By William I. Lengeman III

Did you ever wish you were one of those people who could come up with clever witticisms that would still be bandied about hundreds of years later? Here are a few of the more worthwhile comments made about tea over the last few centuries. Of course, these are just the tip of the iceberg, so be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for links to additional tea quotes.

“When I do dine, I gorge like an Arab or a Boa snake, on fish and vegetables, but no meat. I am always better, however, on my tea and biscuit than any other regimen, and even that sparingly.”

— George Gordon, Lord Byron

“The trouble with tea is that originally it was quite a good drink. So a group of the most eminent British scientists put their heads together, and made complicated biological experiments to find a way of spoiling it. To the eternal glory of British science their labour bore fruit.”

— George Mikes

“Tea is meant to be bitter, just as beer is meant to be bitter. If you sweeten it, you are no longer tasting the tea, you are merely tasting the sugar; you could make a very similar drink by dissolving sugar in plain hot water.”

— George Orwell

“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.”

— Kakuzo Okakura

“If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.”

— Attributed to Abraham Lincoln

“But on our tea-table we will have first-rate Ningyong, or Pouchong, or Souchong, or Oolong, so that the conversation may be pure and healthy.”

— T. De Witt Talmage

More Tea Quotations

Tea Quotes – BrainyQuote

Tea with Sherlock Holmes – Cat Tea Corner

Tea Quotes – Tea at Kakuzo.com

Tea Quotations Page – The Cozy Tea

Tea Quotes – Imperial Tea Garden