Food Sayings and Quotes
Nothing brings people together like a generous spread of delicious food. It’s the universal unifier. Food serves as a cultural marker, attends every milestone and celebration, and can be dressed up or down. Food is where the heart is. Below you’ll find a collection of wise, inspirational and humorous food quotes, sayings and proverbs.
I've long believed that good food, good eating, is all about risk. Whether we're talking about unpasteurized Stilton, raw oysters or working for organized crime associates, food, for me, has always been an adventure. Anthony Bourdain
Laughter is brightest in the place where the food is. Irish Proverb
One of the very nicest things about life is the way we must regularly stop whatever it is we are doing and devote our attention to eating. Luciano Pavarotti
After a good dinner one can forgive anybody, even one's own relatives. Oscar Wilde
The secret of success in life is to eat what you like and let the food fight it out inside. Mark Twain
The only time to eat diet food is while you're waiting for the steak to cook. Julia Child
Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate. Alan D. Wolfelt
If you really want to make a friend, go to someone's house and eat with him - the people who give you their food give you their heart. Cesar Chavez
One cannot think well, love well and sleep well if one has not dined well. Virginia Woolf
Popcorn for breakfast! Why not? It's a grain. It's like, like, grits, but with high self-esteem. James Patterson
The chief pleasure in eating does not consist in costly seasoning, or exquisite flavor, but in yourself. Horace
You can't just eat good food. You've got to talk about it too. And you've got to talk about it to somebody who understands that kind of food. Kurt Vonnegut
People who love to eat are always the best people. Julia Child
Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper. Adelle Davis
Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie. Jim Davis
Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all. Harriet Van Horne
Life expectancy would grow by leaps and bounds if green vegetables smelled as good as bacon. Doug Larson
Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast. Oscar Wilde
A recipe has no soul. You, as the cook, must bring soul to the recipe. Thomas Keller
The sweetest honey Is loathsome in his own deliciousness And in the taste confounds the appetite. William Shakespeare
Training is everything. The peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education. Mark Twain
Rice is born in water and must die in wine. Italian Proverb
I'm pretty sure that eating chocolate keeps wrinkles away because I have never seen a 10 year old with a Hershey bar and crows feet. Amy Neftzger
If soup isn't hot enough to make a grown man wince, it's undrinkable. Terri Guillemets
The onion is the truffle of the poor. Robert J. Courtine
Vegetables are food of the earth, but fruits taste of the heavens. Terri Guillemets
Good bread is the most fundamentally satisfying of all foods; good bread with fresh butter, the greatest of feasts! James Beard
Food brings people together on many different levels. It's nourishment of the soul and body; it's truly love. Giada De Laurentiis
My general rule is that if everyone knew how to cook fresh produce from their local area, and Monday to Thursday within 20 minutes, you know, there’s millions of recipes out there to be had. Jamie Oliver
Food is everything we are. It's an extension of nationalist feeling, ethnic feeling, your personal history, your province, your region, your tribe, your grandma. It's inseparable from those from the get-go. Anthony Bourdain
Everything you see I owe to spaghetti. Sophia Loren
Food is like sex: When you abstain, even the worst stuff begins to look good. Beth McCollister
First we eat, then we do everything else. M.F.K. Fisher
Food is our common ground, a universal experience. James Beard
People want honest, flavourful food, not some show-off meal that takes days to prepare. Ted Allen
The way you make an omelet reveals your character. Anthony Bourdain
You don't need a silver fork to eat good food. Paul Prudhomme
There is no sincerer love than the love of food. George Bernard Shaw
If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world. J.R.R. Tolkien
There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread. Mahatma Gandhi
Pull up a chair. Take a taste. Come join us. Life is so endlessly delicious. Ruth Reichl
Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are. Anthelme Brillat-Savarin
Don't dig your grave with your own knife and fork. English Proverb
In 'The Republic' he [Plato] states that the enjoyment of food is not a true pleasure because the purpose of eating is to relieve pain -- hunger. Mark Kurlansky
A gourmet who thinks of calories is like a tart who looks at her watch. James Beard
