All [zoos] actually offer to the public in return for the taxes spent upon them is a form of idle and witless amusement, compared to which a visit to a penitentiary, or even to a State legislature in session, is informing, stimulating and ennobling.
H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.365, Vintage
![All [zoos] actually offer to the public in return for the taxes spent upon them is a form of idle and witless amusement, compared to which a visit to a penitentiary, or even to a State legislature in session, is](http://cdn.quoteddaily.com/images/h-l-mencken/all-zoos-actually-offer-to-the-public-in-return-for-the-taxes-spent-upon-them-is-a-form-of-idle.jpg)