People do not expect to find chastity in a whorehouse. Why, then, do they expect to find honesty and humanity in government, a congeries of institutions whose modus operandi consists of lying, cheating, stealing, and if need be, murdering those who resist?
H. L. MENCKENThe urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule.
More H. L. Mencken Quotes
-
-
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
H. L. MENCKEN -
After all is said and done, a hell lot of a lot more is said than done.
H. L. MENCKEN -
Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.
H. L. MENCKEN -
There are two impossibilities in life: “just one drink” and “an honest politician.”
H. L. MENCKEN -
Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
H. L. MENCKEN -
An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
H. L. MENCKEN -
There’s really no point to voting. If it made any difference, it would probably be illegal.
H. L. MENCKEN -
What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.
H. L. MENCKEN -
For every problem, there is a solution that is simple, neat, and wrong.
H. L. MENCKEN -
Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule—and both commonly succeed, and are right.
H. L. MENCKEN -
In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.
H. L. MENCKEN -
It doesn’t take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause.
H. L. MENCKEN -
It is inaccurate to say that I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.
H. L. MENCKEN -
Morality is doing what is right, no matter what you are told. Religion is doing what you are told, no matter what is right.
H. L. MENCKEN -
You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.
H. L. MENCKEN