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H. L. Mencken Quotes - Page 16

All Quotes Achievement Adultery Adventure Age Alcohol Arguing Art Atheism Atheist Beer Belief Business Change Character Children Choices College Comedy Common Sense Communism Conscience Conspiracy Cooking Country Courage Criticism Critics Culture Cynicism Death Democracy Determination Devil Difficulty Dignity Doubt Drinking Dying Earth Education Effort Ethics Evil Exercise Faith Fear Feelings Fighting Food Free Speech Freedom Funny Genius Giving God Golf Happiness Hate Heart Heaven Hell History Home Honesty Honor House Humanity Husband Ignorance Imagination Inspirational Intelligence Intuition Journalism Joy Judging Justice Kissing Knowledge Language Laughter Learning Liberty Life Literature Logic Love Lying Marriage Military Money Moon Morality Music Nature Office Originality Passion Past Patriotism Peace Personality Philosophy Politics Pot Poverty Prejudice Progress Propaganda Quality Quitting Reading Religion Respect Revolution Running Safety School Science Science And Religion Skins Slavery Society Son Sports Struggle Stupidity Style Success Suffering Sunday Sympathy Teaching Temptation Time Today Tragedy Trust Truth Virtue Voting Waiting War Water Weakness Wife Wisdom Work Writing Youth

To every complex question there is a simple answer and it is wrong.

To every complex question there is a simple answer and it is wrong.

Simple, Thinking, Answers

The fundamental trouble with marriage is that it shakes a man's confidence in himself, and so greatly diminishes his general competence and effectiveness. His habit of mind becomes that of a commander who has lost a decisive and calamitous battle. He quite trusts himself thereafter.

Marriage, Wedding, Men

H. L. Mencken, Marion Elizabeth Rodgers (2010). “H.L. Mencken: Prejudices: First, Second, and Third Series”, Hubsta Ltd

The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth... Liberty is not a thing for the great masses of men. It is the exclusive possession of a small and disreputable minority, like knowledge, courage and honor. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty - and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.

Love, Courage, Men

"The Baltimore Sun" Newspaper, February 12, 1923.

The other day a dog peed on me. A bad sign.

Dog

The only way to reconcile science and religion is to set up something which is not science and something that is not religion.

Science, Way, Science And Religion

The true aim of medicine is not to make men virtuous; it is to safeguard and rescue them from the consequences of their vices. The physician does not preach repentance; he offers absolution.

Men, Medicine, Hygiene

H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.12, Vintage

An altruist is one who would be sincerely sorry to see his neighbor's children devoured by wolves.

Children, Sorry, Would Be

Communism, like any other revealed religion, is largely made up of prophecies. When they fail to come off its clergy simply say that they will be realized later on. Thus, if we have another boom, they will argue that the collapse of capitalism is only postponed. The fact that the greatest booms ever heard of followed Marx's formal prophecy of the downfall of capitalism is already forgotten, just as millions have long since forgotten the early Christian prophecy that the end of the world was at hand. The first Christians accepted postponements as docilely as the Communists of today.

Christian, Hands, Long

H.L. Mencken (2013). “Minority Report”, p.277, Knopf

A dull, dark, depressing day in Winter: the whole world looks like a Methodist church at Wednesday night prayer meeting.

Depressing, Prayer, Dark

H.L. Mencken (2013). “Minority Report”, p.13, Knopf

I think the Negro people should feel secure enough by now to face a reasonable ridicule without terror. I am unalterably opposed to all efforts to put down free speech, whatever the excuse.

Thinking, Racism, People

Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages.

Humorous, Average, America

Without a doubt there are women who would vote intelligently. There are also men who knit socks beautifully.

Men, Doubt, Vote

There is, it appears, a conspiracy of scientists afoot. Their purpose is to break down religion, propagate immorality, and so reduce mankind to the level of brutes. They are the sworn and sinister agents of Beelzebub, who yearns to conquer the world, and has his eye especially upon Tennessee.]

Eye, Science, Conquer The World

A Galileo could no more be elected president of the United States than he could be elected Pope of Rome. Both high posts are reserved for men favored by God with an extraordinary genius for swathing the bitter facts of life in bandages of self-illusion.

Men, Self, Rome

In every woman's life there is one real and consuming love. But very few women guess which one it is.

Love, Real, Women

H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.620, Vintage

The double standard of morality will survive in this world so long as the woman whose husband has been lured away is favoured with the sympathetic tears of other women, and a man whose wife has made off is laughed at by other men.

Husband, Men, Wife

A society made up of individuals who were all capable of original thought would probably be unendurable.

Society, Original Thought, Literature

H.L. Mencken (2013). “Minority Report”, p.20, Knopf

To the extent that I am genuinely educated, I am suspicious of all the things that the average citizen believes and the average pedagogue teaches.

Believe, Average, People

"H.L. Mencken's Smart Set Criticism".

The New Deal began, like the Salvation Army, by promising to save humanity. It ended, again like the Salvation Army, by running flop-houses and disturbing the peace.

Running, Army, House

H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.622, Vintage

When I die, I shall be content to vanish into nothingness.... No show, however good, could conceivably be good forever I do not believe in immortality, and have no desire for it.

Atheist, Believe, Forever

As long as you represent me as praising alcohol I shall not complain. It is, I believe, the greatest of human inventions, and by far - much greater than Hell, the radio or the bichloride tablet.

Believe, Food, Long

There are some people who read too much: The bibliobibuli.

People, Too Much

He who eats alone chokes alone.

Dining Alone, Choke, Arabian

Has the art of politics no apparent utility? Does it appear to be unqualifiedly ratty, raffish, sordid, obscene, and low down, andits salient virtuosi a gang of unmitigated scoundrels? Then let us not forget its high capacity to soothe and tickle the midriff, its incomparable services as a maker of entertainment.

Art, Politics, Entertainment

It seems to me that society usually wins. There are, to be sure, free spirits in the world, but their freedom, in the last analysis, is not much greater than that of a canary in a cage. They may leap from perch to perch; they may bathe and guzzle at their will; they may flap their wings and sing. But they are still in the cage, and soon or late it conquers them.

Winning, Wings, Free Spirit

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