Henry Louis Mencken

United States
12 Sep 1880 // 29 Jan 1956
Journalist / Satirist /Social critic

Quotes

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Man weeps to think that he will die so soon; woman, that she was born so long ago
Man is a beautiful machine that works very badly
Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop
Love is an emotion that is based on an opinion of women that is impossible for those who have had any experience with them
Life is a constant oscillation between the sharp horns of dilemmas
It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking their visions and hallucinations too seriously
It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place
It is hard for the ape to believe he descended from man
Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what sting is justice
Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
On Destiny: "Our destiny exercises its influence over us even when, as yet, we have not learned its nature: it is our future that lays down the law of our today."
Human, All Too Human
On Friendship: "A crowd is not company; and faces are but a gallery of pictures; and talk but a tinkling cymbal, where there is no love."
Essays