Quotation: "Beer, if drunk with moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit, and promotes health."

Variations: "Beer, if drank [sic] with moderation, softens the temper, cheers the spirit, and promotes health."

Sources consulted:

  1. Founders Online
  2. Thomas Jefferson retirement papers

Earliest known appearance in print: 2004[1]

Earliest known appearance in print, attributed to Thomas Jefferson: see above

Comments: This quotation has not been found in the writings of Thomas Jefferson.  It is most likely a corruption of Jefferson's comment to James Madison, "[Rational society] informs the mind, sweetens the temper, chears our spirits, and promotes health."[2]

- Anna Berkes, 7/2/14

References

  1. ^ Ken Wells, Travels with Barley: A Journey Through Beer Culture in America (New York: Free Press, 2004), 42.
  2. ^ Jefferson to Madison, February 20, 1784, in PTJ, 6:550.  Transcription available at Founders Online.