H. L. Mencken Quotes

The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.

H. L. Mencken

• Man
• Fear
• Safety
• Unknown

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Quotes to Explore

• The point really is that a writer tends to write a book that he or she tends to write. It's as simple as that. Of course, it's important to make a living and all that, but the main impulse as far as I'm concerned - and I'm sure as other writers are concerned - is to tell a story that I feel impelled by.

  

  Vikram Seth
  • Important
  • She
  • Book

• Moral authority has been laid to rest, world opinion is no more than a game show and the difference between good and evil is about as relevant as changing channels.

  

  Ralph Steadman
  • World
  • Good
  • Game

• I was doing a scene in a medical tent in 18th-century battle dress, pantaloons and a ripped shirt, and the guy from the crew kept asking me if I was OK, if I was too cold. I told him, 'Are you kidding? I'm from Wales!'

  

  Owain Yeoman
  • Guy
  • Cold
  • Battle

• I didn't even know I could sing or write songs. I didn't have that education. But people shouldn't think they can look down on someone like me, because I've had the same success as others, sold the same amount of records, if not more. They shouldn't think that because I'm just from 'The X Factor,' I'm not credible or respected as much.

  

  Olly Murs
  • People
  • Success
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• When I do a character, I try to base it on someone I have met or an experience I've had.

  

  Illeana Douglas
  • Character
  • Experience
  • Try

• Life must continue, even with the security situation so bad, because I have ambitions. I love this sport too much.

  

  Dana Hussein
  • Life
  • Security
  • Sport

• When I write sad songs, I feel like I'm sewing up a scar in me, and the outcome always feels so much better than when I write happy ones.

  

  Sam Smith
  • Up
  • Happy
  • Better

• People just don't sit down and watch shows live anymore. They DVR it. They stream it; they watch it on Netflix or iTunes.

  

  Madchen Amick
  • People
  • Live
  • Down

• When I was very young, I wanted to be a girl. I was jealous that girls got to be princesses and wear skirts. It tormented me. When I was 6, I even heard that you could change your sex, and I was very intrigued until the moment I realized that if I changed into a girl, I would be an ugly girl, and this is the last thing I wanted to be.

  

  Olivier Theyskens
  • Girl
  • Change
  • Sex

• I don't know whether the universe contains any evidence of intelligent design, but I can assure you that thousands of everyday products do not.

  

  Gary Hamel
  • Know
  • Universe
  • Design

• If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.

  

  Warren Buffett
  • People
  • History
  • Game

• O man you are busy working for the world, and the world is busy trying to turn you out.

  

  Abu Bakr
  • World
  • Work
  • Trying

• The best time to expand is when people are asleep at the wheel.

  

  Barbara Corcoran
  • People
  • Time
  • Best

• A good amount of the guys wanted to date me. Even older guys looking at me. It took some getting used to.

  

  Vanessa Hudgens
  • Good
  • Guys
  • Date

• Everything has a purpose or premise. Every second of our life has its own premise, whether or not we are conscious of it at the time. That premise may be as simple as breathing or as complex as a vital emotional decision, but it is always there.

  

  Lajos Egri
  • Life
  • Time
  • May

• I think I've been influenced by everything I've ever heard. The first thing I ever heard was my grandma, who was an opera singer. The first song I ever learned was the 'Nessun Dorma' from Puccini's 'Turandot.' My father was a big band singer, so I used to hear him walking around the house singing standards all the time.

  

  J. D. Souther
  • Time
  • Father
  • House

• I choose projects that resonate with me on some personal level and projects that I'm afraid to do. If I'm afraid to do them, then I usually say yes, because it means that I'm not ready to go there and deal with certain aspects of the script. And that means that I need to do it, because the things that scare you only make you better and stronger.

  

  Octavia Spencer
  • Me
  • Better
  • Stronger

• I really didn't intend to be a musician when I left Japan.

  

  Ikue Mori
  • Really
  • Left
  • Japan

• By necessity, budgets require hard choices.

  

  Sam Graves
  • Choices
  • Hard
  • Necessity

• I believe that rewards in life are deserved. Every reward is the fruit of discipline, of dedication and of sacrifices. And of stubbornness.

  

  Sofia Villani Scicolone
  • Discipline
  • Sacrifice
  • Dedication

• I am grateful that I didn't let fear get the best of me. It only holds you back from possibilities and greatness.

  

  Mariska Hargitay
  • Fear
  • Greatness

• Man makes god in his own image.

  

  Friedrich Nietzsche
  • God
  • Man
  • Image

• Customer expectations? Nonsense. No customer ever asked for the electric light, the pneumatic tire, the VCR, or the CD. All customer expectations are only what you and your competitor have led him to expect. He knows nothing else.

  

  W. Edwards Deming
  • You
  • Light
  • Expectations

• The one permanent emotion of the inferior man is fear - fear of the unknown, the complex, the inexplicable. What he wants above everything else is safety.

  

  H. L. Mencken
  • Man
  • Fear
  • Safety