--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: literature is the last banquet between…" description: "\"literature is the last banquet between minds.\" — Edna O'Brien" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/edna-o-brien-2155_banquet_literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-m_2764216.png" --- # literature is the last banquet between minds. ![“literature is the last banquet between minds.” quote by Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/edna-o-brien-2155_banquet_literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-m_2764216.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/edna-o-brien-2155_banquet_literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-m_2764216.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/edna-o-brien-2155_banquet_literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-m_2764216.png) > “literature is the last banquet between minds.” [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Compares literature to a shared feast of ideas among minds. **In simple terms:** Literature is a mental banquet. Key Takeaway Engage deeply with reading. Themes literature intellectual exchange community Mood contemplative inspirational Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - book clubs - academic seminars - creative writing Key Concepts aesthetics dialogue Questions to Reflect On - How does reading nourish you? - What ideas do you share? A Different Perspective Not all texts are accessible to everyone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Banquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banquet/) [Banquet Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banquet-minds-3192288/) [Banquets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banquets/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Literature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature/) [Literature Banquet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/literature-banquet-3192287/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Minds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/minds/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writer/) ## Related quotes > [It needs only a good bottle of wine for a roast chicken to be transformed into a banquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-asher/it-needs-only-a-good-bottle-of-wine-for-a-roast-chicken-to-be/) [Gerald Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-asher/) > [On being the guest of honor at an awards banquet: "Thank you for making this day necessary."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yogi-berra/on-being-the-guest-of-honor-at-an-awards-banquet-thank-you-for-making/) [Yogi Berra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yogi-berra/) > [Often on earth the gentlest heart is fain To feed and banquet on another's woe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/petrarch/often-on-earth-the-gentlest-heart-is-fain-to-feed-and-banquet-on/) [Petrarch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/petrarch/) > [In a crowd, on a journey, at a banquet even, a line of thought can itself provide its own seclusion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/quintilian/in-a-crowd-on-a-journey-at-a-banquet-even-a-line-of-thought-can/) [Quintilian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/quintilian/) > [Banquets are always pleasant things, consisting mostly, as they do, of eating and drinking; but the specially nice thing about a banquet is, that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-grahame/banquets-are-always-pleasant-things-consisting-mostly-as-they-do-of/) [Kenneth Grahame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kenneth-grahame/) > [The whole banquet is in the first spoonful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/the-whole-banquet-is-in-the-first-spoonful/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [The political and commercial morals of the United States are not merely food for laughter, they are an entire banquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-political-and-commercial-morals-of-the-united-states-are-not/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A banquet is probably the most fatiguing thing in the world except ditch digging.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-banquet-is-probably-the-most-fatiguing-thing-in-the-world-except/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-sun-the-earth-love-friends-our-very-breath-are-parts-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [So comes a reck'ning when the banquet's o'er, The dreadful reckn'ning, and men smile no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/so-comes-a-reck-ning-when-the-banquet-s-o-er-the-dreadful-reckn-ning/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [You can lie at a banquet but you have to be honest in the kitchen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stafford/you-can-lie-at-a-banquet-but-you-have-to-be-honest-in-the-kitchen/) [William Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stafford/) > [It is always easier to be an epicure of a small repast than of a banquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/it-is-always-easier-to-be-an-epicure-of-a-small-repast-than-of-a/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [With all your music, loud and lustily, With every dainty joy of sight and smell, Prepare a banquet meet to entertain The Lord of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/with-all-your-music-loud-and-lustily-with-every-dainty-joy-of-sight/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [“This earth is a garden, this life a banquet, and it's time we realized that it was given to all life, animal and man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-earth-is-a-garden-this-life-a-banquet-and-it-s-time-we-realized/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is a glorious banquet, a limitless and delicious buffet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/life-is-a-glorious-banquet-a-limitless-and-delicious-buffet/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) ## More by Edna O'Brien > [... a country encapsulates our childhood and those lanes, byres, fields, flowers, insects, suns, moons and stars are forever reoccurring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/a-country-encapsulates-our-childhood-and-those-lanes-byres-fields/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [You have to be lonely to be a writer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/you-have-to-be-lonely-to-be-a-writer/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [I crossed the room, and what you did was to feel my hair over and over again and in different ways, touch it, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/i-crossed-the-room-and-what-you-did-was-to-feel-my-hair-over-and-over/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [In our deepest moments we say the most inadequate things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/in-our-deepest-moments-we-say-the-most-inadequate-things/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [We hide the truer part of ourselves when we love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/we-hide-the-truer-part-of-ourselves-when-we-love/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [The vote means nothing to women. We should be armed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/the-vote-means-nothing-to-women-we-should-be-armed/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [Movie people are possessed by demons, but a very low form of demons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/movie-people-are-possessed-by-demons-but-a-very-low-form-of-demons/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [Ordinary life bypassed me, but I also bypassed it. It couldn't have been any other way.Conventional life and conventional people are not for me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/ordinary-life-bypassed-me-but-i-also-bypassed-it-it-couldn-t-have/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [History is said to be written by the victors. Fiction, by contrast, is largely the work of injured bystanders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/history-is-said-to-be-written-by-the-victors-fiction-by-contrast-is/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“A healer! The beauty of the word a balm. In a mounting astonishment she hears how this man heals with his own blood, pricks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/a-healer-the-beauty-of-the-word-a-balm-in-a-mounting-astonishment-she/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“If I could feel like myself I’d thank God but I don’t feel and never will.