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Education Quote by Liza Minelli

"I mean, I inherited the disease of alcoholism, and I learned early to get help when I needed it"

About this Quote

Minelli turns a potentially tabloid-ready confession into a statement of agency, and the tightrope act is the point. By framing alcoholism as something she "inherited", she borrows the language of genetics and family legacy - a sober rebuttal to the old moralizing script that addiction is simply bad behavior. It also quietly nods to a famous lineage where public celebration and private chaos often shared the same stage. In one word, she moves the story from scandal to circumstance.

Then she pivots: "I learned early to get help when I needed it". That's not just recovery-talk; it's a reclamation of competence. The subtext is that celebrity doesn't insulate you from pain, but it does train you to perform resilience - and she refuses to confuse performance with healing. "Learned early" hints at a childhood lived under hot lights, where adult problems arrive on schedule whether you're ready or not. It suggests a life in which self-management wasn't a lifestyle choice but a survival skill.

The intent feels both personal and public-facing. Minelli offers a model of responsibility that isn't punitive: yes, there's predisposition, but there's also action. The sentence structure does cultural work, too - the casual "I mean" softens the admission, making it conversational rather than confessional, as if she's insisting this is ordinary information, not a career-defining flaw. In an industry that sells glamor and punishes vulnerability, she makes asking for help sound like professionalism.

Quote Details

TopicMental Health
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Minelli, Liza. (2026, January 17). I mean, I inherited the disease of alcoholism, and I learned early to get help when I needed it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-mean-i-inherited-the-disease-of-alcoholism-and-81214/

Chicago Style
Minelli, Liza. "I mean, I inherited the disease of alcoholism, and I learned early to get help when I needed it." FixQuotes. January 17, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-mean-i-inherited-the-disease-of-alcoholism-and-81214/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"I mean, I inherited the disease of alcoholism, and I learned early to get help when I needed it." FixQuotes, 17 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/i-mean-i-inherited-the-disease-of-alcoholism-and-81214/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.

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Inherited alcoholism and I learned to get help early
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About the Author

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Liza Minelli (born March 12, 1946) is a Entertainer from USA.

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