H.L.Mencken Quotes

Various print | ? | H.L. Mencken

[Squantos]

Some things just need to be said...........

Stay Safe !

[Squantos]

Bump FYI.............Stay Safe !

[Slip18]

More Menckin Musings here.

My glass is half full . . .

[2Trievers]

Great! Thanks S. &;-)

[Squantos]

Mencken's Creed

I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.

I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.

I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty...

I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.

I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech...

I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.

I believe in the reality of progress.

I - But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply.

I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie.

I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave.

And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.

Just a few more.......

[2Trievers]

My Fave: "We are here and it is now. Further than that all human knowledge is moonshine." H. L. Mencken &;-)

[BluesDuke]

Democracy is that form of government whereby the common people know what they want and deserve to get it, good and hard.

Judge - A law student who grades his own examination papers.

The lunatic fringe wags the underdog.

The great secret of happiness in love is to be glad the other fellow married her.

Bachelors have consciences. Married men have wives.

Christian - One who is willing to serve three Gods but draws the line at one wife.

If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl.

- Collected in A Mencken Chrestomathy

I do not believe in democracy, but I am perfectly willing to admit it provides the only truly amusing form of government ever devised by man. - Preface, A Mencken Chrestomathy.

[Born on the Storm King]

The believing mind is externally impervious to evidence. The most that can be accomplished with it is to induce it to substitute one delusion for another. It rejects all overt evidence as wicked...

This is a good one for the tin-foil hat brigade.

[NoCurrentFreeperByThatName]

Good quotes.

[2Trievers]

Always delightful! &;-)

[bleudevil]

I love it! I just discovered the Chrestomathy and read it cover to cover. I'm now reading the second one. Amazing how many of his observations apply to today. Like a nice cold gulp of pure spring water to wash away the taste of saccharine. And he wrote a lot of this stuff in a newspaper column - can't see that happening today. Makes me happy to see that other Freepers enjoy his stuff.

[NMC EXP]

One of my favorites:

"It [the State] has taken on a vast mass of new duties and responsibilities; it has spread out its powers until they penetrate to every act of the citizen, however secret; it has begun to throw around its operations the high dignity and impeccability of a State religion; its agents become a separate and superior caste, with authority to bind and loose, and their thumbs in every pot. But it still remains, as it was in the beginning, the common enemy of all well-disposed, industrious and decent men."
-- Henry L. Mencken, 1926

Regards

J.R.

[iceskater]

Some things just need to be said...........

And they are as true today as they were when he wrote them. Thanks for posting.

[Squantos]

No one ever get's it right...........except in their own mind..........H.L. Mencken was human with human faults but I like to read his collective thoughts, some good , some bad and applicable even today for the most part.....

Stay Safe !

[TightSqueeze]

It should be fairly obvious that anyone as pragmatic as Mencken would have been very unwelcome here at FR.

[Squantos]

My thoughts exactly.....agree 100% as his comments on religion are not the path I have chosen.

Stay Safe !

[Johnny Gage]

As one who does medieval reenactment, and sometimes plays as a pirate... er.. I mean Privateer,
My favorite quote is:

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands,
hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.

Rock on!

[Squantos]

Obvious with regards only to his pro atheist opinions ...........which I don't agree with either...... One must remember that Mencken was merely a presstitute, no more , no less. But one must agree if he never opened his yap with regards to religion he'd be an Alpha Freeper or at the very least thought provoking fuel for pro-constitutional efforts in our time ....

Just my opinions of course.....Stay Safe !