58. They take great pleasure in protracted meals, not so much because they relish the food, as because of the pleasant conversation which accompanies it. When they sit down to eat, they do not sit on chairs or benches, or raised grassy banks, or even on the grass, but on the leaves of a certain tree. They would not tell me which tree the leaves were from, but when I guessed and named some, they finally said yes when I mentioned fig-leaves. They also said that they did not prepare their food to make it tasty, but more particularly with a view to its usefulness, remarking that useful food tastes good to them.
[2] There was some discussion about this among the spirits, and they said that this practice is suitable for human beings, for it is their heart's desire to have a healthy mind in a healthy body. But it is different for those who make taste the dominant factor. This makes the body ill, or at least internally languid, and this therefore has the same effect on the mind. The mind's behaviour depends on the inward condition of the receiving organs of the body, just as sight and hearing depend on the condition of the eye and ear. It is therefore madness to make luxury and pleasure the whole joy of life; and it also leads to insensitivity in matters demanding thought, judgment and cleverness in matters relating to the body and the world. This results in human beings becoming like animals, and such people are not wrong in comparing themselves with them.
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