I found that a new oath holds pretty well; but… when it is become old and frayed out and damaged by a dozen annual retryings of its remains, it ceases to be serviceable; any little strain will snap it. – Mark Twain (1835–1910), speech, Tile Club Dinner for Laurence Hutton, New

I made no resolutions for the New Year. The habit of making plans, of criticizing, sanctioning and molding my life, is too much of a daily event for me. – Anaïs Nin (1903–1977), journal, January 1927

The old year cracks under the burdensome weight of twelve heavy months, and the next year emerges fresh and anew from its shell. – Terri Guillemets, “A cracked bell still tolls,” 2010

There are those who try to bottle the old year for safekeeping but at midnight the cork always pops. – Terri Guillemets, “Memories old & new,” 2005