Walter Raleigh Quote

The longer it possesseth a man the more he will delight in it, and the older he groweth the more he shall be subject to it; for it dulleth the spirits, and destroyeth the body as ivy doth the old tree, or as the worm that engendereth in the kernal of the nut.

Remains of Sir Walter Raleigh; viz. Maxims of State. Advice to his Son, etc (ed. 1702)