New Year's Quotes: Funny and Serious

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A new year inspires us to change something – or things – about ourselves, our lives, our futures, to make them better. Similar to some religious practices, New Year's resolutions each year provide a valuable time to reflect upon self-improvement.

The practice has generated some memorable quotes from a diverse group of noteworthy individuals. Here is a taste of their take on New Year's resolutions, as provided by About.com :

• "New Year's is a harmless annual institution, of no particular use to anybody save as a scapegoat for promiscuous drunks, and friendly calls and humbug resolutions." – Mark Twain

• "Youth is when you're allowed to stay up late on New Year's Eve. Middle age is when you're forced to." – Bill Vaughan

• "Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average … which means, you have met your New Year's resolution." – Jay Leno

• "New Year's Day is every man's birthday." – Charles Lamb

• "Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right." – Oprah Winfrey

• "Many people look forward to the New Year for a new start on old habits." – Anonymous

• "The object of a New Year is not that we should have a new year. … Unless a man starts on the strange assumption that he has never existed before, it is quite certain that he will never exist afterwards. Unless a man be born again, he shall by no means enter into the Kingdom of Heaven." – G. K. Chesterton

And from Quotegarden.com :

• "Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man." – Benjamin Franklin

• "The old year has gone. Let the dead past bury its own dead. The New Year has taken possession of the clock of time. All hail the duties and possibilities of the coming twelve months!" – Edward Payson Powell