--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: But just as it sometimes happens that the…" description: "\"But just as it sometimes happens that the most temperate people, who have never acquired the habit of drinking alcohol, or even a taste for it, are tor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e8/rebecca-west-1248_alcohol_but-just-as-it-sometimes-happens-that-th_765327.jpg" --- # But just as it sometimes happens that the most temperate… ![“But just as it sometimes happens that the most temperate people, who have never acquired the habit of drinking alcohol, or even a taste for it, are tormented by the fear that somehow or other they will one day find themselves drunk, so Isabelle perpetually feared that she might be betrayed into an…” quote by Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e8/rebecca-west-1248_alcohol_but-just-as-it-sometimes-happens-that-th_765327.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e8/rebecca-west-1248_alcohol_but-just-as-it-sometimes-happens-that-th_765327.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9e8/rebecca-west-1248_alcohol_but-just-as-it-sometimes-happens-that-th_765327.jpg) > “But just as it sometimes happens that the most temperate people, who have never acquired the habit of drinking alcohol, or even a taste for it, are tormented by the fear that somehow or other they will one day find themselves drunk, so Isabelle perpetually feared that she might be betrayed into an impulsive act that was destructive to such order as reason had imposed on life. Therefore she was forever running her faculty of analysis over in her mind with the preposterous zeal of an adolescent running a razor over his beardless chin.” [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. She fears losing rational control, obsessively analyzing every thought to avoid impulsive, destructive actions. **In simple terms:** Fear of losing reason leads to constant self‑scrutiny. Key Takeaway Practice mindful acceptance of thoughts. Themes fear analysis reason self‑control Mood anxious reflective Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal decision‑making - stress management - creative work - relationship conflicts Key Concepts psychology anxiety self‑regulation Questions to Reflect On - How does constant self‑monitoring affect creativity? - Can you trust your instincts more? A Different Perspective Over‑analysis can paralyze and hinder intuition. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alcohol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alcohol/) [Analysis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/analysis/) [Betrayed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayed/) [Betrayed Impulsive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/betrayed-impulsive-5926612/) [Chins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/chins/) [Destructive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destructive/) [Drinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drinking/) [Drinking alcohol](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drinking-alcohol/) [Drunk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drunk/) [Drunk Isabelle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drunk-isabelle-5926609/) [Faculty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faculty/) [Fear](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fear/) [Forever](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/forever/) [Habit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit/) [Habit Drinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habit-drinking-2459873/) [Habits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/habits/) [Happens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happens/) [Impulsive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulsive/) [Isabelle Perpetually](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/isabelle-perpetually-5926611/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Might](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/might/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [One day](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/one-day/) [Order](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/order/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Perpetually Feared](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perpetually-feared-5926610/) [Razors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/razors/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Sometimes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sometimes/) [Taste](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/taste/) [Wine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wine/) [Zeal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zeal/) ## Related quotes > [Greatness of any kind has no greater foe than a habit of drinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-scott/greatness-of-any-kind-has-no-greater-foe-than-a-habit-of-drinking/) [Walter Scott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-scott/) > [ \[My\] worst habit: Drinking too much Budweiser when I get angry. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-holmes/my-worst-habit-drinking-too-much-budweiser-when-i-get-angry/) [Larry Holmes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-holmes/) > [“If I am this capable of loving an alcoholic so much, imagine how awesome I could be at loving myself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-w-wroldson/if-i-am-this-capable-of-loving-an-alcoholic-so-much-imagine-how/) [Grace W. Wroldson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-w-wroldson/) > [Let me be the first to tell you, drinking alcohol is the worst thing to do in cold weather. Hot soup is the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/morgan-freeman/let-me-be-the-first-to-tell-you-drinking-alcohol-is-the-worst-thing/) [Morgan Freeman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/morgan-freeman/) > [I stopped drinking alcohol, which probably was the biggest change. I used to be a very big beer drinker. Being from England, that's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wade-barrett/i-stopped-drinking-alcohol-which-probably-was-the-biggest-change-i/) [Wade Barrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wade-barrett/) > [In Sharia, nobody will be able to sell pork publicly. Nobody will be drinking alcohol. Pornography will be banned. Gambling will be banned. