Henry Louis Mencken
United States
12 Sep 1880 // 29 Jan 1956
Journalist / Satirist /Social critic
12 Sep 1880 // 29 Jan 1956
Journalist / Satirist /Social critic
Quotes
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The ideal state for a philosopher, indeed, is celibacy tempered by polygamy
The idea that the sole aim of punishment is to prevent crime is obviously grounded upon the theory that crime can be prevented, which is almost as dubious as the notion that poverty can be prevented
The great artists of the world are never puritans, and seldom even ordinarily respectable
The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots
The cynics are right nine times out of ten
The curse of man, and the cause of nearly all his woe, is his stupendous capacity for believing the incredible
The common argument that crime is caused by poverty is a kind of slander on the poor
The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated
The chief knowledge that a man gets from reading books is the knowledge that very few of them are worth reading
Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a movable body
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On Anger: "For every minute you remain angry, you give up sixty seconds of peace of mind."
Essays
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
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
Essays