Day 20 of Quotes - Winter

I've been thinking it's winter for some time now, but in actual fact winter starts tomorrow. In the same week as Christmas. Theologians (of which my sister is one) will tell you that this is no co-incidence. For thousands of years, people have understood the rotations and the orbit of our planet in their own way. They have recorded when the shortest and longest days have been. And, for thousands of years, those times of year have been seeped in religion and tradition.

No-one actually knows when Christ was born. They can make accurate guesses by researching the famous census, but they can't know for certain. The beginning of Winter just seemed like a suitable time to place Jesus' birthday. It's the Christian festival of light, and a beacon of home in the darkest time.

This time of year also lends itself to star gazing, which in itself is a decidedly Christmassy activity. We saw tonight the two planets (Jupiter and Saturn) almost in line. The best time to see it will be tomorrow (21st December)

So, here are my 20 winter quotes for today.

“Even the strongest blizzards start with a single snowflake.”
Sara Raasch (Snow Like Ashes)

“A cold wind was blowing from the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.”
George R R Martin (A Game of Thrones)

“No animal, according to the rules of animal-etiquette, is ever expected to do anything strenuous, or heroic, or even moderately active during the off-season of winter.”
Kenneth Grahame (The Wind in the Willows)

“It seems like everything sleeps in winter, but it's really a time of renewal and reflection.”
Elizabeth Camden (Until the Dawn)

“Summer is for surrendering; winter is for wondering.”
Debasish Mridha

“It was a black and white day of frost, which crawled along the dark trees and outlined twig and branch. The air was misty, and distant objects assumed a mysterious importance."

Robert S Hichens

“The pale, cold light of the winter sunset did not beautify - it was like the light of truth itself."
Willa Cather

“The wastes of snow on the hill were ghostly in the moonlight. The stars were piercingly bright.”
Maud Hart Lovelace (Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown)

“A few feathery flakes are scattered widely through the air, and hover downward with uncertain flight, now almost alighting on the earth, now whirled again aloft into remote regions of the atmosphere.”
Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Honest Winter, snow-clad, and with the frosted beard, I can welcome not uncordially.”
George Gissing

“It was bitter cold, for the snow clouds had blown away, and the stars seemed mirrored in the icy glitter of the white-crusted fields.”
Geraldine Brooks (Year of Wonders)

“Sometimes in winter there comes a spell of snowstorms and sunshine and terrific contentment. On snowy afternoons there is a special blessedness in saying, oh it is too snowy to chop wood this afternoon."
Elliott Merrick (Green Mountain Farm)

"See, Amid the Winter Snow,
Born for us on Earth below."
Edward Caswall

“The most amazing thing about the winter is that even a frozen world may be perceived as a heaven!”
Mehmet Murat ildan

"In the Bleak Midwinter,
Frosty winds made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron,
Water like a stone.
Snow had fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow.
In the Bleak Midwinter,
Long ago."
Christina Rosetti

“Winter was creeping in and, at barely three o'clock in the afternoon, the day was losing substance and dissolving into a dusty twilight.”
C J Tudor

“For winter was coming. The days were shorter, and frost crawled up the window panes at night. Soon the snow would come."
Laura Ingalls Wilder (The Little House Collection)

“One little girl didn't mind the fading sun. Her mittened hands sculpted a snowman, happy to work without distractions. She whispered apologies as she thrust a carrot into his face, assuring him it was for the best and he'd be able to breathe much better now, just try and see.”
Angela Panayotopulos (The Wake Up)

“Winter was come indeed bringing with it those pleasures of which the summer dreamer knows nothing—the delight when the fine and glittering day shows in the window, though one knows how cold it is outside; the delight of getting as close as possible to the blazing range which in the shadowy kitchen throws reflections very different from the pale gleams of sunlight in the yard, the range we cannot take with us on our walk, busy with its own activity, growling and grumbling as it sets to work, for in three hours time luncheon must be ready"
Marcel Proust (Jean Santeuil)

“Don't forget to enjoy the winter, but never give up hopes for the spring.”
Debasish Mridha