from a variety of sources...

Enjoy life sip by sip not gulp by gulp. - The Minister of Leaves 

 

Thank God for Tea! What would the world do without tea? How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea. - Rev. Sydney Smith 

 

I always fear that creation will expire before tea-time. - Rev. Sydney Smith 

 

Love and scandal are the best sweeteners of tea. - Henry Fielding 

 

Remember the tea kettle - it is always up to its neck in hot water, yet it still sings! - Unknown 

 

There are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea. - Henry James 

 

While theres tea theres hope. - Sir Arthur Pinero 

 

Tea- the cups that cheer but not inebriate. - William Cowper 

 

There is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea. - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

 

Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world. - Tien Yiheng 

 

I am in no way interested in immortality, but only in the taste of tea. -Lu tung 

 

Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage. - Catherine Douzel 

 

Come oh come ye tea-thirsty restless ones - the kettle boils, bubbles and sings, musically. - Rabindranath Tagore 

 

One sip of this will bathe the drooping spirits in delight, beyond the bliss of dreams. -Milton 

 

As long as it is hot, wet and goes down the right way, its fine with me. -Sarah Fergerson, The Dutchess of York, On Tea 

 

Tea is wealth itself, because there is nothing that cannot be lost, no problem that will not disappear, no burden that will not float away, between the first sip and the last. -The Minister of Leaves 

 

In nothing more is the English genius for domesticity more notably declared than in the institution of this festival - almost one may call it - of afternoon tea...The mere chink of cups and saucers tunes the mind to happy repose. -George Gissing 

 

[I am a] hardened and shameless tea drinker, who has for twenty years diluted his meals only with the infusion of this fascinating plant; whose kettle has scarcely time to cool; who with tea amuses the evening, with tea solaces the midnight, and with tea welcomes the evening. -Samuel Johnson 

 

What part of confidante has that poor teapot played ever since the kindly plant was introduced among us. Why myriads of women have cried over it, to be sure! What sickbeds it has smoked by! What fevered lips have received refreshment from it! Nature meant very kindly by women when she made the tea plant; and with a little thought, what a series of pictures and groups the fancy may conjure up and assemble round the the teapot and cup. -William Makepeace Thakery 

 

...for tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their nervous sensibilites, or are become so from wine-drinking, and are not susceptible of influence from so refined a stimulant, will always be the favored beverage of the intellectual... -Thomas De Quincy 

 

Tea had come as a deliverer to a land that called for deliverance; a land of beef and ale, of heavy eating and abundant drunkenness; of gray skies and harsh winds; of strong nerved , stout-purposed, slow-thinking men an women. Above all, a land of sheltered homes and warm firesides - firesides that were waiting - waiting, for the bubbling kettle and the fragrant breath of tea. -Agnes Reppiler 

 

...For tea, though ridiculed by those who are naturally coarse in their nervous sensibilities, or are to become so from wine-drinking, and are not susceptible of influence from so refined a stimulant, will always be the favored beverage of the intellectual... - Thomas De Quincey 

 

Surely every one is aware of the divine pleasures which attend a wintry fireside; candles at four oclock, warm hearthrugs, tea, a fair tea-maker, shutters closed, curtains flowing in ample draperies to the floor, whist the wind and rain are raging audibly without. - Thomas De Quincey 

 

Tea had come as a deliver to a land that called for deliverance; a land of beef and ale, of heavy eating and abundant drunkenness; of gray skies and harsh winds; of strong-nerved, stout-purposed, slow-thinking men and women. Above all, a land of sheltered homes and warm firesides - firesides that were waiting - waiting, for the bubbling kettle and the fragrant breath of tea. - Agnes Reppiler

 

Afternoon Tea should be provided, fresh supplies, with thin bread-and-butter, fancy pastries, cakes, etc., being brought in as other guests arrive. - Mrs. Beeton The Book of Household Management 

 

Tea Poetry 

 

If you are cold, tea will warm you; if you are too heated; it will cool you; if you are depresses, it will cheer you; if you are exhausted, it will calm you. - William Gladstone 

 

Steam rises from a cup of tea and we are wrapped in history, inhaling ancient times and lands, comfort of ages in our hands. -Faith Greenbowl 

