest time of winter and I shiver when I see the falling snow. Merle Haggard, 'If We Make It Through December' from the album Merle Haggard's Christmas Present (1973)
Come, come thou bleak December wind, And blow the dry leaves from the tree! Flash, like a Love-thought, thro’ me, Death. And take a Life that wearies me. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (ed. Houghton, Mifflin, 1895), Page 499
December. A desperate celebration of an end. Chandrama Deshmukh, A Teaspoon Of Stars (ed. White Falcon Publishing, 2020), Page 25
So quiet and subtle is the beauty of December that escapes the notice of many people their whole lives through. Flora Thompson, The Peverel Papers (ed. Century, 1986), Page 211
December, you’re the present beneath my Christmas tree. Neil Sedaka, 'Calendar Girl' from the album Neil Sedaka Sings Little Devil and His Other Hits (1961)
Who is not a love seeker when December comes? Even children pray to Santa Claus. Rod McKuen, Listen to the Warm (ed. Random House, 1970), Page 5
December is a month that is rife with nostalgia. If there’s anything deep in your heart that you want to keep buried, you can count on December to bring it to the surface. Lois Duncan, Don't Look Behind You (ed. Puffin, 1994), Page 176
Disclosure: Our content is reader-supported. If you click on some of our links, we may earn a commission. Read our editorial process.