--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ah, there's nothing like tea in the…" description: "\"Ah, there's nothing like tea in the afternoon. When the British Empire collapses, historians will find that it had made but two invaluable contribution..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ayn-rand-59_afternoon_ah-there-s-nothing-like-tea-in-the-after_2852674.jpg" --- # Ah, there's nothing like tea in the afternoon. When the… ![“Ah, there's nothing like tea in the afternoon. When the British Empire collapses, historians will find that it had made but two invaluable contributions to civilization - this tea ritual and the detective novel.” quote by Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ayn-rand-59_afternoon_ah-there-s-nothing-like-tea-in-the-after_2852674.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ayn-rand-59_afternoon_ah-there-s-nothing-like-tea-in-the-after_2852674.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/ayn-rand-59_afternoon_ah-there-s-nothing-like-tea-in-the-after_2852674.jpg) > “Ah, there's nothing like tea in the afternoon. When the British Empire collapses, historians will find that it had made but two invaluable contributions to civilization - this tea ritual and the detective novel.” [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Tea and detective novels are the British Empire's lasting cultural gifts. **In simple terms:** Tea and mystery novels endure. Key Takeaway Value cultural legacies. Themes culture legacy Britain Mood nostalgic analytical Type historical observational When to use this quote - social gatherings - reading habits - historical analysis Key Concepts cultural impact literature Questions to Reflect On - Which British inventions shaped modern life? - How do rituals influence identity? A Different Perspective Other contributions are overlooked. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [British](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british/) [British empire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/british-empire/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Coffee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coffee/) [Collapse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/collapse/) [Contribution](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/contribution/) [Detectives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/detectives/) [Empires](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/empires/) [England](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/england/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Invaluable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/invaluable/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Mystery novels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery-novels/) [Novel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/novel/) [Ritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ritual/) [Tea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tea/) ## Related quotes > [“The British custom of taking tea as an afternoon break has more to do with sugar than with tea. During the nineteenth century, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-manning/the-british-custom-of-taking-tea-as-an-afternoon-break-has-more-to-do/) [Richard Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-manning/) > [Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. 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I try to find space to process with a walk on the beach, a hike in the hills. Nature is restorative. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roma-downey/i-pray-i-try-to-find-space-to-process-with-a-walk-on-the-beach-a-hike/) [Roma Downey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roma-downey/) > [When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/when-tea-becomes-ritual-it-takes-its-place-at-the-heart-of-our/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [When tea becomes ritual, it takes place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/when-tea-becomes-ritual-it-takes-place-at-the-heart-of-our-ability-to/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [Moments like this act as magical interludes, placing our hearts at the edge of our souls: fleetingly, yet intensely, a fragment of eternity has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/moments-like-this-act-as-magical-interludes-placing-our-hearts-at-the/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [“Like Okakura, I know that tea is no minor beverage. When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muriel-barbery/like-okakura-i-know-that-tea-is-no-minor-beverage-when-tea-becomes/) [Muriel Barbery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muriel-barbery/) > [Yeah, I'd say there's probably about a couple of hundred people I admire - but that has nothing to do with what a person…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-verlaine/yeah-i-d-say-there-s-probably-about-a-couple-of-hundred-people-i/) [Tom Verlaine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-verlaine/) > [But the first published thing I did was a detective story, detective novel, and I did that on my own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-shaffer/but-the-first-published-thing-i-did-was-a-detective-story-detective/) [Peter Shaffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-shaffer/) > [The detective novel is the art-for-art's-sake of our yawning Philistinism, the classic example of a specialized form of art removed from contact with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/v-s-pritchett/the-detective-novel-is-the-art-for-art-s-sake-of-our-yawning/) [V. S. Pritchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/v-s-pritchett/) > [A detective novel should contain no long descriptive passages, no literary dallying with side-issues, no subtly worked-out character analyses, no 'atmospheric' preoccupations. Such matters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-s-van-dine/a-detective-novel-should-contain-no-long-descriptive-passages-no/) [S. S. Van Dine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-s-van-dine/) > [When I'm working on a serious and solid book ... I read about a detective novel a day. It's the best legal dope in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-lee-settle/when-i-m-working-on-a-serious-and-solid-book-i-read-about-a-detective/) [Mary Lee Settle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-lee-settle/) > [“After all, the fundamental question of philosophy (like that of psychoanalysis) is the same as the question of the detective novel: who is guilty?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/after-all-the-fundamental-question-of-philosophy-like-that-of/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) ## More by Ayn Rand > [There are no white lies, there is only the blackest of destruction, and a white lie is the blackest of all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-are-no-white-lies-there-is-only-the-blackest-of-destruction-and/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [She watched the prairies the rivers, the towns slipping past at an untouchable distance below - and she noted that the sense of detachment…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-watched-the-prairies-the-rivers-the-towns-slipping-past-at-an/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“This was reality, she thought, this sense of clear outlines, of purpose, of lightness, of hope.