A gentleman once said to Tom Sayers, the champion of England, “Well, Tom, of course in training you must take a great deal of nourishment, such as beefsteak, Barclay’s stout, or pale ale?” “I’ll tell you what it is, sir,” answered Sayers, “I’m not teetotaler, and in my time have drunk a great deal more than is good for me; but when I’ve any business to do, there’s nothing like water and the dumb-bells.”

—D. R. Dungan, Rum and Ruin: The Remedy Found, 1879.