Animals feed; man eats; only a man of wit knows how to eat. Jean Anthelme
Stop being a vegan and start enjoying what you eat. Jamie Oliver
Never eat more than you can lift. Miss Piggy
He who eats alone chokes alone. Arabian Proverb
Cheese is milk's leap toward immortality. Clifton Fadiman
An onion can make people cry, but there has never been a vegetable invented to make them laugh. Will Rogers
Good food ends with good talk. Geoffrey Neighor
Eating is always a decision, nobody forces your hand to pick up food and put it into your mouth. Albert Ellis, Michael Abrams, Lidia Dengelegi
I just inhaled kimchi ramen. Nose on fire. Next chapter may be obscured by tears. MCM
A little chocolate a day keeps the doctor at bay Marcia Carrington
No man is lonely eating spaghetti; it requires so much attention. Christopher Morley
Condensed milk is wonderful. I don't see how they can get a cow to sit down on those little cans. Fred Allen
It's difficult to think anything but pleasant thoughts while eating a homegrown tomato. Lewis Grizzard
When baking, follow directions. When cooking, go by your own taste. Laiko Bahrs
If there were only turnips and potatoes in the world, someone would complain that plants grow the wrong way. Georg C. Lichtenberg
Great food is like great sex. The more you have the more you want. Gael Greene
Food is the most primitive form of comfort. Sheila Graham
Hunger is a good cook. Proverb
Soup is just a way of screwing you out of a meal. Jay Leno
When a man's stomach is full it makes no difference whether he is rich or poor. Euripides
If we're not willing to settle for junk living, we certainly shouldn't settle for junk food. Sally Edwards
Plant a radish, get a radish, never any doubt. That's why I love vegetables, you know what they're about! Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt
Life is uncertain. Eat dessert first. Ernestine Ulmer
We don't get fat because we overeat; we overeat because we're getting fat. Gary Taubes
You can tell a lot about a fellow's character by his way of eating jellybeans. Ronald Reagan
To eat is to appropriate by destruction. Jean-Paul Sartre
Always eat grapes downward - that is, always eat the best grapes first; in this way there will be none better left on the bunch, and each grape will seem good down to the last. If you eat the other way, you will not have a good grape in the lot. Samuel Butler
He who does not mind his belly, will hardly mind anything else. Samuel Johnson
Music with dinner is an insult both to the cook and the violinist. G. K. Chesterton
We are living in a world today where lemonade is made from artificial flavors and furniture polish is made from real lemons. Alfred E. Newman
There ain't no such thing as wrong food. Sean Stewart
I wouldn’t say that processed food, ready meals and oven takeaways aren’t relevant to modern life, it’s just that over the past 40 years there are three generations of people who have come out of school and gone through their home life without ever being shown how to cook properly. Jamie Oliver
Food is better medicine than drugs Patrick Holford
Food is the supremest of pleasures. Fay Weldon
Let food be your medicine and medicine be your food. Susan L. Rattiner
Food for all is a necessity. Food should not be a merchandise to be bought and sold as jewels are bought and sold by those who have the oney to buy. Food is a human necessity, like water and air, and it should be available. Susan L. Rattiner
Food plays an important role in every culture. Qin Xue Herzberg
Good food is an amazing blessing. Brenda Knight
The normal food of man is vegetable. Charles Darwin
The right use of food can end hunger. Jose Andres Puerta
Perfect food is born of perfect order. Daniel Patterson
Food is so heavily connected to memory. Alexandra Guarnaschelli
Good food is the basis of true happiness. Auguste Escoffier
Food is a part of our contract with life. Bryant McGill
Food is one of the great organizing tools. Pete Seeger
Good food should be a right not a privilege. Alice Waters
Food is culture, and we need to listen to it. Robert Irvine
A food's value is based on how good it tastes. Homaro Cantu
Food can be expressive and therefore food can be art. Grant Achatz
Food is music to the body, music is food to the heart. Gregory David Roberts
Good food is very often, even most often, simple food. Anthony Bourdain
What is food to one man may be fierce poison to others. Lucretius
Food is the only beautiful thing that truly nourishes. Richard Gere
The gift of food to the hungry is the noblest of all gifts. Sathya Sai Baba
Simple foods connect with your body's needs in complex ways. Bryant McGill
Food is the moral right of all who are born into this world. Norman Borlaug
Food for the body is not enough. There must be food for the soul. Dorothy Day
Wit, wisdom and observation on Chinese cuisine. Quotes, idioms, proverbs and sayings from philosophers, writers and others, both ancient and modern.