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-was-reality-she-thought-this-sense-of-clear-outlines-of-purpose/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [A “collective” mind does not exist. It is merely the sum of endless numbers of individual minds. If we have an endless number of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/a-collective-mind-does-not-exist-it-is-merely-the-sum-of-endless/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Lobbying' is the activity of attempting to influence legislation by privately influencing the legislators. It is the result and creation of a mixed economy-of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/lobbying-is-the-activity-of-attempting-to-influence-legislation-by/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She moved her hand and let it rest against his. He did not withdraw his fingers and he did not pretend indifference. She bent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-moved-her-hand-and-let-it-rest-against-his-he-did-not-withdraw/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [This miracle of me is mine to own and keep, and mine to guard, and mine to use, and mine to kneel before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/this-miracle-of-me-is-mine-to-own-and-keep-and-mine-to-guard-and-mine/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“There was still one response, the greatest, that she had missed. She thought: To find a feeling that would hold, as their sum, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/there-was-still-one-response-the-greatest-that-she-had-missed-she/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Inflation is not caused by the actions of private citizens, but by the government: by an artificial expansion of the money supply required to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/inflation-is-not-caused-by-the-actions-of-private-citizens-but-by-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“We are fornicating in the sight of six billion people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-fornicating-in-the-sight-of-six-billion-people/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [“She was fifteen when it occurred to her for the first time that women did not run railroads and that people might object. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/she-was-fifteen-when-it-occurred-to-her-for-the-first-time-that-women/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Fransisco, you're some kind of very high nobility, aren't you?" He answered, "Not yet. The reason my family has lasted for such a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/fransisco-you-re-some-kind-of-very-high-nobility-aren-t-you-he/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Have you felt it too? Have you seen how your best friends love everything about you- except the things that count? And your most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/have-you-felt-it-too-have-you-seen-how-your-best-friends-love/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [Every coercive monopoly was created by government intervention into the economy: by special privileges, such as franchises or subsidies, which closed the entry of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/every-coercive-monopoly-was-created-by-government-intervention-into/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [We are all brothers under the skin - and I, for one, would be willing to skin humanity to prove it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-all-brothers-under-the-skin-and-i-for-one-would-be-willing-to/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) [Explore all 1,777 Ayn Rand quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) ## More Afternoon quotes > [I didn't grow up thinking of movies as film, or art, but as movies, something to do on a Saturday afternoon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sydney-pollack/i-didn-t-grow-up-thinking-of-movies-as-film-or-art-but-as-movies/) [Sydney Pollack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sydney-pollack/) > [My dental hygienist is cute. Every time I visit, I eat a whole package of Oreo cookies while waiting in the lobby. Sometimes she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/my-dental-hygienist-is-cute-every-time-i-visit-i-eat-a-whole-package/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Honestly, I'm living my fantasy. It's being with my family, preferably on a snowy afternoon with a fire going, cuddled up in blankets, playing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meredith-vieira/honestly-i-m-living-my-fantasy-it-s-being-with-my-family-preferably/) [Meredith Vieira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meredith-vieira/) > [It was a very intense and stressful situation. There was playing in the Johnny-pump (an opened fire hydrant) and the ice-cream man coming around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/it-was-a-very-intense-and-stressful-situation-there-was-playing-in/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [Sunday afternoon is for papers and writing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-haslam/sunday-afternoon-is-for-papers-and-writing/) [Nicholas Haslam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-haslam/) > [I think that if most guys in America could somehow get their fave-rave poster girl in bed and have total license to do whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lester-bangs/i-think-that-if-most-guys-in-america-could-somehow-get-their-fave/) [Lester Bangs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lester-bangs/) > [“If you come at four in the afternoon, I'll begin to be happy by three.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/if-you-come-at-four-in-the-afternoon-i-ll-begin-to-be-happy-by-three/) [Antoine de Saint-Exupéry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-de-saint-exup-ry/) > [At five in the afternoon. It was exactly five in the afternoon. A boy brought the white sheet at five in the afternoon. A…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/at-five-in-the-afternoon-it-was-exactly-five-in-the-afternoon-a-boy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The shadows in the early morning don't tell much. The shadows rest at that time. So it's useless to gaze very early in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlos-castaneda/the-shadows-in-the-early-morning-don-t-tell-much-the-shadows-rest-at/) [Carlos Castaneda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlos-castaneda/) > [“I discovered windows one afternoon and after that, nothing was ever the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-spollen/i-discovered-windows-one-afternoon-and-after-that-nothing-was-ever/) [Anne Spollen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-spollen/) > [Look, science is hard, it has a reputation of being hard, and the facts are, it is hard, and that's the result of 400…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/look-science-is-hard-it-has-a-reputation-of-being-hard-and-the-facts/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [What'll we do with ourselves this afternoon? And the day after that, and the next thirty years?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/what-ll-we-do-with-ourselves-this-afternoon-and-the-day-after-that/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [Imagine you are walking down a leafy path…The sun is receding, and you are walking alone, caressed by the breezy light of the late…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/azar-nafisi/imagine-you-are-walking-down-a-leafy-path-the-sun-is-receding-and-you/) [Azar Nafisi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/azar-nafisi/) > [A good umpire is the umpire you don't even notice. 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