A sense of humor always withers in the presence of the messianic delusion, like justice and the truth in front of patriotic passion.
H. L. MENCKENThe ideal way to get rid of any infectious disease would be to shoot instantly every person who comes down with it.
More H. L. Mencken Quotes
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Most people want security in this world, not liberty.
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There are two kinds of Europeans: The smart ones, and those who stayed behind.
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Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.
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Freedom of press is limited to those who own one.
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It doesn’t take a majority to make a rebellion; it takes only a few determined leaders and a sound cause.
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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.
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If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.
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The only thing wrong with Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address was that it was the South, not the North, that was fighting for a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
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There’s really no point to voting. If it made any difference, it would probably be illegal.
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Free speech is too dangerous to a democracy to be permitted.
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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.
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On one issue, at least, men and women agree. They both distrust women.
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There is no idea so stupid that you can’t find a professor who will believe it.
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Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
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The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.
H. L. MENCKEN