--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Food serves two parallel purposes: it…" description: "\"Food serves two parallel purposes: it nourishes and it helps you remember. Eating and storytelling are inseparable-the saltwater is also tears; the hon..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ad/jonathan-safran-foer-136_affliction_food-serves-two-parallel-purposes-it-nou_1144703.png" --- # Food serves two parallel purposes: it nourishes and it… ![“Food serves two parallel purposes: it nourishes and it helps you remember. Eating and storytelling are inseparable-the saltwater is also tears; the honey not only tastes sweet, but makes us think of sweetness; the matzo is the bread of our affliction.” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ad/jonathan-safran-foer-136_affliction_food-serves-two-parallel-purposes-it-nou_1144703.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ad/jonathan-safran-foer-136_affliction_food-serves-two-parallel-purposes-it-nou_1144703.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ad/jonathan-safran-foer-136_affliction_food-serves-two-parallel-purposes-it-nou_1144703.png) > “Food serves two parallel purposes: it nourishes and it helps you remember. Eating and storytelling are inseparable-the saltwater is also tears; the honey not only tastes sweet, but makes us think of sweetness; the matzo is the bread of our affliction.” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Food links sustenance with memory, making flavors trigger personal and cultural recollections. **In simple terms:** Food ties nourishment to memory. Key Takeaway Use meals to reinforce memories. Themes memory culture food storytelling Mood nostalgic reflective Type aphilosophical inspirational When to use this quote - Family meals - holiday feasts - teaching history - personal reflection Key Concepts Sensory association cultural identity Questions to Reflect On - How do specific flavors remind you of past events? - Can you create new memories through cooking? A Different Perspective Memory ties can fade without intentional recall. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affliction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) [Bread](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bread/) [Culture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/culture/) [Eating](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eating/) [Family](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/family/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Mythology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mythology/) [Purpose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/purpose/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Stories](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stories/) [Storytelling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/storytelling/) [Sweetness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sweetness/) [Tears](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tears/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Vegan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegan/) [Veganism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/veganism/) [Vegetarian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegetarian/) [Vegetarianism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vegetarianism/) ## Related quotes > [They say you are what you eat… but I dont remember eating a sexy beast today(:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/musiclover/they-say-you-are-what-you-eat-but-i-dont-remember-eating-a-sexy-beast/) MusicLover > [“HEALTH IS VERY IMPORTANT. REMEMBER EXERCISE. THINK BACK ON TIMES THAT YOU’VE MOVED OR EXPANDED ENERGY. ALSO REMEMBER EATING. RECALL FOOD AND WHAT IT…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-fink/health-is-very-important-remember-exercise-think-back-on-times-that/) [Joseph Fink](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-fink/) > [I woke up an hour before I was supposed to, and started going over the mental checklist: where do I go from here, what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-shepard/i-woke-up-an-hour-before-i-was-supposed-to-and-started-going-over-the/) [Alan Shepard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-shepard/) > [If you are what you eat...then why don't I remember eating a bowl of sexiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/if-you-are-what-you-eat-then-why-don-t-i-remember-eating-a-bowl-of/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [I always got told you are what you eat ... 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A fourth of all chickens have stress fractures.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/people-care-about-animals-i-believe-that-they-just-don-t-want-to-know/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Dairy farmers routinely remove calves from their mothers at an early age so that the milk will be available for humans; anyone who has…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-singer/dairy-farmers-routinely-remove-calves-from-their-mothers-at-an-early/) [Peter Singer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-singer/) > [“Poor animals, how jealously they guard their bodies, for to us is merely an evening’s meal, but to them is life itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-casey-brennan/poor-animals-how-jealously-they-guard-their-bodies-for-to-us-is/) T. Casey Brennan > [Animal rights without veganism is like human rights with slavery. It makes no sense. None whatsoever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-l-francione/animal-rights-without-veganism-is-like-human-rights-with-slavery-it/) [Gary L. Francione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-l-francione/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. 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We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. 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Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## More Affliction quotes > [I don't feel insecure about any of this work anymore. Maybe I don't have what I had when I was younger. I'm not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/i-don-t-feel-insecure-about-any-of-this-work-anymore-maybe-i-don-t/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [Every man will have his own criterion in forming his judgment of others. I depend very much on the effect of affliction. I consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cecil/every-man-will-have-his-own-criterion-in-forming-his-judgment-of/) [Richard Cecil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cecil/) > [WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/whangdepootenawah-n-in-the-ojibwa-tongue-disaster-an-unexpected/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [There is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/there-is-nothing-in-afflictions-which-ought-to-disturb-our-joy/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Come, then, affliction, if my Father wills, and be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/come-then-affliction-if-my-father-wills-and-be-my-frowning-friend-a/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Henceforth, I'll bear Affliction till it do cry out itself, 'Enough, enough, and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/henceforth-i-ll-bear-affliction-till-it-do-cry-out-itself-enough/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/new-materials-are-one-of-the-great-afflictions-of-contemporary-art/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Aimee Parkison offers a distinct new voice to contemporary fiction. Her seductive stories explore childhood as a realm of sorrows, and reveal the afflictions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/aimee-parkison-offers-a-distinct-new-voice-to-contemporary-fiction/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [May I strike my heart's keys clearly, and may none fail because of slack, uncertain, or fraying strings. May the tears that stream down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/may-i-strike-my-heart-s-keys-clearly-and-may-none-fail-because-of/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [We are infinitely more than our limitations and afflictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/we-are-infinitely-more-than-our-limitations-and-afflictions/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [God measures out affliction to our need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/god-measures-out-affliction-to-our-need/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) > [Afflictions make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing and profound, and so, more able to hold, to contain, and beat more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/afflictions-make-the-heart-more-deep-more-experimental-more-knowing/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [Religion prescribes to every miserable man the means of bettering his condition; nay, it shows him that the bearing of his afflictions as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/religion-prescribes-to-every-miserable-man-the-means-of-bettering-his/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Short-term amnesia is not the worst affliction if you have an Irish flair for the sauce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/short-term-amnesia-is-not-the-worst-affliction-if-you-have-an-irish/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Revolution will free society of its afflictions, while science will free the individual of his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/revolution-will-free-society-of-its-afflictions-while-science-will/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) [Browse all 598 Affliction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Food serves two parallel purposes: it nourishes and it helps you remember. 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