But if I must be alone, I refuse to be alone as if it were something weak and distasteful, like convalescence. M. F. K. Fisher More Quotes by M. F. K. Fisher More Quotes From M. F. K. Fisher . . . word-sniffing . . . is an addiction, like glue -- or snow -- sniffing in a somewhat less destructive way, physically if not economically. . . . As an addict, I am almost guiltily interested in converts to my own illness . . . M. F. K. Fisher glue addiction snow For anyone addicted to reading commonplace books . . . finding a good new one is much like enduring a familiar recurrence of malaria, with fever, fits of shaking, strange dreams . . . . M. F. K. Fisher reading dream book I like old people when they have aged well. M. F. K. Fisher old-people wells people When a man is small, he loves and hates food with a ferocity which soon dims. At six years old his very bowels will heave when such a dish as creamed carrots or cold tapioca appear before him. M. F. K. Fisher hate men years Most bereaved souls crave nourishment more tangible than prayers: they want a steak. M. F. K. Fisher bereavement soul prayer There are many people like me who believe firmly, if somewhat incoherently, that pockets on this planet are filled with what humans have left behind them, both good and evil, and that any such spiritual accumulation can stay there forever, past definition of such a stern word. M. F. K. Fisher spiritual believe past As for the house, it is scrubbed to the tiniest mousehole before Passover, to avoid such dangers as even a forgotten cake crumb might cause. Passover dishes are probably the most interesting of any in the Jewish cuisine because of the lack of leaven and the resulting challenge to fine cooks.... Everything is doubly rich, as if to compensate for the lack of leaven... [W]oes are forgotten in the pleasures of the table, for if the Mosaic laws are rightly followed, no man need fear true poison in his belly, but only the results of his own gluttony. M. F. K. Fisher cake law men Between the ages of twenty and fifty, John Doe spends some twenty thousand hours chewing and swallowing food, more than eight hundred days and nights of steady eating. The mere contemplation of this fact is upsetting enough. M. F. K. Fisher eight food night An oyster leads a dreadful but exciting life. M. F. K. Fisher exciting-life oysters exciting War is a beastly business, it is true, but one proof we are human is our ability to learn, even from it, how better to exist M. F. K. Fisher beastly proof war It is easy to think of potatoes, and fortunately for men who have not much money it is easy to think of them with a certain safety. Potatoes are one of the last things to disappear, in times of war, which is probably why they should not be forgotten in times of peace. M. F. K. Fisher men war thinking . . . gastronomical perfection can be reached in these combinations: one person dining alone, usually upon a couch or a hill side; two people, of no matter what sex or age, dining in a good restaurant; six people . . . dining in a good home. M. F. K. Fisher home two sex Salad is roughage and a French idea. M. F. K. Fisher salad ideas Dictionaries are always fun, but not always reassuring. M. F. K. Fisher reassuring language fun death ... so seldom happens nowadays in the awesome quiet of a familiar chamber. Most of us die violently, thanks to the advance of science and warfare. If by chance we are meant to end life in our beds, we are whisked like pox victims to the nearest hospital, where we are kept as alone and unaware as possible of the approach of disintegration. M. F. K. Fisher warfare bed dying I was horribly self-conscious; I wanted everybody to look at me and think me the most fascinating creature in the world, and yet I died a small hideous death if I saw even one person throw a casual glance at me. M. F. K. Fisher self looks thinking A potato is a poor thing, poorly treated. More often than not it is cooked in so unthinking and ignorant a manner as to make one feel that it has never before been encountered in the kitchen. M. F. K. Fisher kitchen cooking food A complete lack of caution is perhaps one of the true signs of a real gourmet. M. F. K. Fisher cooking real food Cooks must feed their egos as well as their customers. M. F. K. Fisher cooks ego cooking It must not simply be taken for granted that a given set of ill-assorted people, for no other reason than because it is Christmas, will be joyful to be reunited and to break bread together. M. F. K. Fisher christmas taken people
