Appetite

“ Appetite declares itself by languor in the stomach, and a slight sensation of fatigue.
The soul at the same time busies itself with things analogous to its wants; memory recalls food that has flattered its taste; imagination fancies that it sees them, and something like a dream takes place. This state is not without pleasure, and we have heard many adepts say, with joy in their heart, "What a pleasure it is to have a good appetite, when we are certain of a good meal." ”

“ Their indolent appetite examines, compares, judges, and, at length, abandons itself to the incomparable dainties from which it unceasingly seems to draw new ardour. But alas! pleasure, like pain, has its limits here below. Strength grows less, and becomes extinguished; the eye loses its greedy covetousness; [XXII_19] the palate languishes; the tongue becomes paralysed; the stomach sinks, and that which before pleased, now creates only fatigue and disgust. ”

“ The appetite is the true criterion by which he may know what his body needs. If he feels a thirst for alcoholic drink, it is akin to a hunger for any special class of foods. He is not to ask his servant, the stomach, whether it is willing to do the work of transformation. ”

“ This desire of being filled is called the appetite, which arises from a sense of want, when the veins of the stomach absorb, and, as it were, suck from it, whereby a painful feeling is excited, the proper cure of which is a supply of food. ”

“ Perhaps it is because it has been dinned into our ears from early childhood, that an appetite, a healthy longing for something good to eat, a tickling of the palate with wholesome, appetizing food, is beneath the attention of an aesthetic, intellectual man. ”

“ The eagerness of appetite that one can fairly see in the watery and sensual eyes of men to whom eating has become the aim and joy of their existence—the absorption of every faculty in the gluttonous pursuit—the animal indulgence and delight—these are sickening ”

“ I eat sufficient to satisfy my appetite, which certainly is not a very great one; I do not suffer from exposure to cold; I work all day, singing as merrily as a lark; and at night I sleep like a dormouse. ”

“ When loss of appetite is occasioned by depraved humours, we must give those kinds of food and drink which will either clear away such humours by vomiting, or downwards by the bowels, or those that by dilution will render them better. You have the materials of these things treated of in the First Book of this work. Should the loss of appetite be occasioned by debility, since all debility is owing to an intemperament of the parts, we must cure the species of intemperament by its contraries. ”

“ The appetite comes in eating, as the proverb says, and grows by what it feeds on. And the psychic self, torn with conflicting desires, is ever the house divided against itself, which must surely fall. ”

“ The sensations of appetite and hunger are so complex and so intimately interrelated that any discussion of either sensation is sure to go astray unless at the start there is clear understanding of the meanings of the terms. The view has been propounded that appetite is the first degree of hunger, the mild and pleasant stage, agreeable in character; and that hunger itself is a more advanced condition, disagreeable and even painful—the unpleasant result of not satisfying the appetite. ”

“ Want of appetite is not always a morbid symptom, nor even a sign of imperfect digestion. Nature may have found it necessary to muster all the energies of our system for some special purpose, momentarily of paramount importance. ”

“ If it is your desire that your circulatory, respiratory, and digestive functions, should be discharged properly, normally, if you want your appetite to be good, your sleep sound, your humor equable, avoid all emotions that are over-strong, all pleasures that are too intense, and meet the inevitable sorrows and the cruel agonies of life with a resigned and firm soul. Ever have some occupation to employ and divert your mind, and to make it proof against the temptations of want or of desire. ”

“ The bold appetite, said they, is that which is felt when fasting. It reflects but very little; is not squeamish about viands, and loses all reserve at the sight of a very indifferent ragoût.
The indolent appetite requires to be encouraged. It must be enticed, pressed, irritated. At first, nothing moves it—but after having tasted a succulent dish, it rouses, is astonished, its ardour becomes animated, and is capable of performing prodigies. It is this appetite which has consecrated the trivial but true proverb: “L’appétit vient en mangeant.”
The eclectic appetite owes nothing to nature ”

“ Application of Principles.—What is needed for the mental treatment of patients with defective appetite, is that they should be made to realize that appetite is a function of habit, rather than of absolute natural craving in the conditions in which men and women live at the present time. ”

“ A careful observation and just views would be able, as a general thing without detriment, to wrest many an hour from vain, vulgar, useless, or harmful pursuits, to bestow it upon adornments and amenities that do not perish with the using. And if a man or a woman is so deteriorated as to prefer the indulgence of a coarse or frivolous appetite, or the inordinate indulgence of a merely natural appetite, to the gratification and cultivation of refined and elevated tastes,—the more’s the pity! ”

“ Attend to the demands of appetite, but use all your judgment in determining whether it is a natural, undepraved craving of the system which speaks, or an acquired and vicious taste, and give or withhold accordingly; and, above all, never eat when you have no appetite. ”

“ The drunkard may say to him, “My appetite is stronger than yours; more, therefore, is necessary, in order to make me ‘feel well;’ and if you cannot deny yourself, how can I control a more raging appetite?” ”

“ Since I was a child, I may say, I had never known myself to lack good appetite, and I now found that so far from weakening my desire and enjoyment of my victuals, as would seem most fitting in a young woman of sentiment, the fatigues, emotions, and excitements of the day before had but set a keener edge to my relish of these, as of all other good things in what I could but think, despite all drawbacks, was a very engaging and gladsome world. ”

“ A morning walk from Balaclava to the front gives one an appetite," said I.
"Yes, that one may not often have, like us, the wherewith to satisfy. An appetite is the most troublesome thing one can have in the vicinity of Sebastopol," replied Phil. ”

“ This is not a lecture directed against the fancy drink habit, or a temperance sermon, but just an illustration of the difference between a natural instinct and an acquired habit, or appetite. Appetite is an acquired habit of eating or drinking, and has but little to do with real hunger or thirst. ”

