Our lives are not in the lap of the gods, but in the lap of our cooks.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Author, Philologist
Hunger is a good cook.
—Common Proverb
He that eats till he is sick must fast till he is well.
—English Proverb
A good meal ought to begin with hunger.
—French Proverb
The true Southern watermelon is a boon apart, and not to be mentioned with commoner things. It is chief of this world’s luxuries, king by the grace of God over all the fruits of the earth. When one has tasted it, he knows what the angels eat. It was not a Southern watermelon that Eve took: we know it because she repented.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
For much of the female half of the world, food is the first signal of our inferiority. It lets us know that our own families may consider female bodies to be less deserving, less needy, less valuable.
—Gloria Steinem (b.1934) American Feminist, Journalist, Activist, Political Advocate
But for the sake of some little mouthful of flesh, we deprive a soul of the sun and light and of that proportion of life and time it had been born into the world to enjoy.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.
—Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English Novelist
God comes to the hungry in the form of food.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
We may find in the long run that tinned food is a deadlier weapon than the machine-gun.
—George Orwell (1903–50) English Novelist, Journalist
Want to learn to eat a lot? Here it is: Eat a little. That way, you will be around long enough to eat a lot.
—Tony Robbins (b.1960) American Self-Help Author, Entrepreneur
When a man’s stomach is full it makes no difference whether he is rich or poor.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
Do not dig your grave with your own knife and fork.
—English Proverb
If you don’t watch your figure, you’ll have more figure to watch.
—Malcolm S. Forbes (1919–1990) American Publisher, Businessperson
It is the mark of a mean, vulgar and ignoble spirit to dwell on the thought of food before meal times or worse to dwell on it afterwards, to discuss it and wallow in the remembered pleasures of every mouthful. Those whose minds dwell before dinner on the spit, and after on the dishes, are fit only to be scullions.
—Francis de Sales (1567–1622) French Catholic Saint
Abstain from beans.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.
—Mohandas K. Gandhi (1869–1948) Indian Hindu Political leader
Wine and cheese are ageless companions, like aspirin and aches, or June and moon, or good people and noble ventures.
—M. F. K. Fisher (1908–92) American Food Writer, Critic
Everything you see I owe to spaghetti.
—Sophia Loren (b.1934) Italian Actor
We are always giving foreign names to very native things. If there is a thing that reeks of the glorious tradition of the old English tavern, it is toasted cheese. But for some wild reason we call it Welsh rarebit. I believe that what we call Irish stew might more properly be called English stew, and that it is not particularly familiar in Ireland.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Hunger is the best sauce.
—Common Proverb
Wanting something is not enough. You must hunger for it. Your motivation must be absolutely compelling in order to overcome the obstacles that will invariably come your way.
—Les Brown
Hors d’oeuvres have always a pathetic interest for me; they remind me of one’s childhood that one goes through wondering what the next course is going to be like—and during the rest of the menu one wishes one had eaten more of the hors d’oeuvres.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (1870–1916) British Short Story Writer, Satirist, Historian
A man seldom thinks with more earnestness of anything than he does of his dinner.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Lunch kills half of Paris, supper the other half.
—Montesquieu (1689–1755) French Political Philosopher, Jurist
In terms of fast food and deep understanding of the culture of fast food, I’m your man.
—Bill Gates (b.1955) American Businessperson, Entrepreneur, Author, Philanthropist
I have found it to be the most serious objection to coarse labors long continued, that they compelled me to eat and drink coarsely also.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Laughter is brightest where food is best.
—Irish Proverb
Food probably has a very great influence on the condition of men. Wine exercises a more visible influence, food does it more slowly but perhaps just as surely. Who knows if a well-prepared soup was not responsible for the pneumatic pump or a poor one for a war?
—Georg Christoph Lichtenberg (1742–99) German Philosopher, Physicist
Leave a Reply