The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom. H. L. Mencken on age
Legend: A lie that has attained the dignity of age. H. L. Mencken on age
Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she marries him and what she thinks of him a year afterward, and you will have the truth about him. H. L. Mencken on anniversary
Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage. H. L. Mencken on art
A national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of, with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in. H. L. Mencken on best
Love is an emotion that is based on an opinion of women that is impossible for those who have had any experience with them. H. L. Mencken on experience
Women always excel men in that sort of wisdom which comes from experience. To be a woman is in itself a terrible experience. H. L. Mencken on experience
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil. H. L. Mencken on failure
Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend so much time making each other's speeches, that by the time election day is past there is nothing much to do save turn the sitting rascals out and let a new gang in. H. L. Mencken on faith
Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable. H. L. Mencken on faith
The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety. H. L. Mencken on fear
Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy. H. L. Mencken on fear
We must be willing to pay a price for freedom. H. L. Mencken on freedom
It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man. H. L. Mencken on funny
Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public. H. L. Mencken on funny
Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution? H. L. Mencken on funny
It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just and omnipotent God, but it is quite easy to imagine it run by a board of gods. H. L. Mencken on god
The theory seems to be that as long as a man is a failure he is one of God's children, but that as soon as he succeeds he is taken over by the Devil. H. L. Mencken on god
The chief contribution of Protestantism to human thought is its massive proof that God is a bore. H. L. Mencken on god
Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard. H. L. Mencken on good