100 Quotes That Express The Art, Culture, and Power of Tea

1. “When tea becomes ritual, it takes place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things.” – Muriel Barbery
   
   
   
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   "The ‘art of tea’ is a spiritual force for us to share."
   – Sen no Rikyu
   
   
   
3. “There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.” – Lin Yutang
   
   
   
4. "The ceremony of tea is a moment of pure tranquillity in a chaotic world." – Daisaku Ikeda
   
   
   
5. 
   
   
   
   "Tea is a way of honouring the divine within each of us." 
   – Wu De
   
   
   
6. "The Chinese say it's better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one." – Khaled Hosseini, A Thousand Splendid Suns
   
   
   
7. "The Way of Tea is a cult founded on the love of beauty in even the most basic pursuits of every day life." – Okakuro Kakuzô, 'The Book of Tea'
   
   
   
8. "Tea is the magic key to the vault where my brain is kept.” – Frances Hardinge
   
   
   
9. "Teaism... is essentially a worship of the Imperfect... a tender attempt to accomplish something possible in this impossible thing we know as life." –  Okakuro Kakuzô, 'The Book of Tea'
   
   
   
10. "Rejoice in everything, even in small things. If you start rejoicing, even a cup of tea starts having a sacred significance.” – Osho, 'Art of Tea' 
    
    
    
11. "In Chinese, we say tea washes the spirit. It's not something that just enters your stomach, it also enters your mind.” – Patrick Cui, Tea Master
    
    
    
12. “Tea tempers the spirits and harmonizes the mind, dispels lassitude and relieves fatigue, awakens thought and prevents drowsiness, lightens or refreshes the body, and clears the perceptive faculties.” – Lu Yu, 'Classic of Tea: Origins and Rituals'
    
    
    
13. "There is no need to have any special attitude while drinking except one of thankfulness. The nature of tea itself is that of no-mind." – Pojong Sunim
    
    
    
14. "Tea is drunk to forget the din of the world." – T'ien Yiheng
    
    
    
15. “Tea is the elixir of life.” – Lao Tzu
    
    
    
16. "Drinking tea is as sacred as doing yoga. Sleeping silently, relaxed, is as sacred as prayer. Looking at a tree, talking to a friend, walking early in the morning, working in the factory or in the office, is as holy as anything else. This is the understanding that is needed for Tao to happen.” – Osho, 'The Secret of Secrets'
    
    
    
17. "Who would then deny that when I am sipping tea in my tearoom I am swallowing the whole universe with it and that this very moment of my lifting the bowl to my lips is eternity itself transcending time and space?” – D.T. Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture
    
    
    
18. "When I drink tea, I am conscious of peace. The cool breath of heaven rises in my sleeves and blows my cares away." – Lo Tung
    
    
    
19. "A combination of fine tea, enchanting objects, and soothing surroundings exerts a therapeutic effect by washing away the corrosive strains and stress of modern life. [... It] induces a mood that is spiritually refreshing [and produces] a genial state of mind.” – John Blofeld, 'Chinese Art of Tea'
    
    
    
20. "Drinking a daily cup of tea will surely starve the apothecary.” – Chinese Proverb
    
    
    
21. "Tea carries within itself; knowledge, wisdom, and wellness; for the sake of giving.” – Aniruddha Sastikar
    
    
    
22. "There's always time for tea.” – Seanan McGuire, An Artificial Night
    
    
    
23. "Tea's proper use is to amuse the idle, and relax the studious, and dilute the full meals of those who cannot use exercise, and will not use abstinence." – Samuel Johnson, 'Essay on Tea', 1757
    
    
    
24. "Thank the heavens for tea. How did people ever come together without it?" – Jeannie Lin, 'My Fair Concubine'
    
    
    
25. "Tea is also a sort of spiritual refreshment, an elixir of clarity, and wakeful tranquillity. Respectfully preparing tea and partaking of it mindfully create heart-to-heart conviviality, a way to go beyond this world and enter a realm apart. No pleasure is simpler, no luxury cheaper, no consciousness-altering agent more benign." – James Norwood Pratt
    
    
    
26. "A great idea should always be left to steep like loose tea leaves in a teapot for a while to make sure that the tea will be strong enough and that the idea truly is a great one.” – Phoebe Stone, 'The Romeo And Juliet Code'
    
    
    
27. "In Japan, a number of time-honoured everyday activities (such as making tea, arranging flowers, and writing) have traditionally been deeply examined... the art of brush writing becomes shodo—the “Way of the brush”—while the art of arranging flowers is elevated to the status of kado—the “Way of flowers.” Through these Ways or Do forms, the Japanese have sought to realize the Way of living itself. They have approached the universal through the particular.” – H.E. Davey, 'Japanese Yoga: The Way of Dynamic Meditation'
    
