" 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 US editor (1880 – 1956)

" The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth–that the error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it is cured on one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Opera in English is, in the main, just about as sensible as baseball in Italian. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Jury: a group of twelve men who, having lied to the judge about their hearing, health and business engagements, have failed to fool him. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" The world always makes the assumption that the exposure of an error is identical with the discovery of truth–that the error and truth are simply opposite. They are nothing of the sort. What the world turns to, when it is cured on one error, is usually simply another error, and maybe one worse than the first one. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Platitude: an idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" The cynics are right nine times out of ten. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Imagine the Creator as a low comedian, and at once the world becomes explicable. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" 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 US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" 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 US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes as he formerly got in wages. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. Our friends seldom profit us but they make us feel safe… Marriage is a scheme to accomplish exactly that same end. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" When women kiss, it always reminds me of prizefighters shaking hands. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" 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 US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Conscience is the inner voice that warns us somebody may be looking. "

H. L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy (1949) US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Man is never honestly the fatalist, nor even the stoic. He fights his fate, often desperately. He is forever entering bold exceptions to the rulings of the bench of gods. This fighting, no doubt, makes for human progress, for it favors the strong and the brave. It also makes for beauty, for lesser men try to escape from a hopeless and intolerable world by creating a more lovely one of their own. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" 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 US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Happiness is the china shop; love is the bull. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" It is inaccurate to say I hate everything. I am strongly in favor of common sense, common honesty, and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" If I ever marry, it will be on a sudden impulse – as a man shoots himself. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" To be in love is merely to be in a state of perceptual anesthesia. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" I detest converts almost as much as I do missionaries. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it. "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

" Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends "

H. L. Mencken US editor (1880 – 1956)

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