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anjem-choudary/in-sharia-nobody-will-be-able-to-sell-pork-publicly-nobody-will-be/) [Anjem Choudary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anjem-choudary/) > [Wouldn't it be terrible if I quoted some reliable statistics which prove that more people are driven insane through religious hysteria than by drinking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/wouldn-t-it-be-terrible-if-i-quoted-some-reliable-statistics-which/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [“When life gives you juniper berries, make gin!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurie-buchanan-phd/when-life-gives-you-juniper-berries-make-gin/) [Laurie Buchanan, PhD](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurie-buchanan-phd/) > [I began drinking alcohol at the age of thirteen and gave it up in my fifty sixth year; it was like going straight from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-montgomery/i-began-drinking-alcohol-at-the-age-of-thirteen-and-gave-it-up-in-my/) [George Montgomery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-montgomery/) > [“Ambitions and dreams put you at a drinking table with unexpected companions. Cups were filled and refilled, making you drunk with the illusion of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/guy-gavriel-kay/ambitions-and-dreams-put-you-at-a-drinking-table-with-unexpected/) [Guy Gavriel Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/guy-gavriel-kay/) > [“Since my body is a temple I try to eat only healthy foods. Then again, I am half-Irish and half-German so I drink a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hauenstein/since-my-body-is-a-temple-i-try-to-eat-only-healthy-foods-then-again/) [James Hauenstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hauenstein/) > [“All right, said Nick. Let's get drunk. All right, Bill said. Let's get really drunk.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-hemingway/all-right-said-nick-let-s-get-drunk-all-right-bill-said-let-s-get/) [Ernest Hemingway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-hemingway/) > [Research consistently shows that the risks to health outweigh the benefits of drinking alcohol. My argument is that the benefits to my mental health…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graeme-simsion/research-consistently-shows-that-the-risks-to-health-outweigh-the/) [Graeme Simsion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graeme-simsion/) > [It is most absurdly said, in popular language, of any man, that he is disguised in liquor; for, on the contrary, most men are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-de-quincey/it-is-most-absurdly-said-in-popular-language-of-any-man-that-he-is/) [Thomas de Quincey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-de-quincey/) > [Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house unless they have a well-stocked bar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/thou-shalt-not-covet-thy-neighbor-s-house-unless-they-have-a-well/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) ## More by Rebecca West > [I see the main problem of my life, and indeed anybody's life, as the balancing of competitive freedoms ... a sense of mutual obligations…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/i-see-the-main-problem-of-my-life-and-indeed-anybody-s-life-as-the/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“There is, of course, no reason for the existence of the male sex except that sometimes one needs help with moving the piano.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/there-is-of-course-no-reason-for-the-existence-of-the-male-sex-except/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [“At the top of a hill our automobile stuck in a snowdrift. Peasants ran out of a cottage near by, shouting with laughter because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/at-the-top-of-a-hill-our-automobile-stuck-in-a-snowdrift-peasants-ran/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [We all drew on the comfort which is given out by the major works of Mozart, which is as real and material as the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/we-all-drew-on-the-comfort-which-is-given-out-by-the-major-works-of/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Christianity must be regarded not as a final revelation but as a phase of revelation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/christianity-must-be-regarded-not-as-a-final-revelation-but-as-a/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Art and propaganda have this much connection, that if a propaganda makes art impossible, it is clearly damned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/art-and-propaganda-have-this-much-connection-that-if-a-propaganda/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [The American struggle for the vote was much more difficult than the English for the simple reason that it was much more easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/the-american-struggle-for-the-vote-was-much-more-difficult-than-the/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [ Like all bad drivers, he \[Henry Andrews\] thought he was the best driver in the world... ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/like-all-bad-drivers-he-henry-andrews-thought-he-was-the-best-driver/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [The childhood of the individual and the race is full of fears, and panic-stricken attempts to avert what is feared by placating the gods…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/the-childhood-of-the-individual-and-the-race-is-full-of-fears-and/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Humanity is never more sphinxlike than when it is expressing itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/humanity-is-never-more-sphinxlike-than-when-it-is-expressing-itself/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [ \[On Jane Austen:\] To believe her limited in range because she was harmonious in method is as sensible as to imagine that when the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/on-jane-austen-to-believe-her-limited-in-range-because-she-was/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [a