H. L. Mencken

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.

Fame: an embalmer trembling with stage fright.

Fame: an embalmer trembling with stage fright.

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 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.

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.