H. L. Mencken ( 10 of 103 )
All I ask is equal freedom. When it is denied, as it always is, I take it anyhow.
All I ask is equal freedom. When it is denied, as it always is, I take it anyhow.
The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it is true; he thinks it read more
The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it is true; he thinks it is true because he gets pleasure out of it.
We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the same sense and to the extent that we respect read more
We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the same sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.
The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, read more
The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naive and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.
All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not read more
All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have whooped them up and tried to enforce them.
The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation read more
The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind.
Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable.
Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable.
Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.
Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.
Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to read more
Under democracy, one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule -and both commonly succeed, and are right.
Writing books is certainly a most unpleasant occupation. It is lonesome, unsanitary, and maddening. Many authors go crazy.
Writing books is certainly a most unpleasant occupation. It is lonesome, unsanitary, and maddening. Many authors go crazy.
