I used to do drugs. I still do, but I used to, too.
—Mitch Hedberg, 1999Quotes
There was a great deal of drinking among us but little drunkenness. We all seemed to feel that Prohibition was a personal affront and that we had a moral duty to undermine it.
—Elizabeth Anderson, 1969An old man is twice a child, and so is a drunken man.
—Plato, c. 360 BCPeople who’ve drunk neat wine don’t care a damn.
—Hipponax, c. 550 BCDrinking with women is as unnatural as scolding with ’em.
—William Wycherley, 1675As 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, 1994A man who exposes himself when he is intoxicated has not the art of getting drunk.
—Samuel Johnson, 1779The pleasure we hold in esteem for the course of our lives ought to have a greater share of our time dedicated to it; we should refuse no occasion nor omit any opportunity of drinking, and always have it in our minds.
—Michel de Montaigne, 1580It 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 BCModern life is often a mechanical oppression, and liquor is the only mechanical relief.
—Ernest Hemingway, 1935If you were to ask me if I’d ever had the bad luck to miss my daily cocktail, I’d have to say that I doubt it; where certain things are concerned, I plan ahead.
—Luis Buñuel, 1983Abstainer, n. A weak man who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure.
—Ambrose Bierce, 1906I mean, why on earth (outside sickness and hangovers) aren’t people continually drunk? I want ecstasy of the mind all the time.
—Jack Kerouac, 1957