"The Rich Man's Banquet, which was to last for a decade, had now begun: the feast, it was recognised, went to the greediest."

Osbert Sitwell Literature See all quotes by Osbert Sitwell →

React to this quote

More by Osbert Sitwell

“They loved him, I think, because, with all his merits, he showed them to be rich: looking at his portraits, they understood at last how rich they really were.”

“The artist, like the idiot or clown, sits on the edge of the world, and a push may send him over it.”

“Educ: during the holidays from Eton.”

“Everywhere men have unlocked the prisoners within, and from under the disguising skins the apes have leapt joyfully out.”

“Hell has a climate, but no situation. It lies in the spirit, and not in space.”

“The only difference between an artist and a lunatic is, perhaps, that the artist has the restraint or courtesy…to conceal the intensity of his obsession from all except those similarly afflicted.”

Resonant Thoughts

"The instinct which creates the arts is not the same as that which produces art. The creative instinct is, in its final analysis and in its simplest terms, an enormous extra vitality, a super-energy, b…"

— Pearl S. Buck

Literature1892–1973

#life

"The invigorating air did them both good, and much exercise worked wholesome changes in minds as well as bodies. They seemed to get clearer views of life and duty up there among the everlasting hills. …"

— Louisa May Alcott

Literature1832–1888

#life

"It is the incongruous thing in my entire life, this isolation.. ..My work requires it – but I myself have no need or use for it – Perhaps once on a time I found isolation imperative – I think all chry…"

— Marsden Hartley

Art1877–1943

#life

"It soared, a bird, it held its flight, a swift pure cry, soar silver orb it leaped serene, speeding, sustained, to come, don't spin it out too long long breath he breath long life, soaring high, high …"

— James Joyce

Literature1870–1931

#life