Abraham Lincoln was well known for total abstinence from alcohol. According to one well known story, he was once offered a drink by a colonel in the military. Lincoln responded by telling the man that when his mother was on her deathbed, she had summoned him as a nine year old boy and asked for his promise that he would never take a drink. He then said, “I promised my mother that I never would, and up to this hour, I’ve kept this promise! Would you advise me to break that promise?”
The colonel replied, “No, Mr. Lincoln, I wouldn’t have you do it for the world. It was one of the best promises you ever made. I would give a thousand dollars today if I had made my mother a promise like that and had kept it, as you have done.”