Quotes to Imbibe By! Trivia Quiz

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

No source for this quote has been found. It is likely that it derives from another Franklin quote; "Behold the rain which descends from heaven upon our vineyards; there it enters the roots of the vines, to be changed into wine; a constant proof that God loves us, and loves to see us happy."

Benjamin Franklin lived from 1706 to 1790 and also said, "Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance."

Answer: Ernest Hemingway

"An intelligent man is sometimes forced to be drunk to spend time with fools", a written quote from "For Whom the Bell Tolls". Hemingway also said, "In Europe we thought of wine as something as healthy and normal as food and also a great giver of happiness and well being and delight. Drinking wine was not a snobbism nor a sign of sophistication nor a cult; it was as natural as eating and to me as necessary."

Answer: Bette Midler

Bette Midler has also been quoted as saying, "I never know how much of what I say is true."

Answer: George Burns

George Burns was born Nathan Birnbaum in 1896 and was a much loved US actor and comedian who lived to be 100 years old! He also said, "I love to sing, and I love to drink scotch. Most people would rather hear me drink scotch."

Answer: Plato

Greek author and philosopher, student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle, Plato was born in 428BC and died in 347BC. He wrote in "The Republic", "Wealth is the parent of luxury and indolence, and poverty of meanness and viciousness, and both of discontent."

Answer: Richard Burton

Born in Wales in 1925, Richard Burton died in 1984. He was also quoted as having said, "I have to think hard to name an interesting man who does not drink."

Answer: W C Fields

Born in 1880, W C Fields was a beloved comedian and actor. There are many quotes on 'imbibing' attributed to W C Fields, here are more than a few! "If I had to live my life over, I'd live over a saloon." "Hey! Who took the cork off my lunch!" "Once ... in the wilds of Afghanistan, I lost my corkscrew and we were forced to live on nothing but food and water for days." "Now don't say you can't swear off drinking, it's easy. I've done it a thousand times." "A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her." "A man's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another drink."

Answer: Dylan Thomas

Welsh poet and author Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 and died in the US whilst on a lecture tour in 1953.

Answer: Oliver Reed

Born in Wimbledon, England in 1938, Robert 'Oliver' Reed was also quoted as saying, "You meet a better class of people in pubs" and "I do not live in the world of sobriety." He died after a heart attack in 1999.

Answer: Dean Martin

Dean Martin was also quoted as having said, "I feel sorry for people who don't drink. They wake up in the morning and that's the best they're going to feel all day" (note that this quote has also been attributed to Frank Sinatra). "If you drink don't drive. Don't even putt." "You're not drunk if you can lie on the floor without holding on" (note that this quote too, has also been attributed to someone else)!

Answer: Rodney Dangerfield

Other quotes attributed to Rodney Dangerfield include; "I told my wife the truth. I told her I was seeing a psychiatrist. Then she told me the truth; that she was seeing a psychiatrist, two plumbers, and a bartender", and, "Yeah, I know I'm ugly ... I said to a bartender, make me a zombie." He said "God beat me to it."

Answer: George Best

George Best, born in Belfast, Northern Ireland in 1946, said of himself, "I spent a lot of money on booze, birds and fast cars. The rest I just squandered", and, on blood transfusions for his life saving liver transplant, "I was in for ten hours and had forty pints - beating my previous record by twenty minutes!"

Answer: Diogenes

Diogenes, Greek philosopher, lived from 412BC to 323BC. Diogenes also said, "As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task."

Answer: Jonathan Swift

"This wine should be eaten, it is too good to be drunk" was also attributed to Jonathan Swift who was born in 1667 and was a much celebrated author and satirist who died in 1745.

Answer: Mark Twain

Famous American humourist, lecturer and writer who was born in 1835 also said, "My books are water; those of the great geniuses are wine. Fortunately, everybody drinks water", and, "Give an Irishman lager for a month and he's a dead man. An Irishman's stomach is lined with copper, and the beer corrodes it. But whiskey polishes the copper and is the saving of him!"

Answer: F Scott Fitzgerald

Born in 1896, famous American novelist, short story writer and author, Francis Scott Fitzgerald, only achieved the fame he'd sought throughout his life, posthumously. He died from a heart attack at the age of 44.

Answer: Noel Coward

The son of a piano salesman, Noel Coward, born in 1899, was an actor, artist, author, composer, director, lyricist, singer who died in 1973.

Answer: Oscar Wilde

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in 1854 and died in 1900 (from meningitis). He was also quoted as saying, "I have made an important discovery ... that alcohol, taken in sufficient quantities, produces all the effects of intoxication."

Answer: Humphrey Bogart

Born in 1899 in New York, Humphrey DeForest Bogart purportedly said on his deathbed, "I should never have switched from scotch to martinis." He died at the age of 57 in 1957 from cancer.

Answer: Jack Nicholson

Other quotes from the inimitable Jack Nicholson, "I don't want people to know what I'm actually like. It's not good for an actor", and, "My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a bitch."

Answer: Henri Matisse

Henri Matisse, born in France in 1869, painter, sculptor and lithographer, is considered one of two foremost artists of the modern period (the other being Picasso). He was quoted as saying "Derive happiness in oneself from a good day's work, from illuminating the fog that surrounds us." He died in 1954.

Answer: Robert Downey Jr

Born in New York in 1965, Robert Downey Jr has had several 'brushes with the law' starting at the age of 31 when he was arrested for drunk driving, possession of heroin and possession of a pistol.

Answer: Dorothy Parker

Dorothy Parker, one of America's most wittiest women led a tragic life at the hands of alcohol. Some of her other famous quotes include "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glassess" and
"I like to have a martini,
Two at the very most.
After three I'm under the table,
after four I'm under my host."

Answer: Winston Churchill

Born in 1874, Sir Winston Churchill was certainly a wit. In reply to Mrs Braddock's comment, "Sir, you're drunk!" he said, "Yes, madam, I am drunk. But in the morning I will be sober and you will still be ugly!"

Answer: Dwight D Eisenhower

Born in 1890 and dying in 1969, Dwight also said, "A sense of humour is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done."