From the latter weeks of October to Christmas-eve… is the period during which happiness is in season, which, in my judgment, enters the room with the tea-tray… – Thomas De Quincey (1785–1859), Confessions of an English Opium-Eater

October is crisp days and cool nights, a time to curl up around the dancing flames and sink into a good book. – John Sinor (1930–1996), in San Diego Union-Tribune

October is the month for painted leaves…. As fruits and leaves and the day itself acquire a bright tint just before they fall, so the year near its setting. October is its sunset sky; November the later twilight. – Henry David Thoreau, “Autumnal Tints”

September is dressing herself in showy dahlias and splendid marigolds and starry zinnias. October, the extravagant sister, has ordered an immense amount of the most gorgeous forest tapestry for her grand reception. – Oliver Wendell Holmes (1809–1894), “Autumn,” The Atlantic Almanac, 1868