give a New York friend a panic attack, turn up unannounced on a Wednesday and suggest going for a drink. It is easier to organize five guys to raise a flag on Iwo Jima than to get mates out for movie and dinner. Surprise parties are such fun, but require e-mail “save the date” warnings. And everyone needs to know how to dress

I once saw ten minutes of The Big Breakfast and it was quite enough to convince me that television in the morning was like drinking in the morning: only real addicts could possibly do it without throwing up

What America needs now is a drink

You can’t be a real country unless you have a beer and an airline. It helps if you have some kind of a football team, or some nuclear weapons, but at the very least you need a beer

I don’t know of any issues associated with alcohol before flight.

I only drink Champagne on two occasions, when I am in love and when I am not.

A man’s true character comes out when he’s drunk.

Lighting new cigarettes, pouring more drinks. It has been a beautiful fight. Still is.

We are born at a given moment, in a given place, and like vintage years of wine, we have the qualities of the year and of the season in which we are born

I was in for 10 hours and had 40 pints – beating my previous record by 20 minutes.

In 1969 I gave up women and alcohol – it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.

If you would not spill the wine, do not fill the glass too full. If you wish your blade to hold it’s edge, do not try to make it over-keen

Milk is for babies. When you grow up you have to drink beer.

Let me be the first to tell you, drinking alcohol is the worst thing to do in cold weather. Hot soup is the best because the process of digesting food helps to warm you up.