Maxioms by H. L. Mencken
The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.
The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it.
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.
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.
It is a sin to believe in the evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake.
It is a sin to believe in the evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake.
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed [and hence clamorous to be led to safety] read more
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed [and hence clamorous to be led to safety] by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