“ Nature of Appetite as compared with other Forms of Desire.—These are usually called appetites, in distinction from those desires which are founded in the nature of the mind. They are, however, properly, a class of desires though not always so ranked by philosophical writers. ”

“ Children want food and drink before they know what it is they want, and birds in the nest, open their little mouths for the worm their mother brings them.
Appetites indulged in become strong, and are often uncontrolled by the reason and will; as the indulged appetite for liquor. A strong and healthy mind should [Pg 12] control the appetites, as we have learned it should control the emotions, and we are justly held responsible for the consequences of an indulged appetite. ”

“ He recalled the waiter, ordered his repast, ate it with a good appetite, and went to bed to sleep till morning. It is no wonder that love could exercise so little power over so well-regulated an appetite! ”

“ Wherefore love differs according to the difference of appetites. For there is an appetite which arises from an apprehension existing, not in the subject of the appetite, but in some other: and this is called the "natural appetite." ”

“ Yet numbers of people attempt to justify the gratification of their gluttonous proclivities by the statement that they are "blessed with a good appetite," while the truth of the matter is, they are cursed with an inordinate lust for food. ”

“ For instance, appetite, in the irrational creatures, takes its rise in the passions, and their movement, which takes the form of appetite, is full of all kinds of unreasonableness. But with regard to the intelligent, we must think of the appetite in another fashion, as denoting, according to my judgment, their manly style, and their determined persistence in their Godlike and unchangeable steadfastness. ”

“ But here to this weak and delicate appetite is presented an abundance of the most stimulating and least nourishing food possible. It snatches it greedily, and is not only satisfied, but actually conceives a distaste for anything simpler and more wholesome. ”

“ But now contrast that with the issue of all other methods of satisfying human appetites, be they lower or be they higher. They result either in satiety or in a tyrannical, diseased appetite which increases faster than the power of satisfying it increases. ”

“ But if it is in nature to have an appetite—for it is always to appetite that I come back, and to the sensation that is ever present to me—then I find that it is by no means consistent with good order not to have always something to eat. ”

“ Be a little more diplomatic. A good appetite is not a sin. An appetite over-stimulated by condiments or endless varieties of courses is. He should eat to satisfy his hunger, not to gratify his palate. ”

“ My appetite is perfect, and I have plenty of food to gratify it. I sleep every night like a boy, for I haven't a trouble in this world to disturb me. I enjoy the mornings here in the country: and the evenings are pleasant. ”

“ Loss of sleep and appetite do not invariably occur from an attack of the “grand passion,” but they have been known to follow in its wake. Perhaps your food is not well chosen, and that you need fresh air and exercise, or perhaps a tonic. ”

“ The appetite, the eager craving after food, is, indeed, a very complex sensation, and often not merely the need of the organism for food material is necessary for its excitement, but also a condition of thorough well-being, together with a normal healthy feeling in all parts of the digestive tract. ”

“ They did not know that a romantic and adventurous appetite is one of the blessings of an easy life, and that the more miserable a man’s condition, and the fewer his comforts, the more does he shrink from experiments of diet. ”

“ My vision is clear and far. I could almost believe in God. But,"—and his voice changed and the light went out of his face,—"what is this condition in which I find myself? this joy of living? this exultation of life? this inspiration, I may well call it? It is what comes when there is nothing wrong with one's digestion, when his stomach is in trim and his appetite has an edge, and all goes well. ”

“ As a matter of fact, if one faithfully practise mouth thoroughness in connection with all his food for a term of a few weeks, he will find that the appetite ceases to invite the sort of things that have to be spit out. The appetite gradually but unfailingly inclines to foods that are profitable all the way through, and in which there is little or no waste. ”

“ Bodily appetite therefore, in the case of man, is not a mere animal impulse, because it is in connection with that more elevated and interior impulse of heavenly affection, operative in every human being, which hungers and thirsts after the meat which endureth to everlasting life. ”

“ Talk about having the appetite for stimulants removed by prayer! That appetite is just as much the part of a man as his hand, heart, brain, or any other part of his body. Every one of God's laws are unchangeable and immutable. ”

“ Suppose your appetite were so large that you were compelled to eat more than your weight of food every day, and suppose you had three or four brothers and sisters, just your own size, and just as ravenously hungry. ”

“ We are all familiar with the fact that good news and cheerful surroundings promote a normal appetite, while bad news, depressing surroundings, etc., will cause the loss of the appetite. The mention of some favourite dish will make the mouth water, and the recollection of some unpleasant experience or sight may produce nausea. ”

“ Upon an examination, that any one can make for himself, however, it is revealed that taste is the faithful servant of appetite; the sentinel of the stomach, of the intestines, of the tissues and of the brain, whose guidance and warning, if heeded, will give heretofore unknown enjoyment of eating, and at the same time insure perfect health and the maximum of strength. ”

“ Health and appetite impart the sweetness to sugar, bread, and meat. ”

“ A fastidious taste is like a squeamish appetite; the one has its origin in some disease of mind, as the other has in some ailment of the stomach. ”

“ Hunger and appetite are, therefore, widely different—in physiological basis, in localization and in psychic elements. Hunger may be satisfied while the appetite still calls. Who is still hungry when the tempting dessert is served, and yet are there any who refuse it, on the plea that they no longer need it? On the other hand, appetite may be in abeyance while hunger is goading. ”

“ Our appetite is only excessive because we try to impose on it rules other than those of nature, opposing, controlling, prescribing, adding, or substracting; the scales are always in our hands, but the scales are the measure of our caprices not of our stomachs. ”

“ But the appetite requires food. I mean by this that the appetite of the man—and the term is used in a generic sense and includes women—the most superficial thinker will concede without argument that there 91 must be a man to have the appetite ”