The charming aspect of Christmas is the fact that it expresses good will in a cheerful, happy, benevolent, non-sacrificial way. One says: ”Merry Christmas” – not ”Weep and Repent.” And the good will is expressed in a material, earthly form – by giving presents to one’s friends, or by sending them cards in token of remembrance. […] The best aspect of Christmas is the aspect usually decried by the mystics: the fact that Christmas has been commercialized. The gift-buying is good for business and good for the country’s economy; but, more importantly in this context, it stimulates an enormous outpouring of ingenuity in the creation of products devoted to a single purpose: to give men pleasure. And the streets decorations put up by department stores and other institutions – the Christmas trees, the winking lights, the glittering colors – provide the city with a spectacular display, which only ”commercial greed” could afford to give us. One would have to be terribly depressed to resist the wonderful gaiety of that spectacle.
– Ayn Rand, ”The Secular Meaning of Christmas”, The Ayn Rand Column