Abraham Lincoln, Address to the Washington Temperance Society, Springfield, Illinois, 22 February (1842).

If we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant and warm-blooded to fall in to this vice. The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and generosity.

— Abraham Lincoln on Drunkenness

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "If we take habitual drunkards as a class, their heads and their hearts will bear an advantageous comparison with those of any other class. There seems ever to have been a proneness in the brilliant and warm-blooded to fall in to this vice. The demon of intemperance ever seems to have delighted in sucking the blood of genius and generosity." in the context of "Abraham Lincoln, Address to the Washington Temperance Society, Springfield, Illinois, 22 February (1842)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Drunkenness" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed February 05, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Abraham Lincoln

About Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, a self-taught lawyer and politician, steered the United States through its most tumultuous period, the Civil War. His unwavering commitment to preserving the Union and abolishing slavery forever altered the course of American history and enshrined him as a champion of equality and justice.