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Virtue and Vice
131. Drinking; Moderation
"Sir, I have no objection to a man's drinking wine, if he can do
it in moderation. I found myself apt to go to excess in it, and
therefore, after having been for some time without it, on account
of illness, I thought it better not to return to it. Every man
is to judge for himself, according to the effects which he
178. Drinking; Exercise
"Exercise!! I never heard that he used any: he might, for aught
I know, walk to the alehouse; but I believe he was always
carried home again."
Boswell: "You must allow me, Sir, at least that it
produces truth; in vino veritas, you know, Sir--" "That
(replied Mr. Johnson) would be useless to a man who knew he was
not a liar when he was sober."
199. Diversion; Drinking
"Melancholy, indeed, should be diverted by every means but
We discussed the question whether drinking improved conversation
and benevolence. Sir Joshua maintained it did. Johnson:
"No, Sir: before dinner men meet with great inequality of
understanding; and those who are conscious of their inferiority,
have the modesty not to talk. When they have drunk wine, every
man feels himself happy, and loses that modesty, and grows
impudent and vociferous: but he is not improved; he is only not
sensible of his defects."
I observed, that wine did some people harm, by inflaming,
confusing, and irritating their minds; but that the experience
of mankind had declared in favour of moderate drinking.
Johnson: "Sir, I do not say it is wrong to produce
self-complacency by drinking; I only deny that it improves the
mind. When I drank wine, I scorned to drink it when in company.
I have drunk many a bottle by myself; in the first place,
because I had need of it to raise my spirits; in the second
place, because I would have nobody to witness its effects upon
Talking of drinking wine, he said, "I did not leave off wine
because I could not bear it; I have drunk three bottles of port
without being the worse for it. University College has witnessed
this." Boswell: "Why then, Sir, did you leave it off?"
Johnson: "Why, Sir, because it is so much better for a
man to be sure that he is never intoxicated, never to lose the
power over himself."
Boswell: "I think, Sir, you once said to me, that not to
drink wine was a great deduction from life." Johnson:
"It is a diminution of pleasure, to be sure; but I do not say a
diminution of happiness. There is more happiness in being
262. Abstinence; Drinking
Talking of a man's resolving to deny himself the use of wine,
from moral and religious considerations, he said, "He must not
doubt about it. When one doubts as to pleasure, we know what
will be the conclusion. I now no more think of drinking wine,
than a horse does. The wine upon the table is no more for me,
than for the dog that is under the table.
"I must entreat you to be scrupulous in the use of strong
liquors. One night's drunkenness may defeat the labours of forty
days well employed."
Johnson: Letter to Boswell
547. Depression; Drinking
I called on Dr. Johnson one morning, when Mrs. Williams, the
blind lady, was conversing with him. She was telling him where
she had dined the day before. "There were several gentlemen
there," said she, "and when some of them came to the tea-table, I
found that there had been a good deal of hard drinking." She
closed this observation with a common and trite moral reflection;
which, indeed, is very ill-founded, and does great injustice to
animals -- "I wonder what pleasure men can take in making beasts
of themselves." "I wonder, Madam," replied the Doctor,
"that you have not penetration to see the strong inducement to
this excess; for he who makes a beast of himself gets rid
of the pain of being a man."
Anecdotes of the Revd. Percival Stockdale; collected in
"Johnsonian Miscellanies," edited by G.B. Hill.
Johnson harangued upon the qualities of different liquors; and
spoke with great contempt of claret, as so weak, that "a man
would be drowned by it before it made him drunk." He was
persuaded to drink one glass of it, that he might judge, not from
recollection, which might be dim, but from immediate sensation.
He shook his head, and said, "Poor stuff! No, Sir, claret is the
liquor for boys; port, for men; but he who aspires to be a hero
(smiling) must drink brandy. In the first place, brandy is most
grateful to the palate; and then brandy will do soonest for a
man what drinking can do for him. There are, indeed, few
who are able to drink brandy. That is a power rather to be
wished for than attained."
Boswell: Life of Johnson
"In the bottle discontent seeks for comfort, cowardice for
courage, and bashfulness for confidence."
Johnson: Addison (Lives of the Poets)
I was at this time myself a water-drinker, upon trial, by
Johnson's recommendation. JOHNSON. 'Boswell is a bolder combatant
than Sir Joshua: he argues for wine without the help of wine; but
Sir Joshua with it.' SIR JOSHUA REYNOLDS. 'But to please one's
company is a strong motive.' JOHNSON. (who, from drinking only
water, supposed every body who drank wine to be elevated,) 'I
won't argue any more with you, Sir. You are too far gone' SIR
JOSHUA. 'I should have thought so indeed, Sir, had I made such a
speech as you have now done.' JOHNSON. (drawing himself in, and,
I really thought blushing,) 'Nay, don't be angry. I did not mean
to offend you.' SIR JOSHUA. 'At first the taste of wine was
disagreeable to me; but I brought myself to drink it, that I
might be like other people. The pleasure of drinking wine is so
connected with pleasing your company, that altogether there is
something of social goodness in it.' JOHNSON. 'Sir, this is only
saying the same thing over again.' SIR JOSHUA. 'No, this is new.'
JOHNSON. 'You put it in new words, but it is an old thought. This
is one of the disadvantages of wine. It makes a man mistake words
Boswell: Life of Johnson