The watch in my left back pocket is a malignant tumor, an unripe boil.

NEWYORKER: Baptizing the Gun

Ripe fruit, fortunately, have a greater effect than unripe ones.

CNN: TWO IS ENOUGH - REALLY

There are the favored foods that he grew to abhor (Dover sole, Australian flapjacks, unripe plums, tinned sardines, fried tomatoes), the fear of swimming, his conviction (for a time) that he hated music, the "intimation of mortality" suggested by the taillights of cars receding down Park Avenue, the smell and touch of newspapers.

FORBES: A Truly Rare Book