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/if-i-could-feel-like-myself-i-d-thank-god-but-i-don-t-feel-and-never/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [...people liking you or not liking you is an accident and is to do with them and not you. That goes for love too,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/people-liking-you-or-not-liking-you-is-an-accident-and-is-to-do-with/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“tears running down her cheeks and her nose, tears from the cold and the prospect of being absent for weeks.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/tears-running-down-her-cheeks-and-her-nose-tears-from-the-cold-and/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“laughter filling that end of the ward, overflowing, one bringing a chair for Eleanora, another a cup of coffee, marveling that at long last…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/laughter-filling-that-end-of-the-ward-overflowing-one-bringing-a/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) > [“Dilly reckons it would be difficult to thread those needles, the eyes so small, especially with her cataracts.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/dilly-reckons-it-would-be-difficult-to-thread-those-needles-the-eyes/) [Edna O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) [Explore all 182 Edna O'Brien quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/) ## More Banquet quotes > [It needs only a good bottle of wine for a roast chicken to be transformed into a banquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-asher/it-needs-only-a-good-bottle-of-wine-for-a-roast-chicken-to-be/) [Gerald Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-asher/) > [“This earth is a garden, this life a banquet, and it's time we realized that it was given to all life, animal and man,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-earth-is-a-garden-this-life-a-banquet-and-it-s-time-we-realized/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [With all your music, loud and lustily, With every dainty joy of sight and smell, Prepare a banquet meet to entertain The Lord of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hartley-coleridge/with-all-your-music-loud-and-lustily-with-every-dainty-joy-of-sight/) [Hartley Coleridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hartley-coleridge/) > [“The banquet of eternal glory is made out of the ingredients of time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arnold-albert-van-ruler/the-banquet-of-eternal-glory-is-made-out-of-the-ingredients-of-time/) [Arnold Albert van Ruler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arnold-albert-van-ruler/) > [Life is a banquet. Approach it with hunger.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/life-is-a-banquet-approach-it-with-hunger/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [“The tastes of France are changing and we are the last of the banquet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-grimwood/the-tastes-of-france-are-changing-and-we-are-the-last-of-the-banquet/) [Jonathan Grimwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-grimwood/) > [“to a banquet? I am going with you!” And so he sauntered from”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaykh-nazim-adil-al-haqqani/to-a-banquet-i-am-going-with-you-and-so-he-sauntered-from/) [Shaykh Nazim Adil Al-Haqqani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaykh-nazim-adil-al-haqqani/) > [It is always easier to be an epicure of a small repast than of a banquet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/it-is-always-easier-to-be-an-epicure-of-a-small-repast-than-of-a/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [You can lie at a banquet but you have to be honest in the kitchen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-stafford/you-can-lie-at-a-banquet-but-you-have-to-be-honest-in-the-kitchen/) [William Stafford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-stafford/) > [“The church is God saying: “I’m throwing a banquet, and all these mismatched, messed-up people are invited. Here, have some wine.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-held-evans/the-church-is-god-saying-i-m-throwing-a-banquet-and-all-these/) [Rachel Held Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-held-evans/) > [So comes a reck'ning when the banquet's o'er, The dreadful reckn'ning, and men smile no more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gay/so-comes-a-reck-ning-when-the-banquet-s-o-er-the-dreadful-reckn-ning/) [John Gay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gay/) > [“All gain access to the heavenly banquet only through the death of the host.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-chambers/all-gain-access-to-the-heavenly-banquet-only-through-the-death-of-the/) [Aaron Chambers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-chambers/) > [We should have a banquet on the day haters die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovadia-yosef/we-should-have-a-banquet-on-the-day-haters-die/) [Ovadia Yosef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovadia-yosef/) > [I was at a banquet, and I went into the ladies' room, and I'm in the stall doing my business, and a piece of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindsay-wagner/i-was-at-a-banquet-and-i-went-into-the-ladies-room-and-i-m-in-the/) [Lindsay Wagner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindsay-wagner/) > [“Everyone, at some time or another, sits down to a banquet of consequences. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-louis-stevenson/everyone-at-some-time-or-another-sits-down-to-a-banquet-of/) [Robert Louis Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-louis-stevenson/) [Browse all 65 Banquet quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/banquet/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "literature is the last banquet between minds.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edna O'Brien" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-minds/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Banquet" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-minds/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/edna-o-brien-2155_banquet_literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-m_2764216.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/edna-o-brien-2155_banquet_literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-m_2764216.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/284/edna-o-brien-2155_banquet_literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-m_2764216.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“literature is the last banquet between minds.” — Edna O'Brien", "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": "Edna O'Brien", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edna-o-brien/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "literature is the last banquet between...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-minds/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edna-o-brien/literature-is-the-last-banquet-between-minds/#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 } } ] } ```