The belief sometimes entertained, that it is necessary to drink in
order to impress your sociability upon companions who also drink, is
utterly erroneous. One day a dinner was given by one of the great
lawyers of this country in honor of another lawyer of distinction, and
among those present was a young man of promise who at that time was
considerably in the public eye.
The dinner began with a cocktail, and the young man was the only one
of the brilliant company who did not drink it. He was not ostentatious
in his refusal, but merely lifted the glass to his lips and then set
it down with the others. Nor did he take any wine throughout the
dinner. The incident was noticed by only a few, and those few chanced
to meet at a club the next day. The young man was the topic of their
conversation.
"Well," said the great lawyer, "a young man who has enough
self-restraint to deny himself as that young man did, and who at the
same time is so scintillating in speech, so genuine and original in
thought, and so charming in manner, has in him simply tremendous
possibilities. I have not been so impressed in a long time as I was by
his refraining from drinking."
This incident is related simply to show that a young man loses nothing
in the esteem of those who themselves drink by declining to join them.
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