The social drinking of wine, during or after a meal, and in
full cognizance of its delicate taste and evocative aura, seldom leads to
drunkenness, and yet more seldom to loutish behavior. The drink problem that we
witness in British cities stems from our inability to pay Bacchus his due.
Thanks to cultural impoverishment, young people no longer have a repertoire of
songs, poems, arguments or ideas with which to entertain one another in their
cups. They drink to fill the moral vacuum generated by their culture, and while
we are familiar with the adverse effect of drink on an empty stomach, we are
now witnessing the far worse effect of drink on an empty mind.
Roger Scruton, from I Drink, Therefore I Am
This is the difference between a genuinely cultivated mind and one that only aspires to be. The genuinely cultivated mind knows when to remain silent. This is one of the uses of the greek symposium. It imposes on everybody around the table the obligation to be silent while one of them speaks. And that way when you speak it becomes seriously meaningful.
Roger Scruton
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