It Helps to have a Reason

I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason. When I come to town, which is seldom, if I weave a little and drink out of this sack, folks can say Dolphus Raymond's in the clutches of whiskey—that's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does. It ain't honest but it's mighty helpful to folks.

—Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 20.