--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The magi, as you know, were wise men…" description: "\"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 presen..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/o-henry-3281_art_the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonde_2507803.jpg" --- # The magi, as you know, were wise men wonderfully wise men… ![“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.” quote by O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/o-henry-3281_art_the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonde_2507803.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/o-henry-3281_art_the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonde_2507803.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/o-henry-3281_art_the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonde_2507803.jpg) > “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.” [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The Magi symbolize generosity, showing that giving stems from love and wisdom. **In simple terms:** Magi represent wise giving. Key Takeaway Practice generous giving. Themes generosity wisdom tradition Christmas Mood reflective warm Type inspirational philosophical When to use this quote - holiday celebrations - family gatherings - charitable acts Key Concepts cultural symbolism altruism Questions to Reflect On - What does true giving mean to you? - How can you embody wise generosity? A Different Perspective Commercial gifts may become commercialized. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Christmas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas/) [Christmas card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-card/) [Christmas gift](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-gift/) [Christmas giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-giving/) [Christmas holiday](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-holiday/) [Christmas magic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-magic/) [Christmas present](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-present/) [Christmas Presents](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-presents/) [Christmas shopping](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/christmas-shopping/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Holiday traditions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/holiday-traditions/) [Magi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magi/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/) [Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wise/) ## Related quotes > [Christmas is not a time or a season but a state of mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/calvin-coolidge/christmas-is-not-a-time-or-a-season-but-a-state-of-mind/) [Calvin Coolidge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/calvin-coolidge/) > [Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-matthew-adams/let-us-remember-that-the-christmas-heart-is-a-giving-heart-a-wide-2/) [George Matthew Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-matthew-adams/) > [To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance. To a friend, heart. To a customer, service. To all, charity. To every child, a good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-arnold/to-your-enemy-forgiveness-to-an-opponent-tolerance-to-a-friend-heart/) [Oren Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-arnold/) > [Christmas gift suggestions: To your enemy, forgiveness. To an opponent, tolerance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oren-arnold/christmas-gift-suggestions-to-your-enemy-forgiveness-to-an-opponent-2/) [Oren Arnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oren-arnold/) > [“At least you've brought gifts. What's in the basket?" She rummaged through the contents. "A few sweetmeats and lozenges. Packets of raisins. But mostly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tessa-dare/at-least-you-ve-brought-gifts-what-s-in-the-basket-she-rummaged/) [Tessa Dare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tessa-dare/) > [The tradition of gift giving at Christmas is said to have its origin in the story of the wise men. They came bearing treasures.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-vader/the-tradition-of-gift-giving-at-christmas-is-said-to-have-its-origin/) [Randy Vader](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-vader/) > [“The joy of giving during Christmas, comes from acknowledging that we were spiritually gifted with more than we can ever give out.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-chirisa/the-joy-of-giving-during-christmas-comes-from-acknowledging-that-we/) [Wayne Chirisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-chirisa/) > [O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/o-all-who-give-and-receive-gifts-such-as-they-are-wisest-everywhere/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [I lost everything in the post-natal depression.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erma-bombeck/i-lost-everything-in-the-post-natal-depression/) [Erma Bombeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erma-bombeck/) > [The small things that make Christmas magical are the things children will remember. It doesn't matter what they open on Christmas morning, I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-land/the-small-things-that-make-christmas-magical-are-the-things-children/) [Stephanie Land](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-land/) > [Time was with most of us, when Christmas Day, encircling all our limited world like a magic ring, left nothing out for us to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/time-was-with-most-of-us-when-christmas-day-encircling-all-our/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [There is something about Christmas that requires a rug rat. Little kids make Christmas fun. I wonder if could rent one for the holidays.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eugene-h-peterson/there-is-something-about-christmas-that-requires-a-rug-rat-little-3/) [Eugene H. Peterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eugene-h-peterson/) > [Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-noll-crowell/let-us-keep-christmas-still-a-shining-thing/) [Grace Noll Crowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-noll-crowell/) > [For many of us, sadly, the spirit of Christmas is "hurry". And yet, eventually, the hour comes when the rushing ends and the race…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/burton-hill/for-many-of-us-sadly-the-spirit-of-christmas-is-hurry-and-yet/) Burton Hill > [Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love. It is Christmas in the heart that puts Christmas in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-thomas-ellis/blessed-is-the-season-which-engages-the-whole-world-in-a-conspiracy/) William Thomas Ellis ## More by O. Henry > [He seemed to be made of sunshine and blood-red tissue and clear weather.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/he-seemed-to-be-made-of-sunshine-and-blood-red-tissue-and-clear/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [My advice to you, if you should ever be in a hold up, is to line up with the cowards and save your bravery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/my-advice-to-you-if-you-should-ever-be-in-a-hold-up-is-to-line-up/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [“It did not exactly beggar description, but it certainly had that word on the lookout for the mendicancy squad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/it-did-not-exactly-beggar-description-but-it-certainly-had-that-word/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Fortune is a prize to be won. Adventure is the road to it. Chance is what may lurk in the shadows at the roadside.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/fortune-is-a-prize-to-be-won-adventure-is-the-road-to-it-chance-is/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [She plucked from my lapel the invisible strand of lint (the universal act of woman to proclaim ownership).](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/she-plucked-from-my-lapel-the-invisible-strand-of-lint-the-universal/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [There is no well defined boundary line between honesty and dishonesty. The frontiers of one blend with the outside limits of the other, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/there-is-no-well-defined-boundary-line-between-honesty-and-dishonesty/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [All great men have declared that they owe their sucess to the aid and encouragement of some brilliant woman.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/all-great-men-have-declared-that-they-owe-their-sucess-to-the-aid-and/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Those whom we first love we seldom marry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/those-whom-we-first-love-we-seldom-marry/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Young artists must pave their way to Art by drawing pictures for magazine stories that young authors write to pave their way to Literature.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/young-artists-must-pave-their-way-to-art-by-drawing-pictures-for/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [A good story is like a bitter pill, with the sugar coating inside of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/a-good-story-is-like-a-bitter-pill-with-the-sugar-coating-inside-of-it/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lamp posts and newspaper stands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/i-ve-got-some-of-my-best-yarns-from-park-benches-lamp-posts-and/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [There are stories in everything. I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/there-are-stories-in-everything-i-ve-got-some-of-my-best-yarns-from/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [I never have time to read now. I did all my reading before I was twenty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/i-never-have-time-to-read-now-i-did-all-my-reading-before-i-was-twenty/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [Bride knoweth bride at the glance of an eye. And between them swiftly passes comfort and meaning in a language that man and widows…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/bride-knoweth-bride-at-the-glance-of-an-eye-and-between-them-swiftly/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) > [No friendship is an accident.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/no-friendship-is-an-accident/) [O. Henry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) [Explore all 135 O. Henry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/) ## More Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "O. Henry" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonderfully-wise-men-who-brought-2/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonderfully-wise-men-who-brought-2/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/o-henry-3281_art_the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonde_2507803.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/o-henry-3281_art_the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonde_2507803.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bbf/o-henry-3281_art_the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonde_2507803.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The magi, as you know, were wise men wonderfully wise men who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. They…” — O. Henry", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "O. Henry", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/o-henry/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The magi, as you know, were...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonderfully-wise-men-who-brought-2/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/o-henry/the-magi-as-you-know-were-wise-men-wonderfully-wise-men-who-brought-2/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```