"... Olives luxuriate in limestone regions; from one to ten s are yielded by each tree in good seasons, while the only mathematics the Spanish seem to know are the straight lines in which they plant them. An of such trees will produce over three hundred s of olive oil, consumed in amounts of nearly five s per head annually."

"See there the olive grove of Academe, Plato's retirement, where the Attic bird Trills her thick-warbled notes the summer long."

"On our way to we saw the olive-gathering just beginning; but alas! it had none of gaiety and bright associations of the vintage. On the contrary, it was as business-like and unexciting as weeding onions, or digging potatoes. A set of ragged peasants—the country people hereabouts are poorly dressed—were clambering barefoot in the trees, each man with a basket tied before him, and lazily plucking the dull oily fruit. Occasionally, the olive-gatherers had spread a white cloth beneath the tree, and were shaking the very ripe fruit down; but there was neither jollity nor romance about the process. The olive is a tree of association, but that is all. Its culture, its manuring, and clipping, and trimming, and the grafting—the gathering of its fruits, and their squeezing in the mill, when the ponderous stone goes round and round in the glutinous trough, crushing the very essence out of the oily pulps—while the fat, oleaginous stream pours lazily into the greasy vessels set to receive it;—all this is as prosaic and uninteresting as if the whole were presiding in spirit over the operations."

"Chemically, table olives are dissimilar to most other fruits consumed as part of the . They have a very low sugar content compared to many other s such as s or . Table olives are a variable food, ranging considerably in colour, flavour, texture, and taste. Outside of the olive-growing areas, the consumption of oil depended upon wealth, personal taste, proximity to military sites, proximity to large urban centres and accessibility to trade routes. Ancient historians and scientists alike are interested in understanding the relationship between volumes of consumption and human health. The modern-day is often lauded for its health benefits. It has been found to generate long life expectancies and people who adhere to the diet have very low incidences of heart disease, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis."

"My club, a beetling olive's stalwart trunk And shapely, still environed in its bark: This hand had torn from holiest The tree entire, with all its fibrous roots."

"O that I were lying under the olives, Lying alone among the anemones! Shell-colour’d blossoms they bloom there and scarlet, Far under stretches of silver woodland, Flame in the delicate shade of the olives."

"And the dove came in to him in the evening; and, lo, in her mouth was an olive leaf pluckt off; so Noah knew that the waters were abated from off the earth."

"1 is every one that feareth the ; that walketh in his ways. 2 For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. 3 Thy wife shall be as a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house; thy children like olive plants round thy table. 4 Behold, that thus shall the man be blessed that feareth the ."

"Blest be those feasts, with simple plenty crowned, Where all the ruddy family around Laugh at the jests or pranks that never fail Or sigh with pity at some mournful tale."

"Gluttony kills more than the sword."

"A cheerful look makes a dish a feast."

"The true Amphitryon."

"A friendly swarry, consisting of a boiled leg of mutton with the usual trimmings."

"The proof of the pudding is in the eating."

"Tripas llevan corazon, que no corazon tripas."

"Todos los duelos con pan son buenos (or son menos)."

"All human history attests That happiness for man,—the hungry sinner!— Since Eve ate apples, much depends on dinner."

"That famish'd people must be slowly nurst, And fed by spoonfuls, else they always burst."

"Man is a carnivorous production, And must have meals, at least one meal a day; He cannot live, like woodcocks, upon suction, But, like the shark and tiger, must have prey; Although his anatomical construction Bears vegetables, in a grumbling way, Your laboring people think beyond all question, Beef, veal, and mutton better for digestion."

"I sing the sweets I know, the charms I feel, My morning incense, and my evening meal, The sweets of Hasty-Pudding."

"Some men are born to feast, and not to fight; Whose sluggish minds, e'en in fair honor's field, Still on their dinner turn— Let such pot-boiling varlets stay at home, And wield a flesh-hook rather than a sword."

"What is sufficient for health is not enough for pleasure. And it is often a matter of doubt whether it is the needful care of the body that still calls for food or whether it is the sensual snare of desire still wanting to be served. In this uncertainty my unhappy soul rejoices, and uses it to prepare an excuse as a defense. It is glad that it is not clear as to what is sufficient for the moderation of health, so that under the pretense of health it may conceal its projects for pleasure."

"This much thou hast taught me: that I should learn to take food as medicine. But during that time when I pass from the pinch of emptiness to the contentment of fullness, it is in that very moment that the snare of appetite lies baited for me."

"The poor man will praise it so hath he good cause, That all the year eats neither partridge nor quail, But sets up his rest and makes up his feast, With a crust of brown bread and a pot of good ale."

"Antony, however, according to his custom, returned alone to his own cell, increased his discipline, and sighed daily as he thought of the mansions in Heaven, having his desire fixed on them, and pondering over the shortness of man's life. And he used to eat and sleep, and go about all other bodily necessities with shame when he thought of the spiritual faculties of the soul. So often, when about to eat with any other hermits, recollecting the spiritual food, he begged to be excused, and departed far off from them, deeming it a matter for shame if he should be seen eating by others."

"This dish of meat is too good for any but anglers, or very honest men."

"Bread is the staff of life."

"Bad men live that they may eat and drink, whereas good men eat and drink that they may live."

"Oh, herbaceous treat! 'Twould tempt the dying anchorite to eat; Back to the world he'd turn his fleeting soul, And plunge his fingers in the salad bowl; Serenely full the epicure would say? "Fate cannot harm me,—I have dined to-day.""

"Though we eat little flesh and drink no wine, Yet let's be merry; we'll have tea and toast; Custards for supper, and an endless host Of syllabubs and jellies and mince-pies, And other such ladylike luxuries."

"A dinner lubricates business."

"A very man—not one of nature's clods— With human failings, whether saint or sinner: Endowed perhaps with genius from the gods But apt to take his temper from his dinner."

"Dis moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es."

"L'abstenir pour jouir, c'est l'épicurisme de la raison."

"Better is a dinner of herbs where love is, than a stalled ox and hatred therewith."

"An't it please your Honour," quoth the Peasant, "This same Dessert is not so pleasant: Give me again my hollow Tree, A crust of Bread, and Liberty."

"Pray take them, Sir,—Enough's a Feast; Eat some, and pocket up the rest."

"What, did you not know, then, that to-day Lucullus dines with Lucullus?"