H. L. Mencken Quotes

In human history a moral victory is always a disaster, for it debauches and degrades both the victor and the vanquished.

H. L. Mencken

• History
• Moral
• Victory
• Disaster

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Quotes to Explore

• I don't understand it. Jack will spend any amount of money to buy votes but he balks at investing a thousand dollars in a beautiful painting.

  

  Jackie Kennedy
  • Money
  • Art
  • Beautiful

• I destroyed a lot of guitars trying to get them to do what I wanted, but I learned something from every guitar I tore apart, and discovered even more things. Things like if the string is not straight from the bridge saddle to the nut, you're going to have friction.

  

  Eddie Van Halen Van Halen
  • Trying
  • Guitar
  • Bridge

• As kids, we spontaneously sing and dance and tell stories, and along the way, someone comes and says, 'No. You shouldn't be doing that.' And we slowly begin to unlearn our passions. I think you have to hold on to those things.

  

  J. Michael Straczynski
  • Kids
  • Think
  • Dance

• To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.

  

  Mahatma Gandhi
  • Heart
  • Single
  • Prayer

• My mum wouldn't have had any time for fantasy stuff; she's more practical.

  

  Kate Thompson
  • Time
  • Stuff
  • Fantasy

• I've never said I was a chef - I think I make great food. I will never open a restaurant to do, like, tasting courses.

  

  Eddie Huang
  • Great
  • Food
  • Chef

• Never speak to an invalid from behind, nor from the door, nor from any distance from him, nor when he is doing anything. The official politeness of servants in these things is so grateful to invalids, that many prefer, without knowing why, having none but servants about them.

  

  Florence Nightingale
  • Why
  • Door
  • Speak

• Acting is an odd lifestyle. You make deep bonds quickly and, though you move on, you go around on a loop and see people again.

  

  Talulah Riley
  • People
  • Deep
  • Acting

• On my best days, such as when I was a junior in high school coming off a 42-point performance and near triple-double, my dad was there to tell me I haven't arrived yet and bring me back to reality.

  

  Candace Parker
  • School
  • High
  • Reality

• I simply adore getting dressed up for a special occasion. I feel incredible stepping out in luxurious fabrics and a bit of bling. That's also how I feel about special-occasion dining rooms. Because these aren't everyday spaces, they contain all sorts of drama for that once-in-a-while 'wow' event.

  

  Candice Olson
  • Up
  • Feel
  • Drama

• Sometimes your parents are the ones with the biggest mouths of all time.

  

  Dakota Johnson
  • Time
  • Parents
  • Sometimes

• I don't listen to the radio too much, but usually I listen to Stanley Brothers and Ralph Stanley more than I do anybody!

  

  Ralph Stanley
  • Listen
  • Radio
  • Too Much

• Luckily, I was raised by people who'd already seen all the yuck stuff, which is why they originally didn't want me to act. I understood the difference between getting a part at a Hollywood party and getting a job.

  

  Laura Dern
  • People
  • Why
  • Job

• Basketball paid for four years of my education, and I am so proud of that.

  

  Ramon Rodriguez
  • Education
  • Proud
  • Basketball

• I have a lot of Republican friends.

  

  J. B. Pritzker
  • Friends
  • Republican
  • Lot

• If you want your children to improve, let them overhear the nice things you say about them to others.

  

  Haim Ginott
  • Children
  • Want
  • You

• I feel like I just have such the blood and bones of a New Yorker that I can almost imagine better, like, giving up the fight and not being able to afford the city and going out West, keeping a small place here, and then when I'm like 80, coming back here, living on the park and going to the theater.

  

  Natasha Lyonne
  • Up
  • Giving
  • Small

• The people of Iran have had to endure repressive laws that have stifled their freedom of speech and religion for too long.

  

  Nazanin Boniadi
  • People
  • Long
  • Freedom

• It's always good to be around nice-looking people.

  

  Ed Westwick
  • People
  • Good
  • Nice

• I think controversy is an interesting thing in that it usually goes hand in hand with starting conversations that surround taboo or under-discussed topics that need to be discussed and need to be less in the shadows, in my opinion.

  

  Alex Sharp
  • Interesting
  • Hand
  • Opinion

• Being a woman has always been a powerful thing, where history has sometimes dictated otherwise, but I believe that a woman can be compassionate, sensitive, soft, kind.

  

  Jessica Chastain
  • Believe
  • History
  • Powerful

• The problem is not simply that the Singularity represents the passing of humankind from center stage, but that it contradicts our most deeply held notions of being.

  

  Vernor Vinge
  • Problem
  • Being
  • Stage

• In human history a moral victory is always a disaster, for it debauches and degrades both the victor and the vanquished.

  

  H. L. Mencken
  • History
  • Moral
  • Victory