George VI of the United Kingdom

“ You are most of you now sitting at home among your families, listening to me as I speak from mine. At Christmas we feel that the old simple things matter most. They do not change however much the world outside may seem to do so.
When we say that Christmas brings good cheer we do not only think of material things, we think more of the feelings of friendliness and comradeship we have one for the other; and I think that, among all the blessings which we may count to-day, the chief one is that we are a friendly people. We do not all think alike, of course. ”

“ The festival which we all know as Christmas is, above all, the festival of peace and of the home. Among all free peoples the love of peace is profound, for this alone gives security to the home. But true peace is in the hearts of men, and it is the tragedy of this time that there are powerful countries whose whole direction and policy are based on aggression and the suppression of all that we hold dear for mankind. ”

“ Out of all this suffering there is a growing harmony which we must carry forward into the days to come when we have endured to the end and ours is the victory.
Then, when Christmas Days are happy again, and good will has come back to the world, we must hold fast to the spirit which binds us together now. We shall need this spirit in each of our own lives as men and women, and shall need it even more among the nations of the world. We must go on thinking less about ourselves and more for one another, for so, and so only, can we hope to make the world a better place and life a worthier thing. ”

“ Our task today is to mobilise the Christmas spirit and to apply its power and healing to our daily life. The devastation and suffering everywhere, and especially in stricken Europe, must move the hearts of all of us, but the reconstruction so urgently needed is quite as much spiritual as material – it is necessary not merely to feed hungry people and to rebuild ruined cities, but also to restore the very soul of civilisation. ”

“ Christmas is the festival at home, and it is right that we should remembers those who this year must spend it away from home. I am thinking, as I speak, of the men who have come from afar, standing ready to defend the old homeland, of the men who in every part of the world are serving the Empire and its cause with such valour and devotion by sea, land and in the air. ”

“ And now it only remains for me to echo those words which so may of you will already have said to each other today – words, which never lose their significance for old or young, and which, in good times or in bad, still bring a message of cheer to all of us; may your Christmas be happy, and may the coming year bring you a full measure of peace and prosperity, and may God bless you all. ”

“ We should be showing ourselves unworthy of what we achieved then if we doubted our will to win through now. We all know what it is to toil up a steep hill only to find that what we had thought was the top is not the top after all, and that we must brace ourselves to climb still farther.
I think that many of us must have felt that sort of disappointment more than once since the day, two and a half years ago, when victory brought us at last to those heights on which our gaze had so long been fixed. ”

“ To all of them, at home and abroad, who are separated from their fathers and mothers, to their kind friends and hosts, and to all who love them, and to parents who will be lonely without them, from all in our dear island I wish every happiness that Christmas can bring. May the new year carry us towards victory and to happier Christmas days, when everyone will be at home together in the years to come. ”

“ We cannot all think alike aid the dilemmas of a changing world. Nor is it right that we should. Opinion striking against opinion ignites the spark that can kindle the lamp of truth. But if our feet are on the road of common charity that leads to ultimate truth, our differences will never destroy our underlying unity, and our disputes will not leave us either embittered or unkind. ”

“ I send a special message to all those who are far from their homes and families on this Christmas Day. There is nothing new in this; we are a home loving, but we have never been a ‘stay at home’ people. During the war we all looked forward so anxiously to the times when we should spend Christmas together at home, and now the troubles of the world are forcing so many of you to be away from your families. ”

“ But far more than this the peoples of the world would be kept in bondage of fear and all hopes of peace and of the security of justice and liberty of nations would be ended. This is the ultimate issue which concerns us. For the sake of all that we ourselves hold dear and of the world order and peace it is inevitable that we should refuse to meet the challenge. ”

“ But as the war widens, so surely our conviction depends at the greatness of our cause.
We who belong to the present generation must bear the brunt of the struggle, and I would say to the coming generation, the boys and girls of today, the men and women of tomorrow – train yourselves in body, mind, and spirit so as to be ready for whatever part you may be called to play, and for the tasks which will await you as citizens of the Empire when the war is over. ”

