--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let us drink deep brothers,' he cried…" description: "\"“Let us drink deep brothers,' he cried, leaving off his strange anointment for a while, to lift a great glass, filled with sparkling liquor, to his lip..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/fitz-james-o-brien-58096_poison_let-us-drink-deep-brothers-he-cried-leav_1464618.png" --- # Let us drink deep brothers,' he cried, leaving off his… ![“Let us drink deep brothers,' he cried, leaving off his strange anointment for a while, to lift a great glass, filled with sparkling liquor, to his lips. 'Let us drink to our approaching triumph. Let us drink to the great poison, Macousha. Subtle seed of Death, - swift hurricane that sweeps away…” quote by Fitz James O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/fitz-james-o-brien-58096_poison_let-us-drink-deep-brothers-he-cried-leav_1464618.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/fitz-james-o-brien-58096_poison_let-us-drink-deep-brothers-he-cried-leav_1464618.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/471/fitz-james-o-brien-58096_poison_let-us-drink-deep-brothers-he-cried-leav_1464618.png) > ““Let us drink deep brothers,' he cried, leaving off his strange anointment for a while, to lift a great glass, filled with sparkling liquor, to his lips. 'Let us drink to our approaching triumph. Let us drink to the great poison, Macousha. Subtle seed of Death, - swift hurricane that sweeps away Life, - vast hammer that crushes brain and heart and artery with its resistless weight, -I drink to it.' 'It is a noble concoction, Duke Balthazar,' said Madame Filomel, nodding in her chair as she swallowed her wine in great gulps. 'Where did you obtain it?' 'It is made,' said the Wondersmith, swallowing another great draught of wine ere he replied, 'in the wild woods of Guiana, in silence and in mystery. Only one tribe of Indians, the Macoushi Indians, know the secret. It is simmered over fires built of strange woods, and the maker of it dies in the making. The place, for a mile around the spot where it is fabricated, is shunned as accursed. Devils hover over the pot in which it stews; and the birds of the air, scenting the smallest breath of its vapour from far away, drop to earth with paralysed wings, cold and dead.' 'It kills, then, fast?' asked Kerplonne, the artificial-eye maker, - his own eyes gleaming, under the influence of the wine, with a sinister lustre, as if they had been fresh from the factory, and were yet untarnished by use. 'Kills?' echoed the Wondersmith, derisively; 'it is swifter than thunderbolts, stronger than lightning. But you shall see it proved before we let forth our army on the city accursed. You shall see a wretch die, as if smitten by a falling fragment of the sun.' ("The Wondersmith")”” [Fitz James O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fitz-james-o-brien/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A character drinks a mysterious, deadly wine, celebrating its power while acknowledging its lethal nature, reflecting on the allure of dangerous knowledge. **In simple terms:** People sometimes glorify deadly power. Key Takeaway Beware glorifying harmful forces. Themes danger power knowledge temptation death Mood dark ominous Type literary cautionary When to use this quote - war strategy - scientific experimentation - risky ventures - addiction Key Concepts mythic symbolism human curiosity Questions to Reflect On - What risks do you romanticize? - How can you balance curiosity with caution? A Different Perspective The allure may blind to consequences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Brain And Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/brain-and-heart/) [Drink Deep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drink-deep-2644400/) [Great Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-poison-5299739/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Poison Macousha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison-macousha-5299738/) [Swallowed Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/swallowed-wine-4378360/) [Wine Sinister](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine-sinister-5299740/) ## Related quotes > [But they also have erred through wine, and through strong drink are out of the way; the priest and the prophet have erred through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bible/but-they-also-have-erred-through-wine-and-through-strong-drink-are/) [Bible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bible/) > [We'll teach you to drink deep ere you depart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/we-ll-teach-you-to-drink-deep-ere-you-depart/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [“Drink deep the cup of life; take it's dark wine into your soul. 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David Robbins”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-robbins/to-imagine-to-dream-to-aspire-to-desire-the-four-nectars-of-life/) [David Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-robbins/) > [It is better to drink of deep grief than to taste shallow pleasures.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/it-is-better-to-drink-of-deep-grief-than-to-taste-shallow-pleasures/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [This is the ancient land, where wisdom made its home before it went into any other country... Here is the same India whose soil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/this-is-the-ancient-land-where-wisdom-made-its-home-before-it-went/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [I have been in many beautiful places, and did not wish to taste, but to drink deep.