H. L. Mencken Quotes

Q: If you find so much that is unworthy of reverence in the United States, then why do you live here? A: Why do men go to zoos?

H. L. Mencken

• Men
• Live
• Why

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Quotes to Explore

• I was a little hesitant at first because there's so many ways you can get 'Straight Outta Compton' wrong. You know, it's such a great story; it's such a classic tale. I was a little nervous 'cause it's like a very narrow road to success with that type of story - you got to get it right - but when I read it, I was pleasantly surprised.

  

  F. Gary Gray
  • Great
  • Success
  • Road

• Surprisingly, I'm not a fan of guns or anything like that!

  

  Caitlin Stasey
  • Like
  • Fan
  • Guns

• As a kid, I was always very thin, and I kind of didn't know that I was skinny.

  

  Octavia Spencer
  • Know
  • Kind
  • Always

• I've always been in love with the States. When I was a kid, we would take these long summer holidays in Texas, Nashville, and all over. I fell in love with the people, the food, even the smell. You don't necessarily get that in old Europe.

  

  Ed Weeks
  • People
  • Kid
  • Holidays

• One of the things Kuhn said about normal science is that people 'expect' things to be discovered.

  

  Ian Hacking
  • People
  • Science
  • Said

• When I'm dancing, I don't know where the confidence comes from, but I just pretend I'm someone else, I think, and then I go out and dance.

  

  Maisie Williams
  • Think
  • Confidence
  • Dance

• The British Museum was our first real museum, the property of the public rather than the monarch or the church.

  

  Kate Williams
  • Real
  • Church
  • British

• One theme I ran into over and over while writing about the periodic table was the future of energy and the question of which element or elements will replace carbon as king.

  

  Sam Kean
  • Writing
  • Future
  • Energy

• There's a lot of animals in the open ocean - most of them that make light. And we have a pretty good idea, for most of them, why. They use it for finding food, for attracting mates, for defending against predators. But when you get down to the bottom of the ocean, that's where things get really strange.

  

  Edith Widder
  • Good
  • Why
  • Pretty

• I have seen life from the top down and the bottom up. I know how it looks both ways. And I know there is wisdom and that there is hope.

  

  L. Ron Hubbard
  • Life
  • Up
  • Hope

• I am not a speed reader. I am a speed understander.

  

  Isaac Asimov
  • Communication
  • Speed
  • Reader

• You're in the lap of the gods. If people go, they go, and if they don't.

  

  Sam Mendes
  • People
  • You
  • Go

• Theatre gives you wings as an actor.

  

  Randeep Hooda
  • Theatre
  • Actor
  • Wings

• 'Mrs. Doubtfire' is still a fun movie, and it's still fun to watch, but it is hard to watch myself sometimes. I get very critical. And people will say, 'Mara, you were five.' And I'm like, 'Yeah, but I still should have known better!' I'm a lifelong perfectionist, what can I say?

  

  Mara Wilson
  • People
  • Movie
  • Fun

• I believed or thought I was disoriented and the victim of a bizarre dream and I believe I paced in and out of the room and possibly into one of the other rooms. I may have re-examined her, finally believing that this was true.

  

  Sam Sheppard
  • Believe
  • May
  • True

• I think what we need, especially in publishing, is more commissioning editors and editors who are people of colour.

  

  Malorie Blackman
  • People
  • Think
  • Need

• I'm not an overnight sensation. I'm a Texan. And I'm a Texas success story. I am the epitome of hard work and optimism.

  

  Wendy Davis
  • Work
  • Success
  • Texas

• I think I owe it to myself to put my best effort forward and prove how good I can be.

  

  Patrick Kane
  • Good
  • Myself
  • Best

• There are still times when I am walking up, and I look at the Capitol, and I think, 'Oh my goodness.' Right now, I am kind of scared to go onto the floor and speak. Once I get used to it, though, they probably won't be able to keep me off there.

  

  Bobby Schilling
  • Up
  • Walking

• If I had to play only for people who liked the music because they heard it on the radio, it wouldn't make me happy. That's why I'm working so hard to have, yes, a profile as an artist, but also a profile as a DJ.

  

  David Guetta
  • People
  • Music
  • Why

• I always wanted to be a designer. I read books on fashion from the age of 12.

  

  Alexander McQueen
  • Age
  • Fashion
  • Books

• Twenty years ago I might have hired a professional listener, but somewhere along the way I had lost faith in the talking cure. A genteel fraud in my view.

  

  Ian Mcewan
  • Faith
  • Lost
  • Years

• Q: If you find so much that is unworthy of reverence in the United States, then why do you live here? A: Why do men go to zoos?

  

  H. L. Mencken
  • Men
  • Live
  • Why