If a man be discreet enough to take to hard drinking in his youth, before his general emptiness is ascertained, his friends invariably credit him with a host of shining qualities which, we are given to understand, lie balked and frustrated by his one unfortunate weakness.

Agnes Repplier (1855–1950) American writer

“A Plea for Humor,” Points of View (1891)
    (Source)

Offered as a hypothetical sardonic observation by the author William Dean Howells.