H. L. Mencken

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.

Love is an emotion that is based on an opinion of women that is impossible for those who have had read more

Love is an emotion that is based on an opinion of women that is impossible for those who have had any experience with them.

The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the read more

The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence.

No matter how happily a woman may be married, it always pleases her to discover that there is a nice read more

No matter how happily a woman may be married, it always pleases her to discover that there is a nice man who wishes that she were not.

We must think of human progress, not as of something going on in the race in general, but as something read more

We must think of human progress, not as of something going on in the race in general, but as something going on in a small minority, perpetually beleaguered in a few walled towns. Now and then the horde of barbarians outside breaks through, and we have an armed effort to halt the process. That is, we have a Reformation, a French Revolution, a war for democracy, a Great Awakening. The minority is decimated and driven to cover. But a few survive- and a few are enough to carry on.