“ To rebuild ruined cities is a long and toilsome task, but even more arduous is that labour of re-establishing trust and friendliness in hearts long embittered by fear and hate. Here, at home, the greatness of our contribution to victory is the measure of our present difficulties. ”

“ In days of peace the feast of Christmas is a time when we all gather together in our homes, young and old, to enjoy the happy festivity and good will which the Christmas message brings. It is, above all, children’s day, and I am sure that we shall all do our best to make it a happy one for them wherever they may be. ”

“ It is at Christmas more than at any other time that we are conscious of the dark shadow of war. Our Christmas festival today must lack many of the happy, familiar features that it has had from our childhood. We miss the actual presence of some of those nearest and dearest, without whom our family gatherings cannot be complete. ”

“ Christmas comes to cheer our hearts and to revive our faith and courage as the old year dies and the new year is born.
The year that is passing has not been an easy one. Statesmen and politicians have been burdened with the resettlement of a world that has been shattered and ruined by global war. In office, shop, and warehouse, and on the farm, men of all classes have been troubled and harassed by the shortages and economic dislocation that always follows in its wake. ”

“ Though we live in hard and critical times Christmas is, and always will be, a time when we can count our blessings - the blessings of home, the blessings of happy family gatherings, and the blessing of the hopeful message of Christmas. ”

“ If the skies before us are still dark and threatening, there are stars to guide us on our way. Never did heroism shine more brightly than it does now, nor fortitude, nor sacrifice, nor sympathy, nor neighbourly kindness, and with them – brightest of all stars – is our faith in God. ”

“ At home we are, as it were, taking the strain for what may lie ahead of us, resolved and confident. We look with pride and thankfulness on the never-failing courage and devotion of the Royal Navy, upon which throughout the last four months has burst the storm of ruthless and unceasing war. ”

“ On visits to war industries in every part of the country the Queen and I have watched with admiration the steady growth of that vital war production, the fruits of which are now being used by every branch of our forces. We are thankful for the splendid addition to our food supplies made by those who work on the land, and who have made it fertile as it has never been before. ”

“ For my many listeners who, like myself, are spending to-day at home with their families and friends I wish with all my heart that the happiness which comes to those who meet together in love may give them a merry Christmas. ”

“ We have been forced into a conflict and we are called with our allies to meet the challenge of a principle which if it were to prevail would be fateful to any civilized order in the world. It is the principle which permits the state of the selfish pursuit of power, to disregard its treaties and its solemn pledges, which sanction the use of force or threat of force against the security and independence of other states. ”

“ We are living in an age which is hard and cruel, and if there is anything that we can offer to the world to-day, perhaps it is the example of tolerance and understanding that runs like a golden thread through the great and diverse family of the British Commonwealth of Nations. ”

“ All of us, instead of getting some well earned relaxation after years of intensive work, have had to put our shoulders to the wheels of industry and agriculture with redoubled vigour. Men and women have returned from war-time service to conditions that are only slowly improving from war-time austerity, while the housewife – perhaps the most gallant figure of all – still bears many of the extra burdens which she bore so bravely throughout the war. ”

“ Our elder daughter has wedded with our blessing the man she loves and one whom we love, too. Our joy has been increased a thousandfold by knowing that it is so widely shared. We are greatly touched by the demonstration of the delight that it has given to our people. ”

“ In that spirit we shall win the war, and in that same spirit we shall win for the world after the war a true and lasting peace. The greatness of any nation is in the spirit of its people. So it has always been since history began ”

“ I am happy to say that my experiences in this year have left me with a feeling of great thankfulness for these proofs that an immense wealth of human kindness still survives in this modern world which sometimes seems almost starved of the peace and goodwill for which we specially look at Christmastide. ”

“ The men and women of our far-flung Empire, working in their several vocations with the one same purpose, all are members of the great family of nations which is prepared to sacrifice everything that freedom of spirit may be saved to the world. ”

“ For not only has the manhood of the whole British Commonwealth rallied once more to the aid of the Mother Country in her hour of need, but the peoples of the Empire have eagerly thrown open the doors of their homes to our children so that they may be spared from the strain and danger of modern war. ”