    
    
28. "Under certain circumstances there are few hours in life more agreeable than the hour dedicated to the ceremony known as afternoon tea." – Henry James
    
    
    
29. "There are those who love to get dirty and fix things. They drink coffee at dawn, beer after work. And those who stay clean, just appreciate things. At breakfast they have milk and juice at night. There are those who do both, they drink tea." – Gary Snyder
    
    
    
30. "Some people will tell you there is a great deal of poetry and fine sentiment in a chest of tea." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
    
    
    
31. "Tea is more than an idealization of the form of drinking; it is a religion of the art of life." – Okakura Kakuzo
    
    
    
32. "I was drinking tea the other day, and I thought: they used to fight wars over this." – Daniel Tosh
    
    
    
33. "I like tea and yoga, but I don’t do yoga." – Moby
    
    
    
34. "Doing nothing is respectable at tea." – Sasaki Sanmi
    
    
    
35. “If you ask Zen people they will say tea is not something that you pour with unawareness and drink like any other drink. It is not a drink, it is meditation; it is prayer. So they listen to the kettle creating a melody, and in that listening, they become more silent more alert.” – Osho
    
    
    
36. "No matter what is happening in your life, you always offer tea.” –Clemantine Wamariya
    
    
    
37. “Tea is her answer to everything. I once broke my arm and she tried to give me Lapsang Souchong.” – Gail Carriger
    
    
    
38. "Tea time is a chance to slow down, pull back and appreciate our surroundings." – Letitia Baldridge
    
    
    
39. "If man has no tea in him, he is incapable of understanding truth and beauty." Japanese Proverb
    
    
    
40. "Tea makes everything better." Bindi Irwin
    
    
    
41. "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." –William Ewart Gladstone
    
    
    
42. "The spirit of the tea beverage is one of peace, comfort and refinement." – Arthur Gray
    
    
    
43. "I say let the world go to hell, but I should always have my tea!" – Fyodor Dostoevsky
    
    
    
44. "Come, let us have some tea and continue to talk about happy things." – Chaim Potok
    
    
    
45. "I must drink lots of tea or I cannot work. Tea unleashes the potential which slumbers in the depth of my soul." – Leo Tolstoy
    
    
    
46. "Tea is a part of daily life. It is as simple as eating when hungry and drinking when thirsty." – Yamamoto Soshun
    
    
    
47. "Enjoy life sip by sip, not gulp by gulp." – The Minister of Leaves
    
    
    
48. 
    
    
    
    "I am in no way interested in immortality, but only in the taste of tea."
    – Lu T’ung
    
    
    
49. "No matter where you are in the world, you are at home when tea is served." – Earlene Grey
    
    
    
50. "There is no problem on earth that can’t be ameliorated by a hot bath and a cup of tea." –Jasper Fforde
    
    
    
51. "A cup of tea would restore my normality." – Douglas Adams
    
    
    
52. "The tea session is modelled after the silence of retreat; a time to enjoy life far removed from daily existence." – Sen Joo
    
    
    
53. "A true warrior, like tea, shows his strength in hot water." – Chinese Proverb
    
    
    
54. "The path to Heaven passes through a teapot." – Ancient Proverb
    
    
    
55. 
    
    
    
    
    "Tea brings Time to a crawl, its frantic pace resuming on noticing our empty cups."
    – Terri Guillemets
    
    
    
56. "Water is the mother of tea, a teapot its father, and fire the teacher." –Chinese Proverb
    
    
    
57. "But indeed, I would rather have nothing but tea." – Jane Austen
    
    
    
58. "A cup of tea is a cup of peace." – Sen Sshitsu VX
    
    
    
59. "Wherever you are drinking your tea, whether at work, in a café or at home, it is wonderful to allow enough time to appreciate it." – Thich Nhat Hanh
    
    
    
60. "You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me." – C.S. Lewis
    
    
    
61. 
    
    
    "Making tea is a ritual that stops the world from falling in on you."
    – Jonathan Stroud
    
    
    
62. "Tea will take you there." – Ags Sachs
    
    
    
63. "Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage." – Catherine Douzel
    
    
    
64. "Make tea, not war." – Monty Python
    
    
    
65. "There’s something hypnotic about the word tea.” – Dorothy L. Sayers
    
    
    
66. "If at first, you don’t succeed, have a cup of tea.” – Peter Scott
    
    
    
67. "It’s always tea-time.” – Lewis Carroll
    
    
    
68. "All true tea lovers not only like their tea strong but like it a little stronger with each year that passes.” – George Orwell
    
    
    
