How Drunkenness Protects Against Debauchery

I knew a certain dignitary who was remarkably successful in all his grand undertakings and effortlessly consumed no less than twenty pints of wine during a regular meal. After which, he became only more insightful and skilled in resolving complex matters. The pleasures we seek in life should occupy a greater place in it. Not a single opportunity to drink should be missed. Always keep one's desires in mind and approach them with the diligence of a peddler from a shop or a craftsman. It seems that with each passing day, we limit our daily wine consumption, and in the past, as I observed in my childhood, all sorts of treats and libations were much more frequent and ordinary than they are these days. Does this mean that we are progressing in some respects? Not at all! It only means that we are, to a much greater extent than our fathers, indulging in debauchery. After all, it is impossible to be equally devoted to both debauchery and a passion for wine. Abstaining from wine, on the one hand, weakens our stomach and, on the other hand, makes us subservient to women, more prone to amorous pleasures.

Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) was one of the greatest French philosophers of the Renaissance.