Harold Nicolson Quotes

... the sin of drunkenness which is the root of all sins.

But who is it that has made my people drunk? Indians cannot make whiskey. Indians do not sell it. But white people make it and bring it among us. It is they that have brought the evil upon us and we cannot remove it. The white people can remove it and now we call upon them to do it. We ask them to take their whiskey and run away, and leave us sober as they found us.

Wine is a mocker, strong drink is riotous; and whoever is deceived by it is not wise

Drunkenness excuseth no vice.

[Referring to alcohol:] After the lapse of nearly fifty years of undisputed political freedom, the blood-freezing clank of a cruel bondage is still heard.

It is an unhappy thing that in later years a Kind of Drink called Rum has been common among us. They that are poor and wicked, too, can for a penny make themselves drunk.

Drunkenness was attacked in the same manner; it was discountenanced on every occasion by those who had charge of any department: its destructive and pernicious effects were frequently stated by his own more prudent comrades, at the proper moment when the individual was soberly suffering from the effects of his previous excess; pot- and public-houses were gradually removed from the immediate vicinity of their dwellings; the health and comfort of temperance were made familiar to them; by degrees drunkenness disappeared, and many who were habitual bacchanalians are now conspicuous for undeviating sobriety.

After all is said that can be said upon the liquor traffic, its influence is degrading upon the individual, the family, politics and business, and upon everything that you touch in this old world

I love a drink. But I've never, ever in my life been on a stage and done a performance with an alcoholic drink inside me. Never have, never would. I've seen people who do and invariably they're never as good as they think they are.

It's better to take sobriety with you when you work.

An American monkey, after getting drunk on brandy, would never touch it again, and thus is much wiser than most men.

It pays to get drunk with the best people.

It's not a crime to get drunk.

I've been drunk for about a week now, and I thought it might sober me up to sit in a library.

I'm not a heavy drinker, I can sometimes go for hours without touching a drop.

The white traders keep these poor Indians continually under the force of liquor. They entirely estrange the affections of the Indians from the English.

The white people brought whiskey into our village, made our people drunk, and cheated them out of their horses, guns, and traps!...I visited all the whites and begged them not to sell whiskey to my people. One of them continued the practice openly. I took a party of my young men, went to his house, took his barrel and broke in the head and turned out the whiskey.

The speech of a Creek—Indian, against the immoderate use of spirituous liquors. Delivered in a national assembly of the Creeks, upon the breaking out of the late war.

First the man takes a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes the man.

Liquor drinking is not a wrong; but excessive drinking is.

I made some mistakes. I occasionally drank too much, and I did that night.

No nation is drunken where wine is cheap; and none sober where the dearness of wine substitutes ardent spirits as the common beverage. It is, in truth, the only antidote to the bane of whiskey.

This government can't afford two drunkards. You've got to stop.

I promise ... to abstain from all kinds of intoxicating drink, unless used medically.

Drunkenness was extremely common… It seemed for many the only refuge from depression and misery. The effect of drunkenness upon the ordinary relationship of husband and wife, parents and children, was disastrous.