Nick Tosches

But I did not care. And in not caring, I was free

A drunk is never really with anybody or anything except the booze.

The truth shall set you free, as one Jew once told the other Jews who had gathered to him. And, yes—what eternal beauty, what eternal wisdom lie within those words. The truth shall set you free. But it can land your ass in jail, take the bread from your table, and place the bell of the leper round your neck as well.

It is not what we do in life that kills us. It is what we do not do that kills us.

No drunk ever truly listens to anybody: it is all between him and the drink; the rest is just part of the meaningless world beyond that all-consuming drink.