The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.
H. L. MENCKENEvery normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
More H. L. Mencken Quotes
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The final test of truth is ridicule. Very few dogmas have ever faced it and survived.
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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.
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The State doesn’t just want you to obey, it wants to make you WANT to obey.
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Sometimes the idiots outvote the sensible people.
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You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.
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There are two kinds of Europeans: The smart ones, and those who stayed behind.
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The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it’s good-bye to the Bill of Rights.
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The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.
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Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.
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Free speech is too dangerous to a democracy to be permitted.
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The ideal way to get rid of any infectious disease would be to shoot instantly every person who comes down with it.
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A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
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Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.
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The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it is true; he thinks it is true because he gets pleasure out of it.
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A man may be a fool and not know it, but not if he is married.
H. L. MENCKEN