The truth is . . . that the great artists of the world are never puritans, and seldom ever ordinarily respectable. No virtuous man - that is, virtuous in the YMCA sense - has ever painted a picture worth looking at, or written a symphony worth hearing, or a book worth reading, and it is highly improbable that the thing has ever been done by a virtuous woman. β¨ H. L. Mencken, Marion Elizabeth Rodgers (2010). H.L. Mencken: Prejudices: First, Second, and Third Series, Hubsta Ltd
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- I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any β¦ βΆ
- Penetrating so many secrets, we cease to believe in the unknowable. But there it sits nevertheless, calmly licking its chops β¨ H.L. Mencken (2013). Minority Report, p.363, Knopf
- Men always try to make virtues of their weaknesses. Fear of death and fear of life both become piety. β¨ H.L. Mencken (2013). Minority Report, p.54, Knopf
- Two simple principles lie at the bottom of the whole matter, and they may be precipitated into two rules. The first is that, when there is a choice, the milder drink is always the better-not merely t β¦ βΆ
- It 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 furious diligence, is β¦ βΆ
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