--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Once fire was discovered, the instinct…" description: "\"Once fire was discovered, the instinct for improvement made men bring food to it. First to dry it, then to put it on the coals to cook.\" — Jean Anthelm..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin_coal_once-fire-was-discovered-the-instinct-fo_2879026.png" --- # Once fire was discovered, the instinct for improvement… ![“Once fire was discovered, the instinct for improvement made men bring food to it. First to dry it, then to put it on the coals to cook.” quote by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin_coal_once-fire-was-discovered-the-instinct-fo_2879026.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin_coal_once-fire-was-discovered-the-instinct-fo_2879026.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/02e/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin_coal_once-fire-was-discovered-the-instinct-fo_2879026.png) > “Once fire was discovered, the instinct for improvement made men bring food to it. First to dry it, then to put it on the coals to cook.” [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human innovation turned fire into a tool for cooking, improving nutrition. **In simple terms:** Fire enabled cooking and progress. Key Takeaway Utilize tools for advancement. Themes innovation food technology Mood historical educational Type culinary philosophical When to use this quote - cooking - survival - historical study Key Concepts culinary evolution human ingenuity Questions to Reflect On - How did fire change human societies? - What modern tools mirror fire’s impact? A Different Perspective Reliance on fire may ignore environmental impacts. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discovery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discovery/) [Fire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fire/) [Improvement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/improvement/) [Instinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instinct/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) ## Related quotes > [The echoes of beauty you've seen transpire, Resound through dying coals of a campfire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/the-echoes-of-beauty-you-ve-seen-transpire-resound-through-dying/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. \[Therefore do not compare your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solomon/jealousy-is-cruel-as-the-grave-the-coals-thereof-are-coals-of-fire/) [Solomon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solomon/) > [What school, college, or lecture bring men depends on what men bring to carry it home in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/what-school-college-or-lecture-bring-men-depends-on-what-men-bring-to/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“There would be no children in the world if men had to bring them into it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-roberts/there-would-be-no-children-in-the-world-if-men-had-to-bring-them-into/) [Nora Roberts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-roberts/) > [No game designed to be played with the aid of personal servants by right-handed men who can't even bring along their dogs can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-mccall/no-game-designed-to-be-played-with-the-aid-of-personal-servants-by/) [Bruce McCall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-mccall/) > [If all men were to bring their miseries together in one place, most would be glad to take each his own home again rather…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/solon/if-all-men-were-to-bring-their-miseries-together-in-one-place-most/) [Solon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/solon/) > [The gifts of bad men bring no good with them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/euripides/the-gifts-of-bad-men-bring-no-good-with-them/) [Euripides](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/euripides/) > [“Gregory, o' my word, we'll not carry coals.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/gregory-o-my-word-we-ll-not-carry-coals/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“It is love's soft breath on life's dark coals that briefly reds the fire.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-holland/it-is-love-s-soft-breath-on-life-s-dark-coals-that-briefly-reds-the/) John Holland > [“These fires go out but the coals don't. If this isn't ended it will be just around the corner everyday of his life. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-mcgreevy/these-fires-go-out-but-the-coals-don-t-if-this-isn-t-ended-it-will-be/) [Brian McGreevy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-mcgreevy/) > [“The old dead coals fell to the wayside, warm ones sat glowing weakly on the edges; but the hot new ones, red and burning,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babara-wood/the-old-dead-coals-fell-to-the-wayside-warm-ones-sat-glowing-weakly/) Babara Wood > [“Coals gleamed in the hearth and the air was fragrant with pine branches, frankincense, and lapsang souchong tea. It was New Year’s Day.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neal-stephenson/coals-gleamed-in-the-hearth-and-the-air-was-fragrant-with-pine/) [Neal Stephenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neal-stephenson/) > [Like piles of dry wood with red-hot coals underneath.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-cisneros/like-piles-of-dry-wood-with-red-hot-coals-underneath/) [Henry Cisneros](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-cisneros/) > [“Fire increaseth by laying together many coals on one place; so is devotion inflamed by the union of many hearts, and by a joint…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-symington/fire-increaseth-by-laying-together-many-coals-on-one-place-so-is/) [William Symington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-symington/) > [“path of least resistance, or the walk over hot coals.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-iles/path-of-least-resistance-or-the-walk-over-hot-coals/) [Greg Iles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/greg-iles/) ## More by Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin > [Vegetables, which are the lowest in the scale of living things, are fed by roots, which, implanted in the native soil, select by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/vegetables-which-are-the-lowest-in-the-scale-of-living-things-are-fed/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Frying gives cooks numerous ways of concealing what appeared the day before and in a pinch facilitates sudden demands, for it takes little more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/frying-gives-cooks-numerous-ways-of-concealing-what-appeared-the-day/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Animals feed themselves; men eat; but only wise men know the art of eating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/animals-feed-themselves-men-eat-but-only-wise-men-know-the-art-of/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [The senses are the organs by which man places himself in connexion with exterior objects.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/the-senses-are-the-organs-by-which-man-places-himself-in-connexion/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [I am not accustomed to take my wine in pills.