tea is a necessity in the daily life of man, and an asset to the commonwealth.
—Xu Guang Qi, Book of Agricultural Administration
Tea is quiet and our thirst for tea is never far from our craving for beauty.
—James Norwood Pratt
For if I could please myself I would always live as
I lived there. I would choose always to breakfast at exactly eight and to be at my desk by nine, there to read or write till one. If a cup of good tea or coffee could be brought to me about eleven, so much the better.
—C. S. Lewis
A place to escape to when one cannot ease one’s cares in the mountains.
The hut beneath the pine within the city
—Toyohara Sumiaki, quoted by Murai Yasuhiko
Sanctuary in green.
Teaism is a cult founded on the adoration of the beautiful among the sordid facts of everyday existence. It inculcates purity and harmony, the mystery of mutual charity, the romanticism of the social order; it is essentially a worship of the Imperfect, as it is a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life.
—Kakuzo Okakura
The pine-filled winter wind
Blows through my bamboo stove,
And my over-handled Zisha teapot
Whistles in response.
—Su Dongpo
Tea-making is a ritual that, like the drink itself, warms the heart somehow.
—James Norwood Pratt
Now it is wheat harvest time and at any inn you visit, newly picked tea is served.
—Kyoroku
Tea does not lend itself to extravagance.
—Lu Yu
If the bitter leaves of tea are taken over an extended period of time, one’s power of thought will improve and quicken.
—The Dissertation on Foods
Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage.
—Catherine Douzel
The rush-thatched roof looks cool; even from the bridge one can make out the aroma of tea.
—Hazan
Kettle for Tang Dynasty style tea, by Master Deng Ding Sou.
An elder tea master was invited to a session held in the capital. The noble who sponsored the event meant to test him. As the master was walking down the path to the tearoom, a gun was fired. In awe, all the guests noticed that the master’s pace had not wavered in the slightest when the shot startled those that had known about it all along. His practice in the Way of Tea had established his awareness beyond the world of dust.
—A. D. Fisher
Though I cannot flee
From the world of corruption,
I can prepare tea
With water from a mountain stream
And put my heart to rest.
—Ueda Akinara
Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world.
—T’ien Yiheng
Cha-no-yu, the Japanese tea ceremony.
Emperor Qian Long of the Qing Dynasty was a great tea man. In the later years of his reign, he would often retire to some secluded spot for a day of tea drinking. They say that on one such occasion, his top councilor asked, “How can the nation go without the wisdom of its emperor for a day?” Grinning, the emperor replied “And how can that emperor go without his tea for a day?”
—A. D. Fisher
There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea.
—Henry James
There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.
—Bernard-Paul Heroux
As a domestic art form, tea, like other such pastimes, is vulnerable to vulgarization, neglect, and commercialization. In the modern world, where mechanization and mass production have taken over so much, honest craftsmanship is fighting a losing war.
—John Whitney Hall
Tea to the English is really a picnic indoors.
—Alice Walker
Oftentimes, people will just feel a general sense of ease or comfort when drinking good teas.
—Zhou Yu
In an age when everyone is constantly busy and short of time, what could be more enjoyable than taking time to indulge in what was once part of everyday life, but has now become a luxury— afternoon tea.
—Lesley Mackley
“‘Gone!” says the tea monk.
My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody.
—Wilkie Collins
Tea is one of the main stays of civilization in this country.
—George Orwell
The tearoom is made for the tea master not the tea master for the tearoom.
—Kakuzo Okakura
The simplicity of the equipment and decoration of the tea ceremony allows minds to think about the natural beauty of things they may not have noticed otherwise. Remember, it is not a grand display of artwork that impresses people here, but the simplicity and beauty of the smallest items. Bringing attention to these things is the most important aspect of the tea ceremony.
—Shozo Sato
If you have one teapot
And can brew your tea in it
