Maxioms by H. L. Mencken
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 human race is divided into two sharply differentiated and mutually antagonistic classes, almost two genera- a small minority that read more
The human race is divided into two sharply differentiated and mutually antagonistic classes, almost two genera- a small minority that plays with ideas and is capable of taking them in, and a vast majority that finds them painful, and is thus arrayed against them, and against all who have traffic with them. The intellectual heritage of the race belongs to the minority, and to the minority only. The majority has no more to do with it than it has to do with ecclesiastic politics on Mars. In so far as that heritage is apprehended, it is viewed with enmity. But in the main it is not apprehended at all.
To be in love is merely to be in a perpetual state of anesthesia--to mistake an ordinary young man for read more
To be in love is merely to be in a perpetual state of anesthesia--to mistake an ordinary young man for a Greek god or an ordinary young woman for a goddess.
The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's good-by read more
The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it's good-by to the Bill of Rights.
It is hard to tell if a man is telling the truth when you know you would lie if you read more
It is hard to tell if a man is telling the truth when you know you would lie if you were in his place.