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/i-am-not-accustomed-to-take-my-wine-in-pills/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Those persons who suffer from indigestion, or who become drunk, are utterly ignorant of the true principles of eating and drinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/those-persons-who-suffer-from-indigestion-or-who-become-drunk-are/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Sight and touch, being thus increased in capacity, might belong to some species far superior to man; or rather the human species would be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/sight-and-touch-being-thus-increased-in-capacity-might-belong-to-some/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [In the centre of a spacious table rose a pastry as large as a church, flanked on the north by a quarter of cold…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/in-the-centre-of-a-spacious-table-rose-a-pastry-as-large-as-a-church/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Burgundy makes you think of silly things; Bordeaux makes you talk about them, and Champagne makes you do them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/burgundy-makes-you-think-of-silly-things-bordeaux-makes-you-talk/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [Gourmandise is an impassioned, rational and habitual preference for all objects that flatter the sense of taste.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/gourmandise-is-an-impassioned-rational-and-habitual-preference-for/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [An intelligently planned feast is like a summing up of the whole world, where each part is represented by its envoys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/an-intelligently-planned-feast-is-like-a-summing-up-of-the-whole/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [To claim that wines should not be changed is a heresy; the palate becomes saturated and after the third glass the best of wines…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/to-claim-that-wines-should-not-be-changed-is-a-heresy-the-palate/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [The pleasures of the table belong to all times and ages, to every country and every day; they go hand in hand with all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/the-pleasures-of-the-table-belong-to-all-times-and-ages-to-every/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [If any man has drunk a little too deeply from the cup of physical pleasure; if he has spent too much time at his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/if-any-man-has-drunk-a-little-too-deeply-from-the-cup-of-physical/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) > [The Spanish ladies of the New World are madly addicted to chocolate, to such a point that, not content to drink it several times…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/the-spanish-ladies-of-the-new-world-are-madly-addicted-to-chocolate/) [Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) [Explore all 96 Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-anthelme-brillat-savarin/) ## More Coal quotes > [Assuming normal winter weather, we currently anticipate the coal markets to remain difficult through 2015; while we always strive to operate a full capacity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-craft/assuming-normal-winter-weather-we-currently-anticipate-the-coal/) [Joe Craft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-craft/) > [Coal lay in ledges under the ground since the Flood, until a laborer with pick and windlass brings it to the surface. We may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/coal-lay-in-ledges-under-the-ground-since-the-flood-until-a-laborer/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The only difference between black coal and a precious diamond is the amount of pressure it endured.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/the-only-difference-between-black-coal-and-a-precious-diamond-is-the/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [In that sense, I became politicized because the people in the coal mining villages who were involved in the struggle knew why they were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-bragg/in-that-sense-i-became-politicized-because-the-people-in-the-coal/) [Billy Bragg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-bragg/) > [Dusty, dark, cold, and hard, coal has no beauty of its own, but when it is consummated by fire it is beautiful and becomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederica-mathewes-green/dusty-dark-cold-and-hard-coal-has-no-beauty-of-its-own-but-when-it-is/) [Frederica Mathewes-Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederica-mathewes-green/) > [a TEN-YEAR-OLD lad in Indianapolis who was arrested for picking up coal along the side of railroad tracks is now in jail. If the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-jones/a-ten-year-old-lad-in-indianapolis-who-was-arrested-for-picking-up/) Mother Jones > [Coal is the moral choice, particularly for the developing world... The model for the world right now should be Australia. Australia gets it. Scientifically…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-morano/coal-is-the-moral-choice-particularly-for-the-developing-world-the/) Marc Morano > [Iron and coal dominated everywhere, from grey to black: the black boots, the black stove-pipe hat, the black coach or carriage, the black iron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-mumford/iron-and-coal-dominated-everywhere-from-grey-to-black-the-black-boots/) [Lewis Mumford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-mumford/) > [I remember being very influenced by 'Taxi Driver', and also Tommy Lee Jones in 'Coal Miner's Daughter' a little bit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-rockwell/i-remember-being-very-influenced-by-taxi-driver-and-also-tommy-lee/) [Sam Rockwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-rockwell/) > [I have visited sweatshops, factories, and crowded slums. If I could not see it, I could smell it. The foundation of society is laid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-have-visited-sweatshops-factories-and-crowded-slums-if-i-could-not/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [Shakespeare doesn't belong to the past. If his material is valid, it is valid now. It's like coal. The only meaningfulness of a piece…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-brook/shakespeare-doesn-t-belong-to-the-past-if-his-material-is-valid-it-is/) [Peter Brook](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-brook/) > [Coal is My Worst Nightmare.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-chu/coal-is-my-worst-nightmare/) [Steven Chu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-chu/) > [America is the Saudi Arabia of coal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-duhigg/america-is-the-saudi-arabia-of-coal/) [Charles Duhigg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-duhigg/) > [“...those others - they're looking for trends - subjects to catch a spark - but I have you - a coal from God's altar…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/those-others-they-re-looking-for-trends-subjects-to-catch-a-spark-but/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [We're not going to be living in a world of abundant coal power in a hundred years.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-chait/we-re-not-going-to-be-living-in-a-world-of-abundant-coal-power-in-a/) [Jonathan Chait](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-chait/) Browse all 720 Coal quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Once fire was discovered, the instinct for improvement made men bring food to it. 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