The Tavern at the End of the World

The hour of absinthe is over. We shall not be much further troubled with the little artists who found Dickens too sane for their sorrows and too clean for their delights. But we have a long way to travel before we get back to what Dickens meant; and the passage is along an English rambling road — a twisting road such as Mr. Pickwick travelled. But this at least is part of what he meant: that comradeship and serious joy are not interludes in our travel, but that rather our travels are interludes in comradeship and joy, which, through God, shall endure for ever. The inn does not point to the road: the road points to the inn. And all roads point at last to an ultimate inn, where we shall meet Dickens and all his characters. And when we drink again it shall be from the great flagons in the tavern at the end of the world.

From GK Chesterton's Charles Dickens.   At least, originally.  I, however, have pilfered it shamelessly from the "Wit and Wisdom of G.K. Chesterton" site, which you can find here.  You can follow that site on Twitter and never miss a bon mot from GKC.