H. L. Mencken on freedom
H. L. Mencken76 quotes“Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.”
More from H. L. Mencken
When somebody says it’s not about the money, it’s about the money.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken Equality before the law is probably forever unattainable. It is a noble ideal, but it can never be realized, for what men value in this world is not rights but privileges.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart’s desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner
H. L. MenckenH. 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. MenckenH. L. Mencken The best teacher is not the one who knows most but the one who is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.
H. L. MenckenH. 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. MenckenH. 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. MenckenH. L. Mencken If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken There are two impossibilities in life: “just one drink” and “an honest politician.”
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken 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. MenckenH. L. Mencken Always remember this: If you don’t attend the funerals of your friends, they will certainly not attend yours.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear – fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.
H. L. MenckenH. L. Mencken
Original quotes
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More on freedom
Before man can be free, and equal, and truly wise, he must cast aside the chains of habit and superstition; he must strip sensuality of its pomp, and selfishness of its excuses, and contemplate actions and objects as they really are.
Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley Remember that the happiest people are not those getting more, but those giving more.
H. Jackson Brown Jr.H. Jackson Brown Jr. At a time when opportunism is everything, when hope seems lost, when everything boils down to a cynical business deal, we must find the courage to dream. To reclaim romance. The romance of believing in justice, in freedom, and in dignity. For everybody.
Arundhati RoyArundhati Roy Don’t allow your mistakes to leave you tied up. Untangle the knot and set yourself free from the past.
Tene EdwardsTene Edwards Where freedom is real, equality is the passion of the masses. Where equality is real, freedom is the passion of a small minority.
Eric HofferEric Hoffer I often think that woman is more free in Islam than in Christianity. Woman is more protected by Islam than by the faith which preaches monogamy. In AI Quran the law about woman is juster and more liberal.
Annie BesantAnnie Besant Attachment brings misery, unattachment brings blissfulness. So use things, but don’t be used by them. Live life but don’t be lived by it. Possess things, but don’t be possessed by them. Have things – that’s not a problem. I am not for renunciation. Enjoy everything that life gives, but always remain free.
RajneeshRajneesh One of the surprising privileges of intellectuals is that they are free to be scandalously asinine without harming their reputations.
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