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/everett-ruess/i-have-been-in-many-beautiful-places-and-did-not-wish-to-taste-but-to/) [Everett Ruess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/everett-ruess/) > [We shall quench our thirst, for we shall drink deep at the bubbling fountain of Wisdom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/we-shall-quench-our-thirst-for-we-shall-drink-deep-at-the-bubbling/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [A little learning is a dangerous thing; Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/a-little-learning-is-a-dangerous-thing-drink-deep-or-taste-not-the/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [I love lawyers and bankers, they are my family, but I don't want to live with them. It doesn't make a city. You need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agathe-snow/i-love-lawyers-and-bankers-they-are-my-family-but-i-don-t-want-to/) [Agathe Snow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agathe-snow/) > [“The first language humans had was gestures. There was nothing primitive about this language that flowed from people’s hands, nothing we say now that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicole-krauss/the-first-language-humans-had-was-gestures-there-was-nothing/) [Nicole Krauss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicole-krauss/) ## More by Fitz James O'Brien > [We love the night and it's quiet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fitz-james-o-brien/we-love-the-night-and-it-s-quiet/) [Fitz James O'Brien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fitz-james-o-brien/) > [“Golosh Street is an interesting locality. 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Norman Lippert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-norman-lippert/) > [Slander is a poison which kills charity, both in the slanderer and the one who listens.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/slander-is-a-poison-which-kills-charity-both-in-the-slanderer-and-the/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [“Food for the ego is poison for the soul.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-goddard/food-for-the-ego-is-poison-for-the-soul/) [Donna Goddard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-goddard/) > [For Scotland has a double dose of the poison called heredity; the sense of blood in the aristocrat, the sense of doom in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/for-scotland-has-a-double-dose-of-the-poison-called-heredity-the/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Yelena, you've driven me crazy. You've caused me considerable trouble and I've contemplated ending your life twice since I've known you." Valek's warm breath…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-v-snyder/yelena-you-ve-driven-me-crazy-you-ve-caused-me-considerable-trouble/) [Maria V. Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-v-snyder/) > [I’ve blamed her for all of this, for leaving, for ruining me. And maybe that was the seed of it, but from that one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gayle-forman/i-ve-blamed-her-for-all-of-this-for-leaving-for-ruining-me-and-maybe/) [Gayle Forman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gayle-forman/) > [“There is no substance which is not a poison; all are poisonous. Only the dose determines.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philippus-theophrastus/there-is-no-substance-which-is-not-a-poison-all-are-poisonous-only/) [Philippus Theophrastus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philippus-theophrastus/) > [I take really good care of myself. 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Everyone follows the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-wooding/real-life-is-a-story-too-only-much-more-complicated-it-s-still-got-a/) [Chris Wooding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-wooding/) [Browse all 1,457 Poison quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Let us drink deep brothers,' he cried, leaving off his strange anointment for a while, to lift a great glass, filled with sparkling liquor, to his lips. 'Let us drink to our approaching triumph. Let us drink to the great poison, Macousha. Subtle seed of Death, - swift hurricane that sweeps away Life, - vast hammer that crushes brain and heart and artery with its resistless weight, -I drink to it.' 'It is a noble concoction, Duke Balthazar,' said Madame Filomel, nodding in her chair as she swallowed her wine in great gulps. 'Where did you obtain it?' 'It is made,' said the Wondersmith, swallowing another great draught of wine ere he replied, 'in the wild woods of Guiana, in silence and in mystery. Only one tribe of Indians, the Macoushi Indians, know the secret. It is simmered over fires built of strange woods, and the maker of it dies in the making. The place, for a mile around the spot where it is fabricated, is shunned as accursed. Devils hover over the pot in which it stews; and the birds of the air, scenting the smallest breath of its vapour from far away, drop to earth with paralysed wings, cold and dead.' 'It kills, then, fast?' asked Kerplonne, the artificial-eye maker, - his own eyes gleaming, under the influence of the wine, with a sinister lustre, as if they had been fresh from the factory, and were yet untarnished by use. 'Kills?' echoed the Wondersmith, derisively; 'it is swifter than thunderbolts, stronger than lightning. But you shall see it proved before we let forth our army on the city accursed. 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