Onecannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. The lamp in the spine doesnot light on beef and prunes
This is a concise, memorable statement that provides a definitive link between the material (food/wealth) and the spiritual/intellectual (thinking). Explain the powerful, slightly humorous imagery of "The lamp in the spine" as the internal light of inspiration or vitality, and how the plain, poor meal (the "beef and prunes") at the women's college fails to fuel this "lamp."