Best Quotes on Abstinence

British journalism will not suffer from a little less alcohol.
- Rupert Murdoch, Australian-born U.S. media entrepreneur.Referring to the lack of pubs near The Times's new presses at Wapping in East London.
The Sydney Morning Herald

Deny yourself! You must deny yourself! That is the never-ending song.
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832), German poet, playwright, and scientist.
Faust

During all the time that was his life, Mr. Hayman never had a cup of coffee, a smoke, a drink, or a woman and thought he'd be a fool if he did.
- Richard Brautigan (1935? - 1984), U.S. novelist and poet.
Trout Fishing in America

Father, dear father, come home with me now,
The clock in the steeple strikes one.
- Henry Clay Work (1832 - 1884), U.S. songwriter.A temperance song.
"Come Home, Father"

Ha! Easy for nuns to talk about giving up things. That's what they do for a living.
- Garrison Keillor, U.S. writer and broadcaster.
Lake Wobegon Days, "Winter"

How many things I can do without!
- Socrates (470? BC - 399? BC), Greek philosopher, 5th century BC.Examining the range of goods on sale at a market.

I prefer temperance hotels—although they sell worse kinds of liquor than any other kind of hotels.
- Artemus Ward (1834 - 1867), U.S. humorist.
Artemus Ward's Lecture

If someone asks for a soft drink at a party, we no longer think he is a wimp.
- Edwina Currie (1946 - ), British politician and novelist.
Speech

If you resolve to give up smoking, drinking and loving, you don't actually live longer; it just seems longer.
- Clement Freud (1924 - ), British broadcaster and writer, December 27, 1964.

It was a brilliant affair; water flowed like champagne.
- Attributed to William M. Evarts (1818 - 1901), U.S. lawyer and statesman.Describing a dinner given by President Rutherford B. Hayes, an advocate of temperance.

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 - 1870), U.S. general.

Now I have realized that stopping is good;
This morning I have indeed truly stopped.
From this, once having stopped,
I shall go and stop upon the shores of Fusang.
- Tao Qian (365 - 427), Chinese poet.Referring to giving up alcohol.
"Stopping Wine"

She belongs to a Temperance Society and wears one of those badges in the shape of a bow of ribbon to show that she would never take a drink, not even brandy if she were dying. Of course by temperance they all mean the opposite—total abstinence.
- Elizabeth Taylor (1912 - 1975), British novelist and short-story writer.
A Dedicated Man, "Angel"

Teetotallers lack the sympathy and generosity of men that drink.
- W. H. Davies (1871 - 1940), British poet.
Introduction

The most intelligent people are the people of doing without, because they love what Allah loves and dislike the world which Allah dislikes.
- Muhammad (570? - 632?)

The people who are regarded as moral luminaries are those who forego ordinary pleasures themselves and find compensation in interfering with the pleasures of others.
- Bertrand Russell (1872 - 1970), British philosopher and mathematician.
Sceptical Essays

There are people who strictly deprive themselves of each and every eatable, drinkable, and smokable which has in any way acquired a shady reputation. They pay this price for health. And health is all they get for it.
- Attributed to Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), U.S. writer and humorist.

To abstain from taking life; to abstain from taking what is not given; to abstain from sensuous misconduct; to abstain from false speech; to abstain from intoxicants as tending to cloud the mind.
- Anonymous, The Five Precepts of Buddha.