Life itself is the proper binge.

Attributed to Julia Child, the line plays on the language of appetite and excess to argue for a wholehearted embrace of living. By calling life “the proper binge,” it reframes indulgence away from mere consumption—food, drink, or pleasure—and toward an expansive, affirmative engagement with experience itself. The phrasing also fits Child’s public persona: celebratory rather than ascetic, skeptical of joyless restraint, and inclined to treat pleasure (especially culinary pleasure) as a legitimate part of a well-lived life. The quote’s punch comes from its paradox: the only “excess” worth pursuing is not a single treat, but life in full.