Today’s words come to us from 18th century British physician, Dr. Thomas Fuller. Never heard of him? Yeah, me neither. But he had some pretty good stuff to say about Bacchus and wine.
In 1732, Dr. Fuller published a book of proverbs called Gnomologia: Adagies and Proverbs, Wise Sentences and Witty Sayings. The word, Gnomologia, comes from Gnomo, an obsolete Greek word, meaning a collection of sayings or words of wisdom. Dr. Fuller’s book is said to have inspired Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanack. (Almanack rolling off the tongue so much better than Gnomologia.)
A few more witty bits from Gnomologia:
- Drink wine, and have the gout; drink none, and have it, too.
- Women and wine make men out of their wits.
- Spilt wine is worse than water.
- {And, my favorite} Water breeds frogs in the belly; but wine kills worms.
Here’s to Bacchus and wine . . . the worm killer!
Salud!
