““French soldiers literally drank the entire day, beginning with wine (un pauvre larme – “a little teardrop”), progressing to spirits (le café le pousse-café), climaxing with a gut-searing brandy (le tord-boyaux – “the gut-wringer”), and ending with la consolation, a sweet liqueur that the French soldier sipped as he lay in his bunk contemplating the next day’s exertions. Far from imbuing the army with an ésprit””
![“If those who are sent to draw water begin by drinking themselves, the army is suffering from thirst. [One may know the condition of a whole army from the behavior of a single man.]” quote by Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/553/sun-tzu-283_business_if-those-who-are-sent-to-draw-water-begi_220880.jpg)
