Coffee Quotes to Perk You Up

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Need a little pick-me-up? These coffee quotes will give you a boost and help you enjoy your next cup even more.

The coffee scene is thriving right now and there’s no doubt it brings people together. Whether we’re on the go or relaxing in our favorite cafe, a good cup of java is a great way to get started or keep going!

So grab a cup and enjoy these coffee quotes to celebrate its place in culture and daily life.

Top 10 Coffee Quotes

Coffee, the favorite drink of the civilized world.

Thomas Jefferson

Coffee is the best thing to douse the sunrise with.

Terri Guillemets
Jackie Chan coffee quote "Coffee is a language in itself"
“Coffee is a language in itself.” – Jackie Chan

I never laugh until I’ve had my coffee.

Clark Gable

Coffee is a beverage that puts one to sleep when not drank.

Alphonse Allais

I orchestrate my mornings to the tune of coffee.

Harry Mahtar

Coffee is a kind of magic you can drink.

Catherynne M. Valente
Jessi Adams quote "Coffee smells like freshly ground heaven"
“Coffee smells like freshly ground heaven.” – Jessi Lane Adams

Even bad coffee is better than no coffee at all.

David Lynch

Never trust anyone who doesn’t drink coffee.

A.J. Lee

Quotes about Coffee

What goes best with a cup of coffee? Another cup.

Henry Rollins

Once you wake up and smell the coffee, it’s hard to go back to sleep.

Fran Drescher

I judge a restaurant by the bread and by the coffee.

Burt Lancaster

I have measured out my life with coffee spoons.

T.S. Eliot

I think the key to the start of any good relationship is to remember how the other person likes their coffee.

J. Lynn,
Wait for You
Andrea Illy quote "Coffee is the official beverage of culture"
“Coffee is the official beverage of culture.” – Andrea Illy

I would rather suffer with coffee than be senseless.

Napoleon Bonaparte

I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community.

Howard Schultz

The morning cup of coffee has an exhilaration about it which the cheering influence of the afternoon or evening cup of tea cannot be expected to reproduce.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.

Coffee doesn’t need a menu, it needs a cup. That’s all it needs! Maybe a saucer underneath the cup — that’s it.

Denis Leary

Ah coffee. The sweet balm by which we shall accomplish today’s tasks.

Holly Black, Ironside

It’s amazing how the world begins to change through the eyes of a cup of coffee.

Donna A. Favors

To me, the smell of fresh-made coffee is one of the greatest inventions.

Hugh Jackman
"Given enough coffee I could rule the world"
“Given enough coffee I could rule the world.” – Terry Pratchett

Coffee connects us in so many ways – to each other, to our senses, and to the earth that supports the coffee trees.

Rohan Marley

I’ll read my books and I’ll drink coffee and I’ll listen to music, and I’ll bolt the door.

J.D. Salinger

What on earth could be more luxurious than a sofa, a book, and a cup of coffee?

Anthony Trollope,
The Warden

I’d never met coffee that wasn’t wonderful. It was just a matter of how wonderful it was.

Laurell K. Hamilton

I don’t know how people live without coffee, I really don’t.

Martha Quinn

The powers of a man’s mind are directly proportioned to the quantity of coffee he drinks.

Sir James Mackintosh

As long as there was coffee in the world, how bad could things be?

Cassandra Clare,
City of Ashes

Coffee is a way of stealing time that should by rights belong to your older self.

Terry Pratchett
Gabriel Ba quote "There’s always peace in a strong cup of coffee"
“There’s always peace in a strong cup of coffee.” – Gabriel Bá

A morning coffee is my favorite way of starting the day, settling the nerves so that they don’t later fray.

Marcia Carrington

Coffee is a fleeting moment and a fragrance.

Claudia Roden

Coffee makes us severe, and grave, and philosophical.

Jonathan Swift

I like my coffee with cream and my literature with optimism.

Abigail Reynolds

It’s when you look over the top of your coffee cup, that you can smile at life.

Anthony T. Hincks

You can’t have a decent food culture without a decent coffee culture: the two things grow up together.

