H. L. Mencken ( 10 of 103 )
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
Morality is the theory that every h uman act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 % of read more
Morality is the theory that every h uman act must be either right or wrong, and that 99 % of them are wrong.
We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his read more
We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.
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.
Every step in human progress, from the first feeble stirrings in the abyss of time, has been opposed by the read more
Every step in human progress, from the first feeble stirrings in the abyss of time, has been opposed by the great majority of men. Every valuable thing that has been added to the store of man's possessions has been derided by them when it was new, and destroyed by them when they had the power. They have fought every new truth ever heard of, and they have killed every truth-seeker who got into their hands.
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.
I believe there is a limit beyond which free speech cannot go, but it's a limit that's very seldom mentioned. read more
I believe there is a limit beyond which free speech cannot go, but it's a limit that's very seldom mentioned. It's the point where free speech begins to collide with the right to privacy. I don't think there are any other conditions to free speech. I've got a right to say and believe anything I please, but I haven't got a right to press it on anybody else. .... Nobody's got a right to be a nuisance to his neighbors.
Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing.
Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing.
To denounce moralizing out of hand is to pronounce a moral judgment.
To denounce moralizing out of hand is to pronounce a moral judgment.
Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives.
Bachelors have consciences, married men have wives.
