Lit up

In her book “A Cultivated Life,” Joy Sterling points out that “Artists and poets still find life’s meaning in a glass of wine.” That certainly holds true for these writers:

• “Wine does but draw forth a man’s natural qualities.” — Richard Brinsley Sheridan (left), “The School for Scandal”

• “If such small indiscretions standing on the debit column of wine’s account were added up, they would amount to nothing in comparison with the vast accumulation on the credit side.” — Duff Cooper, “Old Men Forget”

•”So sweet it seems with thee to walk,
And once again to woo thee mine —
It seems in after-dinner talk
Across the walnuts and the wine.”
— Alfred, Lord Tennyson

• “Wine is perhaps the closest thing the planet has to an elixir of life.” — Thom Elkjer (left)

• “Always do sober what you said you’d do drunk. That will teach you to keep your mouth shut.” — Ernest Hemingway

• *The wine —  it made her limbs loose and liquid, made her feel that a hummingbird had taken the place of her heart. — Jodi Picoult