Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet On Eating and Drinking

Then an old man, a keeper of an inn, said, 

"Speak to us of Eating and Drinking."

And she said:

Would that you could live on the fragrance of the earth, 

and like an air plant be sustained by the light.

But since you must kill to eat, and rob the

newly born of its mother's milk to quench your thirst, 

let it then be an act of worship.

And let your board stand an altar on

which the pure and the innocent of forest

and plain are sacrificed for that which is

purer and still more innocent in many.

When you kill a beast say to him in your heart,

"By the same power that slays you,

I to am slain; and I too shall be consumed.

For the law that delivered you into my

hand shall deliver me into a mightier hand.

Your blood and my blood is naught but

the sap that feeds the tree of heaven."

And when you crush an apple with your

teeth, say to it in your heart,

"Your seeds shall live in my body,

And the buds of your tomorrow shall blossom in my heart,

And your fragrance shall be my breath,

And together we shall rejoice through all the seasons."

And in the autumn, when you gather

the grapes of your vineyard for the wine-press, 

say in you heart,"I to am a vineyard, and my fruit shall

be gathered for the winepress,

And like new wine I shall be kept in eternal vessels."

And in winter, when you draw the wine,

let there be in your heart a song for each cup;

And let there be in the song a remem-

brance for the autumn days, and for the

vineyard, and for the winepress.