Maxioms by H. L. Mencken
Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt.
Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt.
It is the fundamental theory of all the more recent American law...that the average citizen is half-witted, and hence not read more
It is the fundamental theory of all the more recent American law...that the average citizen is half-witted, and hence not to be trusted to either his own devices or his own thoughts.
No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
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.
If I ever marry, it will be on a sudden impulse - as a man shoots himself.
If I ever marry, it will be on a sudden impulse - as a man shoots himself.
