I am sure of this: that if everybody was to drink their bottle a day, there would not be half the disorders in the world there are now.
—Jane Austen, c. 1798Quotes
Sobriety diminishes, discriminates, and says no; drunkenness expands, unites, and says yes.
—William James, 1902It is impossible to live pleasurably without living wisely, well, and justly, and impossible to live wisely, well, and justly without living pleasurably.
—Epicurus, c. 300 BCMy advice to people today is as follows: if you take the game of life seriously, if you take your nervous system seriously, if you take your sense organs seriously, if you take the energy process seriously, you must turn on, tune in, and drop out.
—Timothy Leary, 1966There are two things that will be believed of any man whatsoever, and one of them is that he has taken to drink.
—Booth Tarkington, 1914As far as I can see, the history of experimental art in the twentieth century is intimately bound up with the experience of intoxification.
—Will Self, 1994Alcohol is the monarch of liquids.
—Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, 1825Drink does not drown care but waters it, and makes it grow faster.
—Benjamin Franklin, 1749Let your boat of life be light, packed with only what you need—a homely home and simple pleasures, one or two friends worth the name, someone to love and someone to love you, a cat, a dog, and a pipe or two, enough to eat and enough to wear, and a little more than enough to drink; for thirst is a dangerous thing.
—Jerome K. Jerome, 1889Drink today and drown all sorrow; / You shall perhaps not do it tomorrow.
—John Fletcher, 1625Modern life is often a mechanical oppression, and liquor is the only mechanical relief.
—Ernest Hemingway, 1935The drunken man is a living corpse.
—St. John Chrysostom, c. 390Whoever gulps down wine as a horse gulps down water is called a Scythian.
—Athenaeus, c. 230