“You are what you eat” (among other things)…

THE FAMOUS ORIGINAL QUOTE: “You Are What You Eat”                     Dr. Victor Hugo Lindlahr (1895-1969)        Pioneering American health food advocate        The title of his popular and influential book, first published in 1942, which promotes the idea that eating lots of fresh fruits and vegetables (a “Catabolic Diet” by Lindlahr) is the key to good health.        Lindlahr is generally credited with popularizing the phrase, though as noted on the great Phrase Finder site, versions had been floating around as far back as the early 1800s French food gourmet Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826) included the aphorism “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you what you are” in his 1825 book The Physiology of Taste. German philosopher Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach (1804-1872) said in an 1863 essay “A man is what he eats.”         “You are what you eat” was picked up and recycled by many nutritionists and food writers in the 1950s. In the 1960s, it gained new popularity as a slogan used by organic food advocates, further popularized by the 1968 semi-documentary music/comedy film You Are What You Eat, which features musicians Peter Yarrow, Barry McGuire, Tiny Tim, Paul Butterfield and lots of Hippies.

THE DONALD TRUMP PRINCIPLE: “You are what you think you are…Oftentimes, perception is more important than fact.”                      Donald Trump        Former businessman turned politician; elected the 45th President of the United States in November 2016        A comment Trump made in book Think Big and Kick Ass in Business and Life (originally published in 2007)        I suspect many people would likely agree that The Donald has adhered to this belief throughout his business and political career.

THE SOCIAL MEDIA PRINCIPLE: “You are what you post.”                      An aphorism about social media posts on the internet – made by more than 800,000 posts on the internet.

ZAPPA’S VARIATION: “You are what you is You is what you am A cow don’t make ham... You are what you is An’ that’s all it ‘tis.”        Frank Zappa        American musician, filmmaker and entrepreneur        Lyrics from the title song of Zappa's 1981 double album You Are What You Is

THE FASHION ETHICS UPDATE: “You are what you wear. Today, it’s becoming more and more important to choose your apparel consciously and to make sustainable fashion choices.”                     Farla Efros        President of retail strategic firm HRC Advisory, which advises corporations on ethical operating practices        Quoted in a 2016 HuffingtonPost article about “fair trade” fashion wear

BURKE’S LAW: “You are what you know.”                      James Burke        British science historian, documentary producer and author        In his excellent book The Day the Universe Changed (1985)

THE CRITTERS COUNTERQUOTE: “You are what they eat.”                      Advertising slogan for the movie Critters 3 (1991), one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s early films

BUDDHA’S DEEP THOUGHT: “We are what we think.”                      Buddha (563-483 B.C.)        Indian spiritual teacher whose teachings are the foundation of the Buddhist religion        This is the popular English translation of the opening words of Verse 1 of The Dhammapada, as translated by Thomas Byrom in the mid-1970s. Although Byrom’s version has been widely read and quoted, it’s a loose, creative translation that has been criticized as inaccurate by some Buddhist scholars. Another alternate, somewhat more literal translation of the line is: “All things have the nature of mind.”

WEEKLY WORLD NEWS REINCARNATION VARIATION: “You are what you were. Expert reveals how past lives control everything you do – TODAY!”                      Headlines from a story on page 15 of the November 6, 2001 issue of the Weekly World News        I still miss the print version of WWN, but I’m glad there’s an online version now.

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