 

The cozy fire is bright and gay, The merry kettle boils away and hums a cheerful song. I sing the saucer and the cup; Pray, Mary, fill the teapot up, And do not make it strong - Barry Pain 

 

The first bowl sleekly moistened throat and lips, The second banished all my loneliness The third expelled the dullness from my mind, Sharpening inspiration gained from all the books I've read. The fourth brought forth light perspiration, Dispersing a lifetimes troubles through my pores. The fifth bowl cleansed evry atom of my being. The sixth has made me kin to the Immortals. This seventh... I can take no more. -Lu Tung,Chinese Poet 

 

Now stir the fire, and close the shutters fast, Let fall the curtains, wheel the sofa around, And while the bubbling and loud-hissing urn Throws up a steamy column, and the cups That cheer but not inebriate, wait on each, So let us welcome peaceful evening in - William Cowper 

 

We had a kettle, we let it leak; Our not replacing it made it worse, We havent had any tea for a week... The bottom is out of the Universe! - Rudyard Kipling 

 

A toast to the grace of the pot, ready at all time To give up its emptiness for the tea. -The Minister of Leaves 

 

At last the secret is out, as it always must come in the end, The delicious story is ripe to tell an intimate friend; Over tea-cups and in the square the tongue has its desire; Still waters run deep, my dear, theres never smoke without fire - W.H Auden 

 

With each sip I taste the fire that gives its heat. The water that gives its wetness. The leaf that gives its spell. The pot that gives its emptiness. With each lingering sip I cannot help but see all that makes tea as well make me. -The Minister of Leaves 

 

On herbs. There is nothing to resist. With nothing to resist them. Harmony and balance to not hide. Entering harmony and balance, I wash my teacup. -The Minister of Leaves 

 

The soil. The elevation. The climate. The sunshine. The rain. The tea. Body. Mind. Equanimity. Harmony. Water. Tea. - The Minister of Leaves 

 

I invite you magnanimously to please be my guest for tea at a room with high standards of taste where the hostess remembers my face and greets me by name at the door and recalls what Ive ordered before and inquires kindly after my day, and appreciates all that I say. Shell have orange pekoe for the pot and darjeeling, as likely as not, or if you are not in the pink our hostess knows which herbs to drink, like ginger to help with the grippe mixed with cinnamon and the rose hip; or fresh lemon balm if you wish, perhaps blended with sweet licorice. So whether you feel well or ill, this refreshment will quite fit the bill and, of course, you will quite enjoy me. Yours truly. RSVP -Aubrey Henslow 

 

Tea Mind 

 

Humilitea, Possibilitea, Qualitea, Solidaritea, Abilitea, Equalitea, Individualitea, Serenitea, Insanitea, Confidentialitea, Vitalitea, Creativitea, Sportea, Claritea, Realitea Activitea, Longevitea, Impossibilitea, Familiaritea, Humanitea, Puritea, Levitea, Longevitea, Immunitea, Digestabilitea, Electricitea, Sensualitea, Femininitea, Festivitea - Adapted from: Letters to a Young Zentrepenur - The Republic of Tea

 

"Tea and Water give each other life," the Professor was saying. "The tea is still alive. This tea has tea and water vitality," he added, "...Afterwards, the taste still happens... It rises like velvet... It is a performance."

-Jason Goodwin, The Gunpowder Gardens

 

"Talk and tea is his specialty," said Giles. "He has about five cups of tea a day. But he works splendidly when we are looking."

-Agatha Christie, Sleeping Murder

 

"And so it continued all day, wynde after wynde, From a room beyond came the whistle of a teakettle. 'Now, you really must join me. I've some marvelous Darjeeling, and some delicious petit fours a friend of mine gave me for Christmas."

-Martha Grimes, The Man with a Load of Mischief

 

"While we got hotter and thirstier as the heat beat down on us. The somebody would call in a voice full of elation"

    -Arthur Godfrey

 

"'The tea is coming!' ...she may want a martini, but make her drink tea."