Adam Gopnik

Espresso is to Italy what champagne is to France.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Good communication is just as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh
HP Lovecraft coffee quote "I like coffee exceedingly"
“I like coffee exceedingly.” – H. P. Lovecraft

I was taken by the power that savoring a simple cup of coffee can have to connect people and create community.

Howard Schultz

I force people to have coffee with me, just because I don’t trust that a friendship can be maintained without any other senses besides a computer or cellphone screen.

John Cusack

Adventure in life is good… consistency in coffee even better.

Justina Headley

When we drink coffee, ideas march in like the army.

Honore de Balzac

Coffee. Creative lighter fluid.

Floyd Maxwell

I’d rather take coffee than compliments just now.

Louisa May Alcott,
Little Women

Science may never come up with a better office communication system than the coffee break.

Earl Wilson

Coffee should be black as hell, strong as death, and sweet as love.

Turkish Proverb
Al Pacino quote "Without coffee somethings missing"
“Without coffee something’s missing.” – Al Pacino

Three hundred years ago, during the Age of Enlightenment, the coffee house became the center of innovation.

Peter Diamonde

Humor and Coffee

I never drink coffee at lunch. I find it keeps me awake for the afternoon.

Ronald Reagan

If it wasn’t for coffee, I’d have no discernible personality at all.

Dacid Letterman

Television is not real life. In real life, people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Charles J. Sykes

No matter what historians claimed, BC really stood for ‘Before Coffee.’

Cherise Sinclair,
Master of the Mountain

Without my morning coffee, I’m just like a dried-up piece of goat.

Johann Sebastian Bach

If this is coffee, please bring me some tea; but if this is tea, please bring me some coffee.

Abraham Lincoln
Leanna Heiber quote "Coffee first. Schemes later"
“Coffee first. Schemes later.” – Leanna Renee Hieber

I like instant gratification. It’s like instant coffee, only it won’t keep you up at night.

Jarod Kintz

I like coffee because it gives me the illusion that I might be awake.

Lewis Black

My couch is coffee-colored. I can thank Starbucks and clumsiness for that.

Jarod Kintz

We want to do a lot of stuff. We’re not in great shape. We didn’t get a good night’s sleep. We’re a little depressed. Coffee solves all these problems in one delightful little cup.

Jerry Seinfeld

It is inhumane, in my opinion, to force people who have a genuine medical need for coffee to wait in line behind people who apparently view it as some kind of recreational activity.

Dave Barry

Behind every successful woman is a substantial amount of coffee.

Stephanie Piro
"Caffeine and sugar, the two basic food groups"
“Caffeine and sugar, the two basic food groups.” – Laurell K. Hamilton

I like my coffee like I like myself: strong, sweet, and too hot for you.

Jac Vanek

I believe humans get a lot done, not because we’re smart, but because we have thumbs so we can make coffee.

Flash Rosenberg

Why, yes, I could start my day without coffee. But I like being able to remember things like how to say words and put on pants.

Nanea Hoffman

A mathematician is a device for turning coffee into theorems.

Alfred Renyi

Our culture runs on coffee and gasoline, the first often tasting like the second.

Edward Abbey

I put instant coffee in a microwave oven and almost went back in time.

Steven Wright
"Coffee isn't my cup of tea"
“Coffee isn’t my cup of tea.” – Samuel Goldwyn

Decaf coffee only works if you throw it at people.

Unknown

Life’s too short for bad coffee.

Gord Downie

Decaffeinated coffee is kind of like kissing your sister.

Bob Irwin

We hope these coffee quotes gave you a boost and a newfound appreciation for java. If we left out your favorite, let us know in the comments.

No matter where you enjoy the bean scene, we hope you appreciate your next cup a little more.

Photo of author

Quincy Seale

Quincy is KIM's editor, and has collected and shared inspiring quotes and stories since 2005. Quincy holds an MBA from the University of Dundee and an MSc from the University of Edinburgh, and lives in San Antonio with his wife Natalie, son Alex, and his dog Oban.