H. L. Mencken Quotes

Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong.

H. L. Mencken

• Moral

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Quotes to Explore

• Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo.

  

  H. G. Wells
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• Yes, there is a terrible moral in 'Dorian Gray' - a moral which the prurient will not be able to find in it, but it will be revealed to all whose minds are healthy. Is this an artistic error? I fear it is. It is the only error in the book.

  

  Oscar Wilde
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• Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.

  

  Iris Murdoch
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• You can't go around hoping that most people have sterling moral characters. The most you can hope for is that people will pretend that they do.

  

  Fran Lebowitz
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• Leadership means setting a moral tone.

  

  J. B. Pritzker
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• With the monstrous weapons man already has, humanity is in danger of being trapped in this world by its moral adolescents.

  

  Omar N. Bradley
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• Folklore has a moral center to it. Folklore is always, always, always on the side of the underdog, and children have a natural instinct towards justice. They feel indignation at needless cruelty and wistfulness about acts of mercy and kindness.

  

  Laura Amy Schlitz
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• Having been raised by actors who love moral ambiguity and flawed protagonists, I feel like it's sort of in the blood to want to take it on.

  

  Laura Dern
  • Like
  • Moral
  • Feel

• Enhanced interrogation is not to be considered lightly, but the use of enhanced interrogation techniques does not require moral people to abandon their beliefs. Rather, it is precisely during these difficult times that one's beliefs about life, justice and mercy become indispensible.

  

  Gary Bauer
  • People
  • Life
  • Justice

• Priority is placed on the chastity of women. You can be corrupt, or a murderer and still hold your head up high on the street without problems, whereas if there are any suspicions of your chastity and moral behaviour as a woman, you get lynched.

  

  Safak Pavey
  • Up
  • Women
  • High

• Sometimes, in order to follow our moral compass and/or our hearts, we have to make unpopular decisions or stand up for what we believe in.

  

  Tabatha Coffey
  • Up
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• In all good westerns, the good guy is always a little bit questionable because he kind-of has to make moral judgments.

  

  Daniel Craig
  • Good
  • Guy
  • Always

• I think if we wish to live in any kind of a moral universe, we must hold the perpetrators of violence responsible for the violence they perpetrate. It's very simple. The criminal is responsible for the crime.

  

  Salman Rushdie
  • Live
  • Wish
  • Simple

• With homosexual marriage gaining converts among the young, the party of the Moral Majority declines to stand with Chick-fil-A.

  

  Pat Buchanan
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• It is in their inherent moral components that recent Western strategies may be deficient. What percentage of the populations in countries engaged in the 14-year effort in Afghanistan could even name the three main Taliban groups with whom their soldiers have been engaged?

  

  H. R. McMaster
  • May
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• We need to be clear when we venerate entrepreneurs what we are venerating. They are not moral leaders. If they were moral leaders, they wouldn't be great businessmen.

  

  Malcolm Gladwell
  • Great
  • Moral
  • Need

• Although lynchings have steadily increased in number and barbarity during the last twenty years, there has been no single effort put forth by the many moral and philanthropic forces of the country to put a stop to this wholesale slaughter.

  

  Ida B. Wells
  • Country
  • Stop
  • Single

• When we are confronted with extreme situations, we forget about moral issues; we simply act and must then accept the consequences.

  

  Park Chan-wook
  • Moral
  • Forget
  • Consequences

• Guided by nothing but pop culture values, many children no longer learn how to think about morality and virtue, or to think of them at all. They grow up with no shared moral framework, believing that the highest values are diversity, tolerance and non-judgmentalism.

  

  Gary Bauer
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• The contemporary crime novel is, at its best, a novel of character. That's where the suspense comes from.

  

  Val McDermid
  • Character
  • Best
  • Crime

• If you want prosperity, you must refuse to accept any circumstances that lead toward poverty.

  

  Napoleon Hill
  • Poverty
  • Circumstances
  • Prosperity

• When you're acting, it should be the most important thing that's going on. But when you're not, leave it alone.

  

  Vincent D'Onofrio
  • Important
  • Alone
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• Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong.

  

  H. L. Mencken
  • Moral