--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But what is worse, smelling the roast and…" description: "\"But what is worse, smelling the roast and not feasting, or not smelling the roast at all?\" — Garth Stein" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/garth-stein-1965_feasting_but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and_2950703.png" --- # But what is worse, smelling the roast and not feasting, or… ![“But what is worse, smelling the roast and not feasting, or not smelling the roast at all?” quote by Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/garth-stein-1965_feasting_but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and_2950703.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/garth-stein-1965_feasting_but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and_2950703.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/garth-stein-1965_feasting_but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and_2950703.png) > “But what is worse, smelling the roast and not feasting, or not smelling the roast at all?” [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Missing an opportunity can be more painful than having it and not enjoying it. **In simple terms:** Loss of chance can sting more than unfulfilled feast. Key Takeaway Seize moments when possible. Themes opportunity regret choice Mood thoughtful motivational Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - career moves - personal milestones Key Concepts decision making life planning Questions to Reflect On - What opportunities are you hesitant to pursue? - How do you evaluate the cost of inaction? A Different Perspective Fear of missing out may cause indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Feasting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feasting/) ## Related quotes > [“We had come so close to greatness. We had smelled it, and it smelled like roast pig. Everybody likes the smell of roast pig.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/we-had-come-so-close-to-greatness-we-had-smelled-it-and-it-smelled/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [Fasting is not nearly so deadly as feasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-harold-smith/fasting-is-not-nearly-so-deadly-as-feasting/) J. Harold Smith > [In those days it was possible for a Greek to flee from an over-abundant reality as though it were but the tricky scheming off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-those-days-it-was-possible-for-a-greek-to-flee-from-an-over/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I knock unbidden once at every gate-- If sleeping, wake--if feasting, rise before I turn away--it is the hour of fate, And they who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-ingalls/i-knock-unbidden-once-at-every-gate-if-sleeping-wake-if-feasting-rise/) [John James Ingalls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-ingalls/) > [We expect too much at Christmas. It's got to be magical. It's got to go right. Feasting. Fun. The perfect present. All that anticipation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/we-expect-too-much-at-christmas-it-s-got-to-be-magical-it-s-got-to-go/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [People go through life blindly, ignoring death like revellers at a party feasting on fine foods. They ignore that later they will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/people-go-through-life-blindly-ignoring-death-like-revellers-at-a/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [And if I'm guilty of having gratuitous sex, then I'm also guilty of having gratuitous violence, and gratuitous feasting, and gratuitous description of clothes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/and-if-i-m-guilty-of-having-gratuitous-sex-then-i-m-also-guilty-of/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [“Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody. Samuel Pepys”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-parrott-iii/strange-to-see-how-a-good-dinner-and-feasting-reconciles-everybody/) [Les Parrott III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-parrott-iii/) > [Our traditions have been waking up on Christmas morning and feasting on a southern breakfast. I'm from the South. We eat grits and biscuits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-allyn-baker/our-traditions-have-been-waking-up-on-christmas-morning-and-feasting/) [Leigh-Allyn Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-allyn-baker/) > [“How often, in our Christian lives, do we settle for a "snack"--something quick--instead of feasting on all we have in Jesus? Are we looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-mally/how-often-in-our-christian-lives-do-we-settle-for-a-snack-something/) Grace Mally > [For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-centuries-men-have-kept-an-appointment-with-christmas-christmas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more; more bible studies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hatmaker/we-don-t-see-the-new-testament-church-hoarding-the-feast-for/) [Jen Hatmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hatmaker/) > [“I propose a toast to mirth; be merry! Let us complete our course of law by folly and eating! Indigestion and the digest. let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/i-propose-a-toast-to-mirth-be-merry-let-us-complete-our-course-of-law/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [A woman after my own heart. (Stryker) You’re absolutely right about that. Nothing would please me more than ripping that organ out of you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/a-woman-after-my-own-heart-stryker-you-re-absolutely-right-about-that/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“She writes like she’s starving and reads like she’s feasting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-larson/she-writes-like-she-s-starving-and-reads-like-she-s-feasting/) R.D. Larson ## More by Garth Stein > [What I want now is what I've always wanted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/what-i-want-now-is-what-i-ve-always-wanted/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“Man's closest relative is not the chimpanzee, as the TV people believe, but is, in fact, the dog. "Enzo" I admire the female sex.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/man-s-closest-relative-is-not-the-chimpanzee-as-the-tv-people-believe/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“There is no dishonor in losing the race, Don said. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose. ~p 227”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/there-is-no-dishonor-in-losing-the-race-don-said-there-is-only/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [It’s so hard to communicate because there are so many moving parts. There’s presentation and there’s interpretation and they’re so dependent on each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/it-s-so-hard-to-communicate-because-there-are-so-many-moving-parts/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“This is what I love to do: I love to run through a field of wet grass that has not been mowed recently, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/this-is-what-i-love-to-do-i-love-to-run-through-a-field-of-wet-grass/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/there-is-no-dishonor-in-losing-the-race-there-is-only-dishonor-in-not/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [In racing, they say that your car goes where your eyes go. The driver who cannot tear his eyes away from the wall as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/in-racing-they-say-that-your-car-goes-where-your-eyes-go-the-driver/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [When I return to the world, I will be a man. I will walk among you. I will lick my lips with my small,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/when-i-return-to-the-world-i-will-be-a-man-i-will-walk-among-you-i/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [My soul has learned what it came to learn, and all the other things are just things. We can't have everything we want. Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/my-soul-has-learned-what-it-came-to-learn-and-all-the-other-things/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [I hear hundreds of years of life. I hear wind and rain and fire and beetles. I hear the seasons changing and birds and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/i-hear-hundreds-of-years-of-life-i-hear-wind-and-rain-and-fire-and/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“What I have always liked best is when he talks about having no memory. No memory of things he'd done just a second before.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/what-i-have-always-liked-best-is-when-he-talks-about-having-no-memory/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“Know who is driving next to you. Any problems that may occur have ultimately been caused by you, because you are responsible for where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/know-who-is-driving-next-to-you-any-problems-that-may-occur-have/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [“Pretend you are a dog like me and listen to other people rather than steal their stories.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/pretend-you-are-a-dog-like-me-and-listen-to-other-people-rather-than/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [That which we manifest is before us; we are the creators of our own destiny. Be it through intention or ignorance, our successes and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/that-which-we-manifest-is-before-us-we-are-the-creators-of-our-own/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) > [The race is long. It is better to drive within oneself and finish the race behind the other than it is to drive too…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/the-race-is-long-it-is-better-to-drive-within-oneself-and-finish-the/) [Garth Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) [Explore all 187 Garth Stein quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/) ## More Feasting quotes > [“She writes like she’s starving and reads like she’s feasting.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-d-larson/she-writes-like-she-s-starving-and-reads-like-she-s-feasting/) R.D. Larson > [A woman after my own heart. (Stryker) You’re absolutely right about that. Nothing would please me more than ripping that organ out of you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/a-woman-after-my-own-heart-stryker-you-re-absolutely-right-about-that/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [“I propose a toast to mirth; be merry! Let us complete our course of law by folly and eating! Indigestion and the digest. let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/victor-hugo/i-propose-a-toast-to-mirth-be-merry-let-us-complete-our-course-of-law/) [Victor Hugo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/victor-hugo/) > [“We don't see the New Testament church hoarding the feast for themselves, gorging, getting fatter and fatter and asking for more; more bible studies,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-hatmaker/we-don-t-see-the-new-testament-church-hoarding-the-feast-for/) [Jen Hatmaker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-hatmaker/) > [For centuries men have kept an appointment with Christmas. Christmas means fellowship, feasting, giving and receiving, a time of good cheer, home.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/for-centuries-men-have-kept-an-appointment-with-christmas-christmas/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“How often, in our Christian lives, do we settle for a "snack"--something quick--instead of feasting on all we have in Jesus? Are we looking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-mally/how-often-in-our-christian-lives-do-we-settle-for-a-snack-something/) Grace Mally > [Our traditions have been waking up on Christmas morning and feasting on a southern breakfast. I'm from the South. We eat grits and biscuits…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leigh-allyn-baker/our-traditions-have-been-waking-up-on-christmas-morning-and-feasting/) [Leigh-Allyn Baker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leigh-allyn-baker/) > [“Strange to see how a good dinner and feasting reconciles everybody. Samuel Pepys”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/les-parrott-iii/strange-to-see-how-a-good-dinner-and-feasting-reconciles-everybody/) [Les Parrott III](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/les-parrott-iii/) > [And if I'm guilty of having gratuitous sex, then I'm also guilty of having gratuitous violence, and gratuitous feasting, and gratuitous description of clothes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin-2/and-if-i-m-guilty-of-having-gratuitous-sex-then-i-m-also-guilty-of/) [George R. R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin-2/) > [People go through life blindly, ignoring death like revellers at a party feasting on fine foods. They ignore that later they will have to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ajahn-chah/people-go-through-life-blindly-ignoring-death-like-revellers-at-a/) [Ajahn Chah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ajahn-chah/) > [We expect too much at Christmas. It's got to be magical. It's got to go right. Feasting. Fun. The perfect present. All that anticipation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pam-brown/we-expect-too-much-at-christmas-it-s-got-to-be-magical-it-s-got-to-go/) [Pam Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pam-brown/) > [I knock unbidden once at every gate-- If sleeping, wake--if feasting, rise before I turn away--it is the hour of fate, And they who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-james-ingalls/i-knock-unbidden-once-at-every-gate-if-sleeping-wake-if-feasting-rise/) [John James Ingalls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-james-ingalls/) > [In those days it was possible for a Greek to flee from an over-abundant reality as though it were but the tricky scheming off…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-those-days-it-was-possible-for-a-greek-to-flee-from-an-over/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [Fasting is not nearly so deadly as feasting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-harold-smith/fasting-is-not-nearly-so-deadly-as-feasting/) J. Harold Smith > [In the great cities, winter glitters with art and feasting. But poetry, the country cousin, sees only the dearth of the fields.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/in-the-great-cities-winter-glitters-with-art-and-feasting-but-poetry/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) [Browse all 48 Feasting quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feasting/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But what is worse, smelling the roast and not feasting, or not smelling the roast at all?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Garth Stein" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and-not-feasting-or-not-smelling/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Feasting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and-not-feasting-or-not-smelling/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/garth-stein-1965_feasting_but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and_2950703.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/garth-stein-1965_feasting_but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and_2950703.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4b5/garth-stein-1965_feasting_but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and_2950703.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“But what is worse, smelling the roast and not feasting, or not smelling the roast at all?” — Garth Stein", "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": "Garth Stein", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/garth-stein/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "But what is worse, smelling the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and-not-feasting-or-not-smelling/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/garth-stein/but-what-is-worse-smelling-the-roast-and-not-feasting-or-not-smelling/#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 } } ] } ```