“Yes, Virginia, There Is a Santa Claus” 

In 1897, eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s now-defunct newsletter, The Sun.

Photo of Virginia O’Hanlon from the 1890s 

“Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus,” she wrote. “Papa says ‘If you see it in the Sun it’s so.’ Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?”

The answer, written by Francis P. Church in the form of an editorial, produced one of journalism’s most famous lines, and became the most reprinted English language editorial of all time:

VIRGINIA, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men’s or children’s, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

Yes, VIRGINIA, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! How dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no VIRGINIAS. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that’s no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

You may tear apart the baby’s rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, VIRGINIA, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

No Santa Claus! Thank GOD! He lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay ten times ten thousand years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

(Source: Letters of Note)

“Maybe Christmas, [the Grinch] thought… doesn’t come from a store / Maybe Christmas, perhaps… means a little bit more.”

“Without freedom of thought, there can be no such thing as wisdom – and no such thing as public liberty without freedom of speech.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all others.” – Marcus Tullius Cicero

“Appreciation is a wonderful thing. It makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.” – Voltaire

“When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies only in yourself.” – Tecumseh

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.” – Epictetus

“‘Thank you’ is the best prayer that anyone could say. I say that one a lot. Thank you expresses extreme gratitude, humility, understanding.” – Alice Walker

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” – G.K. Chesterton

“As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” – John Fitzgerald Kennedy

“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” – Omar Khayyam

“On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence.” – William Jennings Bryan

“As with the Christian religion, the worst advertisement for socialism is its adherents.” – George Orwell

“There is a lot of talk now about metal detectors and gun control. Both are good things. But they are no more a solution than forks and spoons are a solution to world hunger.” – Anna Quindlen

“I don’t care what people think of my poetry so long as they award it prizes.” – Robert Frost

“Happy is the man who finds a true friend, and far happier is he who finds that true friend in his wife.” – Franz Schubert

From CA:

“The video you posted in your Oct. 21 blog showing attempts to engage college students in meaningful debate was a perfect example of the subject of the book The Coddling of the American Mind. And here’s a quote I found online that sums it up: ‘We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so that stupid people won’t be offended.’”

“I feel about airplanes the way I feel about diets. It seems to me that they are wonderful things for other people to go on.” – Jean Kerr (who was my godmother!)