You can’t do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.
H. L. MENCKENThe chief difference between free capitalism and State socialism seems to be this: that under the former a man pursues his own advantage openly, frankly and honestly, whereas under the latter he does so hypocritically and under false pretenses.
More H. L. Mencken Quotes
-
-
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. MENCKEN -
Always remember this: If you don’t attend the funerals of your friends, they will certainly not attend yours.
H. L. MENCKEN -
Don’t overestimate the decency of the human race.
H. L. MENCKEN -
Sometimes the idiots outvote the sensible people.
H. L. MENCKEN -
The State doesn’t just want you to obey, it wants to make you WANT to obey.
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 -
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. MENCKEN -
Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
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 -
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. MENCKEN -
No one in this world, so far as I know – and I have searched the records for years, and employed agents to help me – has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people.
H. L. MENCKEN -
It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.
H. L. MENCKEN -
The men the American people admire most extravagantly are the most daring liars; the men they detest most violently are those who try to tell them the truth.
H. L. MENCKEN -
What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.
H. L. MENCKEN -
Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another.
H. L. MENCKEN