Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), in the book Physiologie du Gout (1825), wrote “Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are,” often interpreted as “you are what you eat.” This was figurative and not meant literally; one does not become an apple or a donut or a “skinny person” by eating such things.
“You aren’t what you eat because if you eat a vegetarian, you are not a vegetarian..... You are a cannibal” was posted on Twitter on September 5, 2011. “Rest assured you are not what you eat. If you eat a vegetarian you do not become a vegetarian” was posted on Twitter on December 22, 2011.
“You aren’t necessarily what you eat. If you eat a vegetarian, you probably are not a vegetarian” was posted on Twitter on March 6, 2017.
Wikiquote: Food
Dis-moi ce que tu manges, je te dirai ce que tu es. Tell me what you eat, and I shall tell you what you are.
. Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, Physiologie du Gout (1825); tr. M. F. K. Fisher, The Physiology of Taste: Or Meditations on Transcendental Gastronomy (1949)
. Variants:
..Der Mensch ist, was er ißt. Man is what he eats.
..Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach, Die Naturwißensschaft und die Revolution [Natural science and the revolution] (1850), repeated in Das Geheimnis des Opfers, ober der Mensch ist was er ißt [The mystery of sacrifice, or man is what he eats] (1862)
..You are what you eat.
..Victor Lindlahr, You Are What You Eat: how to win and keep health with diet (1942)
Twitter
Kaylie Long
@LaylieKong
You aren’t what you eat because if you eat a vegetarian, you are not a vegetarian..... You are a cannibal.
10:58 AM - 5 Sep 2011
Twitter
Khushboo Bhatia
@Kaleidoscopikk
Rest assured you are not what you eat. If you eat a vegetarian you do not become a vegetarian.
3:21 AM - 22 Dec 2011
Twitter
Jennifer Erickson
@JennJeanne
if you are what you eat then what are you if you eat a vegetarian? #thinkaboutit
9:50 PM - 25 Dec 2011
Twitter
John
@ExcludedMembers
philosophical tuesdays! You are not what you eat; if you eat a vegetarian, you are eating meat, ergo you are not a vegetarian
10:00 PM - 12 Nov 2013
Twitter
Joseph Maloney
@Brosef_Joseph
You aren’t necessarily what you eat. If you eat a vegetarian, you probably are not a vegetarian.
7:54 PM - 6 Mar 2017
just-shower-thoughts
You aren’t necessarily what you eat. If you eat a vegetarian, you probably are not a vegetarian.
4,993 notes Mar 6th, 2017
Twitter
Shower Thoughts
@Thoughts4Shower
You aren’t necessarily what you eat. If you eat a vegetarian, you probably are not a vegetarian.
#showerthoughts
7:59 PM - 6 Mar 2017
Reddit—Jokes
The statement “You are what you eat” isn’t really true.
submitted August 31, 2017 by beardlesshipster
If you eat a vegetarian, you probably aren’t a vegetarian.
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
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“You can’t leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution” (6/1)
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“You simply cannot leave those who created the problem in chare of the solution!” (6/1)
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“Our flag does not fly because the wind moves it. It flies with the last breath of each soldier…” (6/1)
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“You can’t just leave those who created the problem in charge of the solution” (6/1)
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Entry in progress—BP (6/1)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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