Poetry has done enough when it charms, but prose must also convince.

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe...

I believe that it is better to tell the truth than a lie. I believe...

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.

Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms...

Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms...

I never smoked a cigarette until I was nine.

I never smoked a cigarette until I was nine.

A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both...

A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both...

A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.

A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.

I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough...

I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough...

Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.

Love is like war: easy to begin but very hard to stop.

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

Temptation is a woman's weapon and man's excuse.

Temptation is a woman's weapon and man's excuse.

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

A society made up of individuals who were all capable of original thought would probably...

A society made up of individuals who were all capable of original thought would probably...

Whenever a husband and wife begin to discuss their marriage they are giving evidence at...

Whenever a husband and wife begin to discuss their marriage they are giving evidence at...

Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she...

Strike an average between what a woman thinks of her husband a month before she...

Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends.

Conscience is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends.

In war the heroes always outnumber the soldiers ten to one.

In war the heroes always outnumber the soldiers ten to one.

What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.

What men value in this world is not rights but privileges.

Husbands never become good; they merely become proficient.

Husbands never become good; they merely become proficient.

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think...

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think...