Has anyone said it better than my dear friend Kingers? “He stood brooding by his bed. His face was heavy, as if little bags of sand had been painlessly sewn into various parts of it, dragging the features away from the bones, if he still had bones in his face. Suddenly feeling worse, he heaved [...]

“I drink to your charm, your beauty, and your brains — which gives you a rough idea of how hard up I am for a drink.” — Groucho Marx

“ABSTAINER, n. A weak person who yields to the temptation of denying himself a pleasure. A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others.” — Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary

“Don’t put any ice in mine, it takes up too much room.” — S. Quentin Quale (Groucho Marx), Go West

“I’m going down to the bar and see Joe. Bartender or no bartender, he’s still a man.” — Aunt Patsy (Cecil Cunningham), The Awful Truth

Coming to her senses as she takes leave of them. “Codeine . . . bourbon.” — Tallulah Bankhead, actress, d. December 12, 1968

“The waiter brought the aperitif and Wheeler sipped at it. It tasted less and less strong now; perhaps he should stop. But why? A fine vagueness was taking over, an absence of thought, leaving only uncomplicated realities, like the light on the lake, the grain of the table top, and the squeak of the wire [...]

“Potentially alcoholic men who maintained self-control all their lives because their work structures demanded it, men whose behavior was tempered by their responsibilities, come to Florida in retirement and fall apart.” — William E. Blundell, “My Florida”

“Chicagoans are heavy drinkers and like their liquor authoritative. Only since the war, when it got hard to get, have any wanted Scotch. In the old days Scotch was only for Englishmen and fairies.” — Jack Lait and Lee Mortimer, Chicago Confidential

“Martinis, both of them, the guy and the girl both. That’s the kind of couple that stays together.” — Daniel Handler, in his short story “Delmonico“