69. "Looking deeply into your tea, you see that you are drinking fragrant plants that are the gift of Mother Earth. You see the labour of the tea pickers; you see the luscious tea fields and plantations in Sri Lanka, China, and Vietnam. You know that you are drinking a cloud; you are drinking the rain. The tea contains the whole universe." – Thich Nhat Hanh
    
    
    
70. "Tea is to the body as music is to the soul." – Earlene Grey
    
    
    
71. "A cup of tea is an excuse to share great thoughts with great minds." –Cristine Re
    
    
    
72. "Tea does our fancy aid, repress those vapours which the head invade and keeps that palace of the soul serene." – Edmund Waller
    
    
    
73. "One day I decided to try to have a complete day without tea. I was quite shaken. I was quite disturbed." – Morrissey
    
    
    
74. "Rainy days should be spent at home with a cup of tea and a good book." – Bill Watterson
    
    
    
75. "Tea! Bless ordinary everyday afternoon tea!" – Agatha Christie
    
    
    
76. "Where there’s tea, there’s hope." – Arthur Wing Pinero
    
    
    
77. "As much as you can eat healthy, it’s also important to remember to drink healthy too. Tea is healing." – Kristin Chenoweth
    
    
    
78. "A simple cup of tea is far from a simple matter." – Mary Lou Heiss
    
    
    
79. "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
    
    
    
80. "In the ceremony of tea, one learns to savour the simple things in life." – Nenette Arroyo
    
    
    
81. "The proper, wise balancing of one’s whole life may depend upon the feasibility of a cup of tea at an unusual hour." – Arnold Bennett
    
    
    
82. "Good tea is eloquent enough, it turns out, to change a person’s mind." – Banana Yoshimoto
    
    
    
83. "I don’t feel very much like Pooh today," said Pooh. "There there," said Piglet. "I’ll bring you tea and honey until you do." – A. A. Milne
    
    
    
84. "One sip of this will bathe the drooping spirits in delight, beyond the bliss of dreams." – John Milton
    
    
    
85. "Meanwhile, let us have a sip of tea. The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboos, the fountains are bubbling with delight, the soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle. Let us dream of evanescence, and linger in the beautiful foolishness of things." – Okakura Kakuzo
    
    
    
86. "Tea – the cups that cheer but not inebriate." – William Cowper
    
    
    
87. "Tea began as a medicine and grew into a beverage." – Okakura Kakuzo
    
    
88. "Harry found the [tea]… seemed to burn away a little of the fear fluttering in his chest." – J.K. Rowling
    
    
    
89. 
    
    
    "Enjoy simple things with total intensity. Just a cup of tea can be a deep meditation."
    – Rajneesh
    
    
    
90. "Parallel lines meet in eternity but parallel lives meet for tea." – Gary Gach
    
    
    
91. "Coffee isn’t my cup of tea." – Samuel Goldwyn
    
    
    
92. "Come along inside… We’ll see if tea and buns can make the world a better place." – Kenneth Grahame
    
    
    
93. "Tea is a religion of the art of life." – H. G. Wells
    
    
    
94. "In Japan, we have the tea ceremony, where the act of making tea is a sacred ritual. The way you make the tea is just as important as how you serve it." – Jin Soon Choi
    
    
    
95. "Tea is an act of humanity." –Kakuzo Okakura
    
    
96. 
    
    
    
    "Tea is a way of worshipping beauty and nature." 
    – Takeo Uesugi
    
    
97. "The ceremony of tea is a practice of mindfulness and presence." – Aaron Fisher
    
    
    
98. 
    
    
    
    
    "The tea ceremony is a spiritual practice, a meditation in action."
    – D.T. Suzuki
    
    
    

99.  

    

    
    
    "Tea is the drink of the gods, the elixir of life, the essence of love and friendship."
    – Kakuzo Okakura
    
    
    

100.  

     
     
     
     "In the tea ceremony, we are all equals, seeing one another through the medium of tea." 
     – Sen no Rikyu
     
     
     

Tea, when made into a moment of ceremony, helps us to cultivate peace, mindfulness, and connection with ourselves and others. These 100 quotes offer a sense of just how broad the perspectives on tea culture and philosophy are, as well as express the importance of the tea ceremony in our daily lives. Whether you are a seasoned tea enthusiast or new to the world of tea that goes beyond the Western tea bag, we hope these quotes serve as a source of inspiration and motivation to explore the world of tea and start your own tea ritual. Go back and save some that you like so that you can come back to them when you like, or research a few of the most influential authors like Sen no Rikyu or Okakura Kakuzo. You will find yourself discovering a whole world of new perspectives and philosophies. So, brew a cup of your favourite tea, and let the ceremony of tea bring you a moment of peace and reflection.