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H L Mencken Quotes

Biography

H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) was a prominent American journalist, essayist, and cultural critic. He is best known for his satirical reportage on the Scopes "Monkey" Trial, published in "The Baltimore Sun," and his influential book "The American Language" (1919), which documented and celebrated American English. more H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) was a prominent American journalist, essayist, and cultural critic. He is best known for his satirical reportage on the Scopes "Monkey" Trial, published in "The Baltimore Sun," and his influential book "The American Language" (1919), which documented and celebrated American English. During the 1920s, Mencken co-edited the literary magazine "The Smart Set" and co-founded "The American Mercury," a periodical that became a platform for some of the era's most incisive social criticism. Mencken's acerbic wit and keen observations made him a formidable figure in early 20th-century American letters. He remained a significant voice in American journalism until a stroke in 1948 left him unable to write. less

Popular Quotes

"The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were not for this penalty, the jury would never hear the evidence."
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"Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what stings is justice"
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"The final test of a gentleman is his respect for those who can be of no possible service to him"
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"Happiness is the china shop; love is the bull"
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"The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to rule"
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"Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable"
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"Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration - courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and, above all, love of the truth"
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"The average man does not want to be free. He simply wants to be safe"
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"Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable"
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"Opera in English, is about as sensible as baseball in Italian."
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"Adultery is the application of democracy to love."
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"A celebrity is one who is known to many persons he is glad he doesn't know."
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"An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."
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"Immorality: The morality of those who are having a better time."
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"Bachelors know more about women than married men; if they didn't they'd be married too."
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