Posted on 12/24/2010 11:11:37 AM PST by Saint Reagan
Dear Editor—
I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus?
Virginia O'Hanlon
115 West Ninety Fifth Street
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.
[. . .]
No Santa Claus! Thank God! He lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
How do you think a modern NY Times editorial would answer this question?
I'm not a real Santa, but this year I got the Republicans to play one for me in the lame duck Congress.
As always, my eyes become a little damp when I read this.
Yes, Virgina, there is a bogeyman.
What I really want to know is ...
Is there really a giant telescope in South Africa that looks extra close at the moon?
Are there really men on the moon who have wings?
Are there beasts that look like beavers without tails that live in huts and use fire?
These stories were broke in the 1830s over several months or years in -—the New York Sun!
"A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood."
I can confirm that as of this year he still does. Not having to make any public appearances since October I let my beard grow out a bit and you should have seen the little children -- they light up when they see "Santa."
As Chico Marx said, when asked by Groucho to sign a legal document with a sanity clause.
Ha ha ha! You canta fool me! There ainta no sanity clause!
One of the best episodes ever. “My children you must know something... I’m packing!”
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