H. L. Mencken Quotes

United States, Satirist
September 12, 1880 – January, 29, 1956.

Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, satirist, cultural critic and scholar of American English. Known as the "Sage of Baltimore", he is regarded as one of the most influential American writers and prose stylists of the first half of the 20th century. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians and contemporary movements. His satirical reporting on the Scopes trial, which he dubbed the "Monkey Trial", also gained him attention.

Also known as Literary Critic, Essayist, Social Critic, Journalist

The fact is that the average man's love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth.

H. L. Mencken
- Men
- Truth
- Justice
By profession a biologist, [Thomas Henry Huxley] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences. Absolutely nothing was uninteresting to him. His curiosity ranged from music to theology and from philosophy to history. He didn't simply know something about everything; he knew a great deal about everything.

H. L. Mencken
- Great
- Music
- History

The more I think you over, the more it comes home to me what an unmitigated Middle Victorian ass you are!

H. L. Mencken
- Home
Government, in its very essence, is opposed to all increase in knowledge. Its tendency is always towards permanence and against change...[T]he progress of humanity, far from being the result of government, has been made entirely without its aid and in the face if its constant and bitter opposition.

H. L. Mencken
Firmness in decision is often merely a form of stupidity. It indicates an inability to think the same thing out twice.

H. L. Mencken
- Decision
When I hear artists or authors making fun of businessmen, I think of a regiment in which the band makes fun of the cooks.

H. L. Mencken
- Fun
- Band
The fact that I have no remedy for all the sorrows of the world is no reason for my accepting yours. It simply supports the strong probability that yours is a fake.

H. L. Mencken
- World
- Strong
- Fake
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one's time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.

H. L. Mencken
- Time
- Freedom
- Fighting

A large part of altruism, even when it is perfectly honest, is grounded upon the fact that it is uncomfortable to have unhappy people about one.

H. L. Mencken
- People
The war on privilege will never end. Its next grat campaign will be against the special privileges of the underprivileged.

H. L. Mencken
- War
The true aim of medicine is not to make men virtuous; it is to safeguard and rescue them from the consequences of their vices. The physician does not preach repentance; he offers absolution.

H. L. Mencken
- Men
- True
When a private citizen is robbed, a worthy man is deprived of the fruits of his industry and thrift; when the government is robbed, the worst that happens is that certain rogues and loafers have less money to play with than they had before.

H. L. Mencken
- Men
- Money
- Play
The learned are seldom pretty fellows, and in many cases their appearance tends to discourage a love of study in the young.

H. L. Mencken
- Pretty
- Study