Skip to main content

Benjamin Franklin: The Antediluvians Were All Very Sober

An old song from the vaults of the esteemed Benjamin Franklin.

 


___________________________________________

The Antediluvians Were All Very Sober

The Antediluvians were all very sober
For they had no Wine, and they brewed no October;
All wicked, bad Livers, on Mischief still thinkinga
For there can't be good Living where there is not good drinking,

Derry Down

'Twas honest old Noah first planted the Vine,
And mended his Morals by drinking its Wine;
He justly the drinking of Water decried;
For he knew that all Mankind, by drinking it, died.

Derry Down

From this Piece of History's plainly we find
That Water's good neither for Body or Mind;
That Virtue and Safety in Wine-bibbing's found
While all that drink Water deserved to be drowned.

Derry down

So For Safety and Honesty put the Glass round.


__________________________________________

 

 

Antediluvians:

 Existing before the flood (the Noachian deluge) recorded in Genesis; relating to the times or events before the Noachian deluge: as, the antediluvian patriarchs: by extension, applied to the time preceding any great flood or inundation, as that which is said to have occurred in China in the time of Yao, 2298 b. c.
    Belonging to very ancient times; antiquated; primitive; rude; simple: as, antediluvian ideas.
    noun One who lived before the deluge.
    noun Hence, humorously
    noun One who is very old or very antiquated in manners or notions; an old fogy.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Word of the Day: Countenance

1a : look, expression … a countenance which expressed both good humor and intelligence …— Sir Walter Scott b : mental composure … startled, and also somewhat out of countenance.— Arnold Bennett c : calm expression He managed to keep his countenance through the ordeal. 2 : face, visage especially : the face as an indication of mood, emotion, or character The photograph showed his somber countenance. 3 : bearing or expression that offers approval or sanction : moral support … her countenance of their unsafe amusements …— Jane Austen
Post a Comment
Read more

Multi-decade Inflation Warnings

Last night my copy of the "University of Berkshire Hathaway" arrived in the mail. It gives a brief summary of the shareholder meetings conducted by Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger from 1986 - 2017. I was surprised to find that Buffet has been warning about the ills of inflation since 1986! "As long as politicians lack self-restraint, they will print a lot of money at some point." Buffet predicts as early as the 1986 meeting that that America will see "substantial inflation" at "rates we've never seen before" . Buffet's tone reminds me of my Twitter feed, which suggest that a massive Wiemar Republic style hyper-inflation event is right around the corner. To see today's inflation messages emulated in a publication from 34 years ago gave me a valuable perspective that these things play out over time. Like a frog boiling in water. I'm adjusting my present day internet media consumption to 10-20% of my information diet with books and
Post a Comment
Read more

Mises, Ludwig Von: On Inaction

 “The vigorous man industriously striving for the improvement of his condition acts neither more nor less than the lethargic man who sluggishly takes things as they come.  For to do nothing and to be idle are also action, they too determine the course of events.  Wherever the conditions for human interference are present, man acts no matter whether he interferes or refrains from interfering.  He who endures what he could change acts no less than he who interferes in order to attain another result.  A man who abstains from influencing the operation of physiological and instinctive factors which he could influence also acts.  Action is not only doing but no less omitting to do what possibly could be done. We may say that action is the manifestation of a man’s will.  But this would not add to our knowledge.  For the term will means nothing else than man’s faculty to choose between different states of affairs, to prefer one, to set aside the other, and to behave accordingly to the decision
Post a Comment
Read more