-Alice Taylor, To School Through the Fields

 

"It was as if we were at the heart of a maze. We were overwhelmed by the enormity of the tasks ahead. Mary had given us a bottle of milk and a spoonful of loose tea, and so, unable to decide what to do, we did what all Irish men and women do: we had tea. Suddenly the sun appeared and not for the first or last time we felt it uplifting us and changing everything. It seemed like a holiday."

-Niall Williams and Christine Breen, O Come Ye Back to Ireland

 

"Talk and tea is his specialty," said Giles. "He has Come along inside... We'll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place."

-The Wind in the Willows

 

"When all is complete deep in the teapot, when tea, mint, and sugar have completely diffused throughout the water, coloring and saturating it...then a glass will be filled and poured back into the mixture, blending it further. The comes waiting. Motionless waiting. Finally, from high up, like some green cataract whose sight and sound mesmerize, the tea will once again cascade into a glass. Now it can be drunk, dreamily, forehead bowed, fingers held wide away from the scalding glass."

-Simone Jacquemard, Le Mariage Berbere

 

"My hour for tea is half-past five, and my buttered toast waits for nobody."

-Wilkie Collins, The Woman in White

 

"On the hob was a little brass kettle, hissing and boiling; spread upon the floor was a warm, thick rug; before the fire was a folding-chair, unfolded and with cushions upon it, by the chair was a small folding-table, unfolded, covered with a white cloth, and upon it were spread small covered dishes, a cup and saucer, and a tea-pot; on the bed were new, warm coverings, a curious wadded silk robe, and some books. The little, cold, miserable room seemed changed into Fairyland. It was actually warm and glowing. "

-Frances Hodgson Burnett, Sara Crewe; or What Happened at Miss Minchin's

 

"He boils milk with fresh ginger, a quarter of a vanilla bean, and tea that is so dark and fine-leaved that it looks like black dust. He strains it and puts cane sugar in both our cups. There's something euphorically invigorating and yet filling about it. It tastes the way I imagine the Far East must taste."

    -Peter Hoeg, Smilla's Sense of Snow

 

"The mug from the washstand was used as Becky's tea cup, and the tea was so delicious that it was not necessary to pretend that it was anything but tea."

    -Frances Hodgson Burnett

 

"A Little Princess...it's always tea-time... "

    -Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland

 

"I hope next time when we meet, we won't be fighting each other. Instead we will be drinking tea together."

- Jackie Chan, Rumble in the Bronx

 

"Bill Bryson, Notes from a Small Island He brewed his tea in a blue china pot, poured it into a chipped white cup with forget-me-nots on the handle, and dropped in a dollop of honey and cream. He sat by the window, cup in hand, watching the first snow fall. 'I am', he sighed deeply, 'contented as a clam. I am a most happy man."

-Ethel Pochocki, Wildflower Tea

 

"Cynthia came in quietly and set a cup of tea before him. He kissed her hand, inexpressibly grateful, and she went back into the kitchen. When we view the little things with thanksgiving, even they become big things."

-Jan Karon, These High, Green Hills

 

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot. And whoever this "Earl Grey" fellow is, I'd like to have a word with him... "

-Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek, The Next Generation

 

"Deep Space 9 Pour me a little more tea, would you dear? I can drink it till it comes out of my ears."

    -Garek, Star Trek,

 

"If you are cold, tea will warm you; If you are too heated, it will cool you; If you are depressed, it will cheer you; If you are excited, it will calm you

 

"Thank God for tea! What would the world do without tea! How did it exist? I am glad I was not born before tea."

    -William Gladstone, British Prime Minister.

 

"My dear, if you could give me a cup of tea to clear my muddle of a head I should better understand your affairs."

-Charles Dickens

 

"[I am] a hardened and shameless tea drinker, who for twenty years diluted his meals with only the infusion of the fascinating plant; who with tea amused the evening, with tea solaced the midnight, and with tea welcomed the morning.

-Samuel Johnson

 

"I always fear that creation will expire before teatime."

-Sidney Smith

 

"The Infusion of a China plant sweetened with the pith of an Indian Cane."

-Joseph Addison

 

"Ecstasy is a glass full of tea and a piece of sugar in the mouth"

-Alexander Puskin

"I don't drink coffee; I take tea, my dear."
         -Sting, An Englishman in New York 

"Tea with lemon please"

-Jerry Seinfeld, Seinfeld