A companion loves some agreeable qualities which a man may possess, but a friend loves the man himself.
James BoswellRead
Wine makes a man better pleased with himself. I do not say that it makes him more pleasing to others. Sometimes it does. But the danger is, that while a man grows better pleased with himself, he may be growing less pleasing to others. Wine gives a man nothing. It neither gives him knowledge nor wit; it only animates a man, and enables him to bring out what a dread of the company has presented.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Wine may boost self-confidence but can diminish social appeal.
This quote by James Boswell reflects on the idea that while wine can enhance a person's self-satisfaction, it does not necessarily improve their likability to others. Instead, it can unveil aspects of their personality that may have been suppressed out of social anxiety, highlighting the duality of alcohol's effects on one's self-image versus social interactions.
Themes
WineSelf-EsteemSocial InteractionsConfidenceAlcohol
In practice
Example use cases
During a toast at a friend's wedding, you might include this quote to discuss the effects of wine on social gatherings.
More from James Boswell
All quotes →There is nothing worth the wear of winning, but laughter and the love of friends.
James BoswellRead
He who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.
James BoswellRead
Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed.
James BoswellRead
Similar quotes
My conscience is informed by reason. It's like Kant's categorical imperative: behave to others as you would wish they behaved to you.
Ayaan Hirsi AliRead
Complete adaptation to environment means death. The essential point in all response is the desire to control environment.
John DeweyRead
We are intelligent beings: intelligent beings cannot have been formed by a crude, blind, insensible being: there is certainly some difference between the ideas of Newton and the dung of a mule. Newton's intelligence, therefore, came from another intelligence
VoltaireRead
I never look forward, because I have no idea about how any of it happened to getting here. I've no idea how the next five years are going to be.
Paul MccartneyRead
If truth were not boring, science would have done away with God long ago. But God as well as the saints is a means to escape the dull banality of truth.
Emile M. CioranRead
With the beginning of life, comes the thirst for truth, whereas the ability to lie is gradually acquired in the process of trying to stay alive.
Gao XingjianRead