Of all vices, drinking is the most incompatible with greatness.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
When a woman drinks it’s as if an animal were drinking, or a child. Alcoholism is scandalous in a woman, and a female alcoholic is rare, a serious matter. It’s a slur on the divine in our nature.
—Marguerite Duras (1914–96) French Novelist, Playwright
I believe that water is the only drink for a wise man.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
There is this to be said in favor of drinking, that it takes the drunkard first out of society, then out of the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
What whiskey will not cure, there is no cure for.
—Irish Proverb
Wine is bottled poetry.
—Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–94) Scottish Novelist
My experience through life has convinced me that, while moderation and temperance in all things are commendable and beneficial, abstinence from spirituous liquors is the best safeguard of morals and health.
—Robert E. Lee (1807–70) Confederate General during American Civil War
Somebody left the cork out of my lunch.
—W. C. Fields (1880–1946) American Actor, Comedian, Writer
I have taken more out of alcohol than alcohol has taken out of me.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Man being reasonable must get drunk; the best of life is but intoxication. Glory, the grape, love, gold – in these are sunk the hopes of all men and of every nation.
—Lord Byron (George Gordon Byron) (1788–1824) English Romantic Poet
You can’t be a Real Country unless you have a BEER and an airline—it helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a BEER.
—Frank Zappa (1940–93) American Rock Guitarist, Singer, Composer
Better belly burst than good liquor be lost.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
I never drink water; that is the stuff that rusts pipes.
—W. C. Fields (1880–1946) American Actor, Comedian, Writer
The sway of alcohol over mankind is unquestionably due to its power to stimulate the mystical faculties of human nature, usually crushed to earth by the cold facts and dry criticisms of the sober hour. Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
I never drink water. I’m afraid it will become habit-forming.
—W. C. Fields (1880–1946) American Actor, Comedian, Writer
Old wine and friends improve with age.
—Italian Proverb
Some men are like musical glasses; to produce their finest tones you must keep them wet.
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) English Poet, Literary Critic, Philosopher
Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Drink not the third glass, which thou canst not tame, when once it is within thee.
—George Herbert (1593–1633) Welsh Anglican Poet, Orator, Clergyman
They who drink beer will think beer.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
There is nothing which has yet been contrived by man, by which so much happiness is produced as by a good tavern.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I believe, if we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant and warm-blooded to fall into this vice.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Wine is a mocker, and strong drink is raging; and who is deceived by it is not wise.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
No other human being, no woman, no poem or music, book or painting can replace alcohol in its power to give man the illusion of real creation.
—Marguerite Duras (1914–96) French Novelist, Playwright
O God, that men should put an enemy in their mouths to steal away their brains! That we should with joy, pleasance, revel, and applause transform ourselves into beasts!
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
For art to exist, for any sort of aesthetic activity or perception to exist, a certain physiological precondition is indispensable: intoxication.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
It was a woman who drove me to drink, and I never had the courtesy to thank her for it.
—W. C. Fields (1880–1946) American Actor, Comedian, Writer
Prohibition may be a disputed theory, but none can say that it doesn’t hold water.
—Thomas Masson (1866–1934) American Journalist, Humorist, Author
If merely “feeling good” could decide, drunkenness would be the supremely valid human experience.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
Macduff: What three things does drink especially provoke?. Porter: Marry, sir, nose-painting, sleep, and urine.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
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