The formula of the argument is simple and familiar: to dispose of a problem all that is necessary is to deny that it exists. H. L. Mencken More Quotes by H. L. Mencken More Quotes From H. L. Mencken Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time. H. L. Mencken crazysillyfunny Capital punishment has probably been responsible for a good deal of human progress. The overwhelming majority of those executed were of the sort whose departures for bliss eternal improved the average intelligence and decency of the race. H. L. Mencken punishmentraceaverage Kipling, the grandson of a Methodist preacher, reveals the tin-pot evangelist with increasing clarity as youth and its ribaldries pass away and he falls back upon his fundamentals. H. L. Mencken tinpassing-awayfall All great religions, in order to escape absurdity, have to admit a dilution of agnosticism. It is only the savage, whether of the African bush or the American gospel tent, who pretends to know the will and intent of God exactly and completely. H. L. Mencken atheismorderreligion The average schoolmaster is, and always must be, an ass. H. L. Mencken assaverageteacher The feelings that Beethoven put into his music were the feelings of a god. There was something olympian in his snarls and rages, and there was a touch of hellfire in his mirth. H. L. Mencken mirthmusicfeelings Those tragic comedians, the Chamber of Commerce red hunters, the Women's Christian Temperance Union smellers, the censors of books, the Klan regulators, the Methodist prowlers, the Baptist guardians of sacred vessels-we have the national mentality of a police lieutenant. H. L. Mencken christianbookamerica Change is not progress. H. L. Mencken progresschange Here is one of the fundamental defects of American fiction--perhaps the one character that sets it off sharply from all other known kinds of contemporary fiction. It habitually exhibits, not a man of delicate organization in revolt against the inexplicable tragedy of existence, but a man of low sensibilities and elemental desires yielding himself gladly to his environment, and so achieving what, under a third-rate civilization, passes for success. To get on: this is the aim. To weigh and reflect, to doubt and rebel: this is the thing to be avoided. H. L. Mencken contemporary-fictioncharactermen Happiness is peace after strife, the overcoming of difficulties, the feeling of security and well-being. The only really happy folk are married women and single men. H. L. Mencken marriagehappinessmen A dull, dark, depressing day in Winter: the whole world looks like a Methodist church at Wednesday night prayer meeting. H. L. Mencken depressingprayerdark The theatre, when all is said and done, is not life in miniature, but life enormously magnified, life hideously exaggerated. H. L. Mencken theatredonesaid As long as you represent me as praising alcohol I shall not complain. It is, I believe, the greatest of human inventions, and by far - much greater than Hell, the radio or the bichloride tablet. H. L. Mencken foodlongbelieve The harsh, useful things of the world, from pulling teeth to digging potatoes, are best done by men who are as starkly sober as so many convicts in the death-house, but the lovely and useless things, the charming and exhilarating things, are best done by men with, as the phrase is, a few sheets in the wind. H. L. Mencken drinkingwindmen There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible, and wrong. H. L. Mencken neat-and-tidysimple-solutionsbusiness Philosophy consists very largely of one philosopher arguing that all others are jackasses. He usually proves it, and I should add that he also usually proves that he is one himself. H. L. Mencken philosophyfunnyscience Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends. H. L. Mencken freedomlawmother No matter how long he lives, no man ever becomes as wise as the average woman of forty-eight. H. L. Mencken womenwisdomwise In the United States, doing good has come to be, like patriotism, a favorite device of persons with something to sell. H. L. Mencken patriotismcynicalunited-states The saddest life is that of a political aspirant under democracy. His failure is ignominious and his success is disgraceful. H. L. Mencken democracypoliticallife-is
