From Anacreon, ii. Drinking; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919).
Anacreon (-570–-485 BC) Greek lyric poet, notable for his drinking songs and hymns
Variant: Fruitful earth drinks up the rain, Trees from earth drink that again; The sea too drinks the air, the sun Drinks the sea, and him the moon. Is it reason, then, do ye think, That I should thirst when all else drink?
Source: Odes, 21.
“Now is the time for drinking, now the time to dance footloose upon the earth.”
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
pulsanda tellus.
Nunc est bibendum, nunc pede libero
pulsanda tellus.
Book I, ode xxxvii, line 1
Odes (c. 23 BC and 13 BC)
Kurt Vonnegut book The Sirens of Titan
Source: The Sirens of Titan (1959), Chapter 1 “Between Timid and Timbuktu” (p. 17)
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
The Miracle of Mindfulness (1999)
Context: Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves—slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this actual moment is life.
“All earth’s full rivers can not fill
The sea that drinking thirsteth still.”
Christina Rossetti (1830–1894) English poet
By the Sea; reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919); Old and New, Volume 5 (1872), p. 169.
Mick Jagger (1943) British rock musician, member of The Rolling Stones
"Salt of the Earth" (co-written with Keith Richards) on the Rolling Stones' 1968 album Beggars Banquet (1968).
Lyrics
“He who does not give himself leisure to be thirsty cannot take pleasure in drinking.”
Michel De Montaigne book Essays
Book I, Ch. 42
Essais (1595), Book I
“I only drink on two occasions — When I am thirsty and when I'm not.”
Brendan Behan (1923–1964) Irish poet, short story writer, novelist, and playwright
As quoted in Malcolm Arnold: Rogue Genius (2004) by Anthony Meredith and Paul Harris, p. 337
