So Much To Do

            A preponderance of stories exists about Winston Churchill’s encounter with a group of ladies from the Temperance Movement. World War II had recently ended, and the women were clearly agitated about reports of his drinking.

            One version has the movement’s spokeswoman admonishing Churchill, “Mr. Prime Minister, we are advised that if all the brandy you had drunk during the war were poured into this room, it would come up to here?”

            The woman then held her hand at a point about halfway to the ceiling.

            The Prime Minister looked at her hand, then at the floor, then at the ceiling, and finally at her. “My dear lady,” he said, “so little have we done; so much have we yet to do.”

            I don’t know how strategic it is to join a temperance movement, but the thought of temperance is a healthy one. Take eating, for example. Eat too much, and we are guilty of gluttony. Eat too little, and we risk harming our bodies through self-starvation.