Coffee has always been the fuel behind creative fire. It's a more healthy addiction than whiskey (we're looking at you, Hemingway) and ever since the first coffee house opened oh-so-long-ago in Constantinople, coffee houses have been hot spot for artistic minds to meet.
There's no scientific evidence that proves coffee will turn you from regular joe into giant genius. But we'd like to think it helped these greats become more prolific!
1. Alexander Pope
Coffee could very well be responsible for this English poet's ability to spin sweet rhymes about sour subjects. Pope's famous Rape of the Lock was conceived out of coffee house gossip and one line even gives a nod to the brew.
In his words: "
Coffee, which makes the politician wise, and see through all things with his half-shut eyes."
2. Voltaire (Francois-Marie Aouret)
Perhaps
Voltaire's (Fancois-Marie Arouet) alleged 40-cup-a-day habit was behind
his witty criticisms, incredible prose, and groundbreaking philosophies.
He frequented the Le Procope cafe and turned it into a popular hangout
for writers.
In his words: "
I've been drinking coffee
for over 50 years. That it is poison, I am convinced, but its ill
effects have yet to have any bearing on my health.." Well said,
Voltaire! 3. Benjamin Franklin
Is there
anything old Ben Franklin couldn't do? He was an author, inventor,
diplomat, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. We can't
credit coffee for all his accomplishments; however, judging by the
quotation below, he was one of the first American coffee snobs.
In his words: "
Among the numerous luxuries of the table...coffee
may be considered as one of the most valuable. It excites cheerfulness
without intoxication; and the pleasing flow of spirits which it
occasions...is never followed by sadness, languor or debility."
4.
Johann Sebastian Bach
In
the 1700s, coffee mania took hold of Europe. Everyone was doing it: aristocrats, poets, painters, parents. It was the 'skinny jeans' of the era. Bach leapt onto the
bandwagon and composed a spirited ode to coffee: the
Coffee
Cantata, based off a work by the poet Picander. It may not be as popular
as Ode to Joy, but it's definitely worthy of the "Coffee Canon."
In
his words: How sweet coffee tastes! Lovelier than a thousand
kisses, sweeter than Muscatel wine! 5. Balzac
Balzac
couldn't put his pen to paper without a percolating mug of java by his
side. Who better to describe the brew than he? He claimed coffee gave
him a "restless energy" but drank innumerable cups of the good stuff to
fuel his writing. Add "cure for writer's block" to the long list of
coffee health benefits.
In his words: This coffee falls into your stomach, and straightway there is a general commotion. Ideas begin to move like the battalions of the Grand Army of the battlefield, and the battle takes place.
