1. I am reminded of the importance of salt whenever I make chocolate chip cookies. Cookies are sweet. Why do we mix in salt? The salt can't be sprinkled on top of the cookie after it's baked, or served on the side, nor is having salt in the room as we bake sufficient. For salt to do its job, it has to be in the cookie dough.
Make one batch of cookies without salt, one with—and then taste the cookies.
2. In Mark Kurlansky's book Salt, we read: "A French folktale relates the story of a princess who declares to her father, 'I love you like salt' and he, angered by the slight, banishes her from the kingdom. Only later when he is denied salt does he realize its value and therefore the depth of his daughter's love. Salt is so common, so easy to obtain, and so inexpensive that we have forgotten that from the beginning of civilization until about 100 years ago, salt was one of the most sought-after commodities in human history."1
1 Kurlansky: 6.