“The art of Chinese cooking,” says Master James Wei, Taipei gourmet and prince of hospitality, “is to make the meat taste like vegetables and the vegetables test like meat, without either the meat or vegetables losing their original texture.” –Foreign Devil, Richard Hughes
“Live in Hangzhou, marry in Suzhou, dine in Guangzhou, and die in Luzhou.” (These cities are said to have the best view, the prettiest women, the best food, and the best coffin wood, respectively).
“Fish brings heat, meat brings phlegm, but vegetables, and tofu keep you well.” 魚生火，肉生痰，青菜豆腐保平安 (Yú shēnghuǒ, ròu shēng tán, qīngcài dòufu bǎo píng'ān.)
“Eat more vegetables, less meat.” 多吃蔬菜，少吃肉.(Duō chī shūcài, shǎo chī ròu.)
“One can manage without eating flesh; but one cannot manage without the bamboo.” –Su Dongpo, Song Dynasty poet
“Seeing all men behaving like drunkards, how can I alone remain sober?” –Tang Dynasty poem
“Waitresses bring you beer and nibbles, including such staples as chicken's feet.” – China, The Rough Guide
In heaven, dragon meat, on earth, donkey meat.
天上龍肉，地上驢肉 (tiān shàng lóng ròu, dì shàng lǘ ròu)
If you have ever chomped, chewed, gulped, or even smelt something that shocked or repulsed your senses – chilli, wasabi, lemon juice, stilton cheese, stinky tofu, spoiled food – doubtlessly you puckered up immediately. In China that unsightly creased face embodies resentfulness. For example, to speak of a person in a relationship with another as ‘eating vinegar,' chi cu, (吃醋) indicates jealousy, the cause of which is likely a perceived interloper.
“The things that people cannot do without everyday are firewood, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea.”
–Phrase coined in the late Southern Song dynasty.
“Although nobody has been poisoned, this at the very least is an irregular way of slaughtering poultry.”
Well, a full belly conquers all.
–From the film Saving Face
All food tastes good to the starving man's mouth.
The plum trees are in bloom for the second time. (A second marriage, possibly with a concubine) or a second round of sexual intercourse in the same night.
不為五斗米折腰
bu-4 wei-4 wu-3 dou-3 mi-3 zhe-2 yao-1
Not bowing for five pecks of rice. (Unwilling to do anything demeaning for material gain)
(斗 dou is an old Chinese measuring vessel (10 litres/2.642 gallons), roughly equivalent to a British or an American peck.
When you go to Beijing, you see what low rank you hold. When you travel to Canton, you realise how little money you've got. But when you come to Chengdu (Sichuan), you find out how large your appetite is.
Sichuan is known as the land of plenty. 天府之國 (tiānfǔzhīguó).
The richer the ear of grain, the more the head bends. (The greater the intelligence and learning, the more humble one should be).
A peasant must stand a long time on a hillside with his mouth open before a roast duck flies in.
Eat first, talk later.
Raise sons for old age, pile grain for times of famine.
There is no feast that does not come to an end.
Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime.
We the Chinese conquered the world through our food.
當官要是清廉吃飯就要配鹽巴
The incorruptible government official will have nothing but salt to eat with his rice.
Qi fen bao (七分飽), is an age-old, oft-repeated Chinese dietary adage: eat only until you are ‘seven parts full' (70 percent full).
He that takes medicine and neglects diet, wastes the skills of the physician.
吃肝補肝
Eat liver, fortify your own liver.
Have you eaten yet?
(A common greeting, indicating prime concern for the state of fullness of another's belly)
Every grain of rice in your bowl is won by the sweat of the brow.
The rice is cooked. (It is too late to change, or regret something)
Talk doesn't cook rice.
A good breakfast is no substitute for a large dinner.
