The proverb is used in a variety of forms, principally in allusion to the temptation of Eve (Genesis iii. 6): e.g. [c 1390 Chaucer Parson's Tale l. 332] The fleesh hadde delit in the beautee of the fruyt defended [forbidden]. See also the next entry.
But as the Proverbe hath it‥Apples are sweet, when they are plucked in the Gardiners absence. Eve liked no Apple in the Garden so well as the forbidden.
[1614 T. Adams Devil's Banquet iii. 98]
So eager are these sort of people to buy any thing that is unlicensed, following the Proverb, that stollen meat is sweetest.
[1668 F. Kirkman English Rogue ii. B1V]
I can remember‥ your being in some disgrace‥for stealing apples. ‥Some one had told you that stolen fruit tasted sweetest.
[1855 Gaskell North & South II. vi.]
He knew that he did not love her. ‥What else, then?‥He was not going to pretend that this stolen fruit was not sweet.
[1935 H. Spring Rachel Rosing xxiv.]
Old men are like children, of whom they say ‘Stolen apples are sweetest’.
[1961 N. Lofts House at Old Vine ii. 137]
The truth was that at the Minimes the show was better than in the Place Royale, perhaps because stolen fruits are sweeter.
[1971 E. H. Cohen Mademoiselle Libertine iii.]
Related to: theft
Bibliography of major proverb collections and works cited from modern editions is available here.
