H. L. Mencken

Love: the delusion that one woman differs from another.

Love: the delusion that one woman differs from another.

Of government, at least in democratic states, it may be said briefly that it is an agency engaged wholesale, and read more

Of government, at least in democratic states, it may be said briefly that it is an agency engaged wholesale, and as a matter of solemn duty, in the performance of acts which all self-respecting individuals refrain from as a matter of common decency.

Morality is the theory that every h uman act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 % of read more

Morality is the theory that every h uman act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 % of them are wrong.

Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.

Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows read more

It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone- that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any man of, say, the Eighteenth Century, and is far more civilized. This assumption is quite erroneous...The great masses of men, even in this inspired republic, are precisely where the mob was at the dawn of history. They are ignorant, they are dishonest, they are cowardly, they are ignoble. They know little if anything that is worth knowing, and there is not the slightest sign of a natural desire among them to increase their knowledge.