Eating is even more important than the Emperor.
The honourable and upright man keeps well away from both the slaughterhouse and the kitchen. And he allows no knives on his table.
– Confucius
The superior man does not, even for the space of a single meal, act contrary to virtue.
– Confucius
The way you cut your meat reflects the way you live.
– Confucius
My old friend's prepared a meal of chicken and millet,
And invited me to join him at his farmhouse.
The village is surrounded by green trees,
Blue hills slope up beyond the city wall.
The window opens onto the vegetable garden,
Where holding wine, we talk of mulberry and hemp.
We are looking forward to the autumn festival,
When I'll return to see the chrysanthemums bloom.
A nation looks upon citizens as its roots, while citizens depend upon food for living.
– Sun Yat-sen
A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous.
– Chairman Mao Zedong
“If you want to know the taste of a pear, you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution. All genuine knowledge originates in direct experience.”
– Chairman Mao Zedong
Chink, Chink, Chink, Chinaman
Eat dead rats;
Eats them up
Like gingersnaps.
– Saying from America circa. 1930s.
“All we have is guns and millet.”
– Chinese Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping to Henry Kissinger, American Secretary of State, Dec. 1974.
“Harm will befall young people should their bedrooms be located next to the kitchen. This sounds superstitious but on closer examination it is a practical point to consider. Should the kitchen be next to the bedrooms the latter would be badly polluted. Moreover fires often start from the kitchen in domestic buildings.” – Chinese Geomancy, Evelyn Yip
Tomatoes and oregano make it Italian; wine and tarragon make it French. Sour cream makes it Russian; lemon and cinnamon make it Greek. Soy sauce makes it Chinese; garlic makes it good.
– Alice May Brock
I just love Chinese food. My favourite dish is number 27.
– Clement Atlee, former British Prime Minister
I saw a werewolf with a Chinese menu in his hand
Walking through the streets of Soho in the rain
He was looking for a place called Lee Ho Fook's
Going to get himself a big dish of beef chow mein
Werewolves of London
– Warren Zevon, (1942–2003). ‘Werewolves of London' lyrics
Looking over Hong Kong harbour
Throw a shrimp in yellow wine
Eat it when it ceases moving
Just before is fine too
There's an ancient Chinese saying
Always seems to slip my mind
Does it really die with honour
Does it really matter
It's a big world, so much to do
– Joe Jackson, ‘Big World' lyrics
I like Chinese
I like Chinese
Their food is guaranteed to please
A fourteen, a seven, a nine and lychees
– Monty Python, ‘I Like Chinese' lyrics
Tea is better than water as it does not carry disease or act as a poison like water when wells contain foul and rotten material.
Tea tempers the spirit, harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude, relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness.
– The Classic Art of Tea, by Lu Yu
Better to be deprived of food for three days, than tea for one.
Most probably the relatively lower efficiency of Chinese government officials is due directly to the fact that all of them are subject to an inhuman routine of three or four dinners a night. One-fourth of their food goes to nourish them, and three-fourths to kill them.
–Lin Yutang, My Country and My People
There is nothing a man will not eat when hard pressed by hunger. And no one is entitled to condemn until he knows what famine means. Some of us have been forced in times of famine to eat babies–and even this must be humanly rare–but, thank God, we do not eat them raw as the English eat their beef!
–Lin Yutang, My Country and My People
As to drinks, we are naturally moderate except regarding tea.
–Lin Yutang, My Country and My People
For tea is invented for quiet company as wine is invented for a noisy party.
–Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living
De Quincy says quite correctly that tea “will always be the favourite beverage of the intellectual,” but the Chinese seem to go further and associate it with the highminded recluse.
–Lin Yutang, The Importance of Living
“If Christianity is wine, and Islam coffee, Buddhism is most certainly tea.” –Alan Watts, The Way of Zen
Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea? – how did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea.
– English essayist Sydney Smith, early 1800s.
Our trouble is that we drink too much tea. I see in this the slow revenge of the Orient, which has diverted the Yellow River down our throats.
– J.B. Priestley, British writer
Tea, although an Oriental,
Is a gentleman at least