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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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
Remorse is regret that one waited so long to do it
Philosophy first constructs a scheme of happiness and then tries to fit the world to it
Only a government that is rich and safe can afford to be a democracy, for democracy is the most expensive and nefarious kind of government ever heard of on earth
One seldom discovers a true believer that is worth knowing
One composed of cynics is often very tolerant and humane. But when fanatics are on top, there is no limit to repression
Of all escape mechanisms, death is the most efficient
No article of faith is proof against the disintegrating effects of increasing information; one might almost describe the acquirement of knowledge as a process of disillusion
Men have a much better time of it than women; for one thing they marry later; for another thing they die earlier
Men become civilized not in proportion to their willingness to believe but in proportion to their readiness to doubt
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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