Okakura Tenshin 岡倉天心

Lu Tong 盧仝

early 9th century · Tang China

The first bowl wets my lips and throat. The second breaks my lonely gloom. The third searches my dry insides and finds only five thousand scrolls of writing. The fourth brings a light sweat, and all the wrongs of my life go out through my pores. The fifth clears my flesh and bones. The sixth puts me in touch with the immortals. The seventh I cannot drink at all: I only feel a cool breeze rising softly under both my arms.

一椀喉吻潤，兩椀破孤悶。 三椀搜枯腸，唯有文字五千卷。 四椀發輕汗，平生不平事。 盡向毛孔散，五椀肌骨清。 六椀通仙靈，七椀喫不得也。 唯覺兩腋習習清風生

"Written in Haste to Thank Imperial Censor Meng for Sending New Tea"

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Henry David Thoreau

1854 · Massachusetts, USA · He goes on to deplore dashing the hopes of a morning with a cup of warm coffee, or of an evening with a dish of tea

I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man; wine is not so noble a liquor…

Walden, "Higher Laws"

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