Tea Wisdom. Aaron Fisher

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

       That will do quite well.

       How much does he lack himself

       Who must have a lot of things?

      —Sen Rikyu

      Keeping from getting upset, keeping on making tea, it is the end of the year.

      —Ganzan, translated by Shaun McCabe and Iwasaki Satoko

      Indeed Cha-no-yu may be considered an epitome of Japanese civilization, for it is a well-blended mixture of elements drawn from the two most ancient cultures of the East eclectically acquired by extremely able and critical minds capable of discerning exactly how they could best use it for the convenience and education of their people.

      —A. L. Sadler

      [A famous] poem on tea speaks of the froth as burning with brilliance, and says that it must be as lustrous as freshly fallen snow and as luscious as the spring lotus.

      —Lu Yu

      The fallen needles blanket the path to the tearoom.

      —Shiki, translated by Shaun McCabe and Iwasaki Satoko

      Don’t watch with your eyes or turn your head to listen, just fill your heart with Cha-no-yu.

      —Sen Rikyu

      With regards to the water placed outside in the stone basin, it has always been necessary most of all to clean and purify the heart.

      —Rikyu, as attributed in the Namporoku