Famous Thoughts on Forks and Dining

1860s Melon Fork by John Cox, Silversmith

    

On Chinese food & Chopsticks: "You do not sew with a fork, and I see no reason why you should eat with knitting needles." -Miss Piggy, in 'Miss Piggy's Guide to Life' (1981) 
 

“How should melon be eaten? Not with a spoon, as is usual in restaurants..... The back of the spoon anesthetizes the taste buds! In this way, it loses half of its flavor. Melon should be eaten with a fork-melon.” From 'Propos de table'  by J. De Coquet in 'Figaro' - June 1982
 

“They say fingers were made before forks, and hands before knives.” Jonathan Swift - “Polite and Ingenious Conversations” (1738)
 

"Forks are made of iron or steel: noblemen eat with silver forks. I have gone on using a fork even now that I am back in England. This has occasioned more than one joke and one of my intimate friends did not hesitate to apply to me in the middle of a dinner the adjective 'Furciferous'.” Thomas Coryate, English traveler
 

“The two-pronged fork is used in northern Europe.  The English are armed with steel tridents with ivory handles - three pronged forks-but in France, we have the four- pronged fork, the height of civilization.” E. Briffault, Paris a table (1846)

“No rule of etiquette is of less importance than which fork we use.” Emily Post