Quotes from The Gift of the Magi

O. Henry ·  32 pages

Rating: (73.2K votes)


“Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They invented the art of giving Christmas presents. Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“Life is full of sniffles sobs and smiles. With sniffles predominating.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“There was clearly nothing to do but flop down on the shabby little couch and howl. So Della did it. Which instigates the moral reflection that life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi



“But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“Many a happy hour she had spent planning for something nice for him. Something fine and rare and sterling—something”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“Twenty dollars a week doesn’t go far.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi



“Pennies saved one and two at a time”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


“Being wise, their gifts were no doubt wise ones, possibly bearing the privilege of exchange in case of duplication. And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.”
― O. Henry, quote from The Gift of the Magi


About the author

O. Henry
Born place: in Greensboro, North Carolina, The United States
Born date September 11, 1862
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“So I lie still and take deep, quiet breaths. Pain doesn't bother me. I'm not afraid. I'm used to living with pain.”
― quote from Elena Vanishing


“The computer scientist Donald Knuth was struck that “AI has by now succeeded in doing essentially everything that requires ‘thinking’ but has failed to do most of what people and animals do ‘without thinking’—that, somehow, is much harder!”
― Nick Bostrom, quote from Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies


“A sparrow is beautiful in its own way," Käthe said severely. "Don't force yourself to be a peacock, Liesl. Embrace your sparrow self.”
― S. Jae-Jones, quote from Wintersong


“But before he leaped away he asked, “Still best friends, right?”
A soft smile curled her lips, and her heart pulled back into place. “Forever.”
― Shannon Messenger, quote from Nightfall


“I’m probably not good at a lot of things, but I will try to be”
― Sally Thorne, quote from The Hating Game


Interesting books

The Wheel of Fortune
(2.2K)
The Wheel of Fortune
by Susan Howatch
Comanche Moon
(9.4K)
Comanche Moon
by Larry McMurtry
God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian
(13.1K)
God Bless You, Dr. K...
by Kurt Vonnegut
Glory Road
(10.8K)
Glory Road
by Robert A. Heinlein
To Catch a Pirate
(6.6K)
To Catch a Pirate
by Jade Parker
Molloy
(4.8K)
Molloy
by Samuel Beckett

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.