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
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.
In practice
During a toast at a friend's wedding, you might include this quote to discuss the effects of wine on social gatherings.
A companion loves some agreeable qualities which a man may possess, but a friend loves the man himself.
There is nothing worth the wear of winning, but laughter and the love of friends.
He who has provoked the lash of wit, cannot complain that he smarts from it.
Friendship, "the wine of life," should, like a well-stocked cellar, be continually renewed.
Nowadays the world is becoming increasingly materialistic, and mankind is reaching toward the very zenith of external progress, driven by an insatiable desire for power and vast possessions. Yet by this vain striving for perfection in a world where everything is relative,they wander even further away from inward peace and happiness of the mind.
Seeking means: to have a goal; but finding means: to be free, to be receptive, to have no goal.
Liberty is the right of every man to be honest, to think and to speak without hypocrisy.
Once you experience Third World poverty, you're really changed forever, if you're at all open to it, because we're all united in our common humanity. And we are so made as to feel something for people who are in pain. It's not possible to be human and to be unaffected by what you see in the third world.
Nothing we see or hear is perfect. But right there in the imperfection is perfect reality.
Better to mock the game than to play and lose.
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