H. L. MenckenAll government is, in its essence, organized exploitation, and in virtually all of its existing forms it is the implacable enemy of every industrious and well-disposed man. … ▶371Politics
H. L. MenckenThe American people, North and South, went into the [Civil] war as citizens of their respective states, they came out as subjects ... what they thus lost they have never got back.371HumanityPolitics
H. L. MenckenI know some who are constantly drunk on books as other men are drunk on whiskey. ✨ Minority Report: H. L. Mencken's Notebooks (1956)371Reading
H. L. MenckenCivilization, in fact, grows more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to… ▶371HumanityLovePolitics
H. L. MenckenReligion is so absurd that it comes close to imbecility.361Thought
H. L. MenckenA society made up of individuals who were all capable of original thought would probably be unendurable. ✨ H.L. Mencken (2013). Minority Report, p.20, Knopf361HumanityThought
H. L. MenckenFaith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable. ✨ Prejudices, Third Series ch. 14 (1922)361Hope
H. L. MenckenThe great masses of men, though theoretically free, are seen to submit supinely to oppression and exploitation of a hundred abhorrent sorts. Have they no means of resistance? Obvi… ▶373Time
H. L. MenckenIt is difficult to imagine anyone having any real hopes for the human race in the face of the fact that the great majority of men still believe that the universe is run by a gaseo… ▶351HopeHumanityTruth
H. L. MenckenWe must be willing to pay a price for freedom. ✨ H. L. MENCKEN (1924). PREJUDICES FOURTH SERIES362Humanity
H. L. MenckenEvil: That which one believes of others. It is a sin to believe evil of others, but it is seldom a mistake ✨ A Little Book in C Major ch. 5 (1916)374Reading
H. L. MenckenWhen fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression. ✨ The Oxford Dictionary of Political Quotations edited by Antony Jay, 1996.363Politics
H. L. MenckenGenius: the ability to prolong one's childhood.352Humor
H. L. MenckenThere is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get. On the contrary, they tend to be noticeably silly. ✨ H.L.… ▶374Truth
H. L. MenckenThe law is a sort of hocus-pocus science that smiles in your face while it picks your pocket.374Politics
H. L. MenckenI am against slavery simply because I dislike slaves. ✨ H.L. Mencken (2012). Mencken Chrestomathy, p.616, Vintage374Hope
H. L. MenckenSunday is a day given over by Americans to wishing that the themselves were dead and in Heaven, and that their neighbors were dead and in Hell. ✨ A little book in C major.352DeathReading
H. L. MenckenIn the United States...politics is purged of all menace, all sinister quality, all genuine significance, and stuffed with such gorgeous humors, such inordinate farce that one come… ▶341HumorPoliticsReading
H. L. MenckenHanging one scoundrel, it appears, does not deter the next. Well, what of it? The first one is at least disposed of.341Humanity
H. L. MenckenThe music critic, Huneber, could never quite make up his mind about a new symphony until he had seen the composer's mistress.352Thought
H. L. MenckenThere is only one justification for having sinned, and that is to be glad of it. ✨ A little book in C major.341Reading
H. L. MenckenThe first kiss is stolen by the man; the last is begged by the woman.364Death
H. L. MenckenIt is the invariable habit of bureaucracies, at all times and everywhere, to assume...that every citizen is a criminal. Their one apparent purpose, pursued with a relentless and f… ▶342PoliticsTimeTruth
H. L. MenckenWell, I tell you, if I have been wrong in my agnosticism, when I die I'll walk up to God in a manly way and say, Sir, I made an honest mistake.342DeathTruth
H. L. MenckenGovernments, whatever their pretensions otherwise, try to preserve themselves by holding the individual down ... Government itself, indeed, may be reasonably defined as a conspira… ▶331Politics
H. L. MenckenThere are some people who read too much: the bibliobibuli. I know some who are constantly drunk on books, as other men are drunk on whiskey or religion. They wander through this m… ▶331HumanityReading
H. L. MenckenNo professional politician is ever actually in favor of public economy. It is his implacable enemy, and he knows it. All professional politicians are dedicated wholeheartedly to w… ▶353LovePoliticsReading
H. L. MenckenI hate all sports as rabidly as a person who likes sports hates common sense. ✨ Quoted in Fred Metcalfe The Penguin Dictionary of Modern Humorous Quotations (1986).375Humor
H. L. MenckenA national political campaign is better than the best circus ever heard of, with a mass baptism and a couple of hangings thrown in.364Politics
H. L. MenckenThere is nothing worse than an idle hour, with no occupation offering. People who have many such hours are simply animals waiting docilely for death. We all come to that state soo… ▶375DeathHumanityPolitics
