A Christmas Carol quotes and where they come from
A Christmas Carol is so quoted that many of its lines feel like proverbs. Here are the ones people use most, checked against the text, with the stave each one is from.
Stave One: Marley's Ghost
- "Bah!" said Scrooge, "Humbug!" His reply to his nephew's greeting.
- "A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!" The nephew, Fred, who has not been put off.
- "Are there no prisons?" Scrooge, to the men collecting for the poor.
Stave One, Marley's warning
- "Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence, were, all, my business." Marley's ghost, wringing its hands.
Stave Three: The Second of the Three Spirits
- "A jolly Giant, glorious to see", the Ghost of Christmas Present on his throne.
- "There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour." Dickens, on Fred's laugh.
- "God bless us every one!" Tiny Tim, at the Cratchits' table.
Stave Five: The End of It
- "I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year." Scrooge, on waking.
- "I am as light as a feather, I am as happy as an angel, I am as merry as a schoolboy." Scrooge, on Christmas morning.
- "It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well." Dickens, of the changed Scrooge.
The ghost in green
Dickens dressed the Ghost of Christmas Present in a deep green robe, not Father Christmas red. Our print of the scene puts him on his throne of turkeys and puddings.
Read more: Mrs Cratchit's Christmas pudding.
Questions
- What is the most famous quote from A Christmas Carol?
- "Bah! Humbug!" is Scrooge's best-known line. "God bless us, every one!" is Tiny Tim's, near the end.
- Who said "God bless us every one"?
- Tiny Tim, at the Cratchit family dinner in Stave Three.