H. L. Mencken Quotes

"The most common of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true. It is the chief occupation of mankind."
-H. L. Mencken

"Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under."
-H. L. Mencken

"It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf."
-H. L. Mencken in Golf quotes.

"All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it."
-H. L. Mencken in Lies quotes.

"There comes a time when a man must spit on his hands, hoist the black flag and begin slitting throats."
-H. L. Mencken

"Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself."
-H. L. Mencken in Philosophy quotes.

"Criticism is prejudice made plausible."
-H. L. Mencken in Criticism quotes.

"Opera in English is, in the main, just about as sensible as baseball in Italian."
-H. L. Mencken

"To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia."
-H. L. Mencken

"Man is a natural polygamist: he always has one woman leading him by the nose, and another hanging on to his coattails."
-H. L. Mencken

"For centuries, theologians have been explaining the unknowable in terms of the-not-worth-knowing."
-H. L. Mencken in Religion quotes.

"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. 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. Mencken

"The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom."
-H. L. Mencken in Age quotes.

"The difference between a moral man and a man of honor is that the latter regrets a discreditable act, even when it has worked and he has not been caught."
-H. L. Mencken in Honor quotes.

"Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American public."
-H. L. Mencken in Americans quotes.

"The worshiper is the father of the gods."
-H. L. Mencken

"Love: The delusion that one woman differs from another."
-H. L. Mencken

"The chief contribution of Protestantism to human thought is its massive proof that God is a bore."
-H. L. Mencken

"Archbishop: a Christian ecclesiastic of a rank superior to that attained by Christ."
-H. L. Mencken

"A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn't know."
-H. L. Mencken in Celebrities quotes.

"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 Democracy quotes.

"It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull."
-H. L. Mencken

"A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers."
-H. L. Mencken in Laws quotes.

"Alimony: the ransom the happy pay to the devil."
-H. L. Mencken

"Creator: a comedian whose audience is afraid to laugh."
-H. L. Mencken

"The best years are the forties; after fifty a man begins to deteriorate, but in the forties he is at the maximum of his villainy."
-H. L. Mencken

"To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would be if men died for ideas that were true!"
-H. L. Mencken in Ideas quotes.