favorite lines about Confucius, found near the end of a long account of how fastidious he was about everything he ate and drank, is “only with regard to wine did he set no limits.”86 The fact that Confucius could drink to his heart’s content but never become unruly is a sign of his sagehood. Socrates was similarly praised for his ability to keep his wits about him despite partaking, as any proper Athenian man did, in marathon drinking events. “He will drink any quantity that he is bid,” wrote Plato, “and never be drunk all the same.”87
