Originally Posted by Germanos

I enjoyed this excerpt from a book I picked up at the library today:

Background - the guy drank himself into a mental institution and these were the last words from his doctor before he got released:

[“Sooner or later,” he said, “you will find yourself on the point of taking a drink. It may be in your hand or on the way to your mouth . Stop for a moment and answer this question, ‘Just what do I expect to accomplish by taking this drink?’”

There was more dynamic force packed into that sentence than in all the millions of words of scare stuff that every alcoholic has had thrust upon him. I knew that if I could stamp this sentence on my memory so vividly that it would come up at the time I had the drink in my hand I could answer it in only one way—that alcohol had defeated me utterly not once but a thousand times and that the seductive promise of exhilaration and the sense of well-being which it offered me were not worth the days of sick agony, the fear of losing my job, hurting missy, and making a general mess of my life.]

-The Other Side of the Bottle - by Dwight Anderson

It is a very good read so far, great history and personal accounts of alcoholism. Recommend it