And when the woman saw that the tree wasgood for food, and that it waspleasanttothe eyes,and atreetobe desired to make one wise she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her; and he did eat. And the eyes of them bothwere opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons. And they heard the voice of the L God walking inthegarden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the L God amongst the trees of the garden.

-Bible (Old Testament)
ORDORDGenesis 3:6^8. In the GenevaBible of1560, the word'aprons'was rendered'breeches', and the versionwas therefore known as the Breeches Bible.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.But his delight is in the law of the L; and in his law doth he meditate dayand night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in hisseason; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. The ungodlyare not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

-Bible (Old Testament)
ORDPsalms1:1^4.

Theyshall still bring forth fruit inold age; they shall be fat and flourishing.

-Bible (Old Testament)
Psalms 92:14.

Then were the entrances of this world made narrow, full of sorrow and travail: they are but fewand evil, full of perils, and very painful. For the entrances of the elder world were wide and sure, and brought immortal fruit. If then they that live labour not to enter these strait and vain things, they can never receive those that are laid up for them.

-Bible (Apocrypha)
Esdras 7:12^14.

And hespake many things untothem inparables, saying, Behold, a sower went forthtosow; And whenhesowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls came and devoured them up: Some fell upon stony places, where they had not much earth: and forthwith they sprung up, because they had no deepness of earth: And when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no root, they withered away. And some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them: But others fell into good ground, and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

-Bible (NewTestament)
St Matthew13:3^8.

But hethat received seed into the good ground ishethat heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

-Bible (NewTestament)
St Matthew13:23.

But the fruit of the Spirit islove, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

-Bible (NewTestament)
Galatians 5:22^3.

OAutumn, laden with fruit, and stained With the blood of grape, pass not, but sit Beneath my shady roof; there thou may'st rest, And tune thy jolly voice to my fresh pipe, And all the daughters of the year shall dance! Sing now the lusty song of fruits and flowers.

-Blake,William
  Poetical Sketches,'To  Autumn'.

In plucking the fruit of memory one runs the risk of spoiling its bloom.

-Constantinus
  The Arrow of Gold, author's note. AD Roman Emperor, who adoptedChristianity c.312 AD. He founded a  royal  residence  at  Byzantium  (Constantinople),  an  act  of great historical importance.

Too late for fruit, too soon for flowers.

-de la Mare,Walter
Attributed, when asked, while ill, if he would prefer fruit or flowers. Quoted in Clifton Fadiman The Faber Book of  Anecdotes (1985).

The nuttis schell, thocht it be hard and teuch, Haldis the kirnell, sueit and delectabill; Sa lyis thair ane doctrine wyse aneuch And full of frute vnder ane fenyeit fabill.

-Henryson, Robert
c.1470  Moral Fables, prologue, l.15^19.

I read, and sigh, and wish I were a tree; For sure then I should grow To fruit or shade: at least some bird would trust Her household to me, and I should be just.

-Herbert, George
'Affliction (1)', collected in The Temple, Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations (published posthumously,1633).

   Who, of men, can tell That flowers would bloom, or that green fruit would swell To melting pulp, that fish would have bright mail, The earth its dower of river, wood, and vale, The meadows runnels, runnels pebble-stones, The seed its harvest, or the lute its tones, Tones ravishment, or ravishment its sweet, If human souls did never kiss and greet?

-Keats,John
  Endymion, bk.1, l.835^42.

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run.

-Keats,John
  Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St.  Agnes and Other Poems,'To Autumn', stanza1.

Now it is autumn and the falling fruit And the long journey towards oblivion† Have you built your ship of death,O have you?

-Lawrence, D(avid) H(erbert)
  'The Ship of Death'.

My aim all along has been (in Ezra Pound's term) the most drastic desuetization of Scottish life and letters, and, inparticular, thede-Tibetanizationofthe Highlands and Islands, and getting rid of the whole gang of high mucky-mucks, famous fatheads, old wives of both sexes, stuffed shirts, hollow men with headpieces stuffed with straw, bird-wits, lookers-under-beds, trained seals, creeping Jesuses, Scots Wha Ha'evers, village idiots, policemen, leaders of white-mouse factions and noted connoisseurs of bread and butter, glorified gangsters, and what 'Billy' Phelps calls Medlar Novelists (the medlar being a fruit that becomes rotten before it is ripe),Commercial Calvinists, makers of 'noises like a turnip', and all the touts and toadies and lickspittles o the English Ascendancy, and their infernal women-folk, and all their skunkoil skulduggery.

-Grieve
  Lucky Poet, ch.3,'The Kind of Poetry I  Want'.

A Poem should be palpable and mute As a globed fruit.

-MacLeish, Archibald
  'Ars Poetica'.

Nature that framed us of four elements, Warring within our breasts for regiment, Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds: Our souls, whose faculties can comprehend The wondrous architecture of the world, And measure every wandering planet's course, Still climbing after knowledge infinite, And always moving as the restless spheres, Wills us to wear ourselves, and never rest, Until we reach the ripest fruit of all, That perfect bliss and sole felicity, The sweet fruition of an earthly crown.

-Marlowe, Christopher
  Tamburlaine the Great (published1590), pt.1, act 2, sc.7.

Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe, With loss of Eden, till one greater Man Restore us, and regain the blissful seat.

-Milton,John
  Paradise Lost (published1667), bk.1, opening lines.

Out of the fertile ground he caused to grow All trees of noblest kind for sight, smell, taste; And all amid them stood theTree of Life, High eminent, blooming ambrosial fruit Of vegetable gold; and next to life Our death theTree of Knowledge grew fast by, Knowledge of good bought dear by knowing ill.

-Milton,John
  Paradise Lost (published1667), bk.4, l.218^24.