In defense of our vices

If that cold martini makes one feel civilized, if the sting of a cigarette comforts the soul, maybe it has some virtue after all.

You don’t have to live perfectly to live well in this world.

Indeed, some of the most creative, innovative and charismatic people in history have been rife with flawed personalities, poor habits and a tendency to overindulge in a broad range of vices — and I don’t think that relationship between sin and brilliance is purely coincidental.

Generally speaking, those who dabble in world-changing divergent thinking are far more likely to be sucking down a pack of cigarettes while garrulously carousing with fellow drunks at a local pub than they are to be genuinely enjoying an organic kale-and-tofu salad at home. As such, it seems quite worth pondering the possibility that a tendency toward vice is, indeed, a necessary personality trait for “thinking creatively.”

Certainly, many of the greatest thinkers in history seem to have agreed — even going so far as to extoll their vices as virtues. Ernest Hemingway, for example, believed the effects of whisky was a necessary condition for refreshing our creative batteries:

When you work hard all day with your head and know you must work again the next day what else can change your ideas and make them run on a different plane like whisky?

Like many before and after him, Hemingway took great pride in his overindulgences. Dr. Hunter S. Thompson once proclaimed “I drink alcohol like I smoke cigarettes; I don't even notice it.” Mark Twain famously quipped that “if there is no smoking in heaven, I'm not interested.” And Sigmund Freud once became nearly irate at his 17-year-old son when he turned down the opportunity to smoke a cigar.

“Smoking is one of the greatest and cheapest enjoyments in life, and if you decide in advance not to smoke, I can only feel sorry for you.”

— Sigmund Freud

And it’s not just “creative” people who have been adamantly defensive of their vices. As it turns out, many thought leaders throughout history shared a similar prideful ownership of their bad habits.

My rule of life, prescribed as an absolutely sacred rite, is the smoking of cigars and also the drinking of alcohol before, after and if need be during all meals and in the intervals between them.

—    Winston Churchill

Considering the degree to which our history’s greatest thinkers have leaned on vice to move them through the toils of their mortal experiences, maybe our current moment of creative rot and cultural decay isn’t so surprising.

Indeed, much of our current world is actively hostile to anything that even resembles an unhealthy habit. For example, with the exception of my lovely hometown of Las Vegas, the entire nation is now pretty much one giant “smoke free” property; ordering a drink at a business lunch is quite nearly regarded as a war crime by much of polite society; and even enjoying too many “unhealthy” decadent foods is frowned upon by the growing yuppie class who prefers arugula salads and avocado toast to red velvet cake and bacon-wrapped filets.

Yes, vice is frowned upon, and there’s a plethora of online resources to rid ourselves of such spoils — as if living healthier will somehow inspire greater success in our professional, personal and romantic lives…