good oyster cannot please the palate as acutely as a bad one can revolt it, and a good oyster cannot make him who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/a-good-oyster-cannot-please-the-palate-as-acutely-as-a-bad-one-can/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [If there is a God, I don't think He would demand that anyone bow down or stand up to Him. I often have a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/if-there-is-a-god-i-don-t-think-he-would-demand-that-anyone-bow-down/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [Any authentic work of art must start an argument between the artist and his audience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/any-authentic-work-of-art-must-start-an-argument-between-the-artist/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) > [... there has never been a period in history when there have been necessary killings which has not been instantly followed by a period…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-west/there-has-never-been-a-period-in-history-when-there-have-been/) [Rebecca West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) [Explore all 264 Rebecca West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-west/) ## More Alcohol quotes > [I'm Catholic and I can't commit suicide, but I plan to drink myself to death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/i-m-catholic-and-i-can-t-commit-suicide-but-i-plan-to-drink-myself-to/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [Stronger than alcohol, vaster than poetry, Ferment the freckled red bitterness of love!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-rimbaud/stronger-than-alcohol-vaster-than-poetry-ferment-the-freckled-red/) [Arthur Rimbaud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-rimbaud/) > [And, when night Darkens the streets, then wander forth the sons Of Belial, flown with insolence and wine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/and-when-night-darkens-the-streets-then-wander-forth-the-sons-of/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [ \[As in the case of\] alcohol prohibition, illegality has driven organized crime, sent countless people to jail, and killed many thousands. Repression does not… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-branson/as-in-the-case-of-alcohol-prohibition-illegality-has-driven-organized/) [Sam Branson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-branson/) > [You can get a new phone or new trainers (sneakers) but you've only got one body so you have to look after it. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyson-beckford/you-can-get-a-new-phone-or-new-trainers-sneakers-but-you-ve-only-got/) [Tyson Beckford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyson-beckford/) > [Alcohol doesn't console, it doesn't fill up anyone's psychological gaps, all it replaces is the lack of God. It doesn't comfort man. On the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marguerite-duras/alcohol-doesn-t-console-it-doesn-t-fill-up-anyone-s-psychological/) [Marguerite Duras](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marguerite-duras/) > [In 1969, I gave up women and alcohol - it was the worst 20 minutes of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-best/in-1969-i-gave-up-women-and-alcohol-it-was-the-worst-20-minutes-of-my/) [George Best](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-best/) > [Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's house unless they have a well-stocked bar.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-c-fields/thou-shalt-not-covet-thy-neighbor-s-house-unless-they-have-a-well/) [W. C. Fields](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-c-fields/) > [Alcohol is like Photoshop for real life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-ferrell/alcohol-is-like-photoshop-for-real-life/) [Will Ferrell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-ferrell/) > [“Alcoholism is a choice... not a life sentence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-norman/alcoholism-is-a-choice-not-a-life-sentence/) [David Norman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-norman/) > [Blunt force didn't knock out the drug epidemic. 21 million Americans are addicted to drugs or alcohol. And half of all federal inmates are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-botticelli/blunt-force-didn-t-knock-out-the-drug-epidemic-21-million-americans/) [Michael Botticelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-botticelli/) > [I go to parties sometimes until four, it's hard to leave when you can't find the door.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-walsh/i-go-to-parties-sometimes-until-four-it-s-hard-to-leave-when-you-can/) [Joe Walsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-walsh/) > [I can't fill the hole with money. I can't fill it with alcohol, or drugs, or sex, so what do I need to fill…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-victor-hansen/i-can-t-fill-the-hole-with-money-i-can-t-fill-it-with-alcohol-or/) [Mark Victor Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-victor-hansen/) > [Cocaine decisions that you make today, will mean nothing later on when you get nose decay.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-zappa/cocaine-decisions-that-you-make-today-will-mean-nothing-later-on-when/) [Frank Zappa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-zappa/) > [I take really good care of myself. I promised myself long ago that I would never miss a hunting season, never poison my sacred…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/i-take-really-good-care-of-myself-i-promised-myself-long-ago-that-i/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) [Browse all 1,953 Alcohol quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alcohol/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "But just as it sometimes happens that the most temperate people, who have never acquired the habit of drinking alcohol, or even a taste for it, are tormented by the fear that somehow or other they will one day find themselves drunk, so Isabelle perpetually feared that she might be betrayed into an impulsive act that was destructive to such order as reason had imposed on life. 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