Democracy is based upon so childish a complex of fallacies that they must be protected by a rigid system of taboos, else even half-wits would argue it to pieces

Quote by Henry Louis Mencken

Topics: Democracy Quotes

During many a single week, I daresay, more money is spent in New York upon...

During many a single week, I daresay, more money is spent in New York upon...

All talk of winning the people by appealing to their intelligence, of conquering them by...

All talk of winning the people by appealing to their intelligence, of conquering them by...

Idealist: One who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that...

Idealist: One who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that...

Nothing is more patent, indeed, than the fact that charity merely converts the unfit -...

Nothing is more patent, indeed, than the fact that charity merely converts the unfit -...

It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf.

It is impossible to imagine Goethe or Beethoven being good at billiards or golf.

The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true....

The most costly of all follies is to believe passionately in the palpably not true....

The only kind of freedom that the mob can imagine is freedom to annoy and...

The only kind of freedom that the mob can imagine is freedom to annoy and...

Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration - courage, clear thinking, honesty,...

Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration - courage, clear thinking, honesty,...

To be in love is merely to be in a perpetual state of anesthesia -...

To be in love is merely to be in a perpetual state of anesthesia -...

Progress is the process whereby the human race is getting rid of whiskers, the veriform...

Progress is the process whereby the human race is getting rid of whiskers, the veriform...

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...

Love is an emotion that is based on an opinion of women that is impossible...

Love is an emotion that is based on an opinion of women that is impossible...

The practical politician, as every connoisseur of ochlocracy knows, is not a man who seeks...

The practical politician, as every connoisseur of ochlocracy knows, is not a man who seeks...

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous...

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous...

Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another.

Misogynist: A man who hates women as much as women hate one another.

Men are sad because they have to die so soon, women are sad because they...

Men are sad because they have to die so soon, women are sad because they...

The allurement that women hold out to men is precisely the allurement that Cape Hatteras...

The allurement that women hold out to men is precisely the allurement that Cape Hatteras...

The worst government is the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant...

The worst government is the most moral. One composed of cynics is often very tolerant...

I consider all proposals for government action with an open mind before voting no.

I consider all proposals for government action with an open mind before voting no.

Herein indeed consists the excellence of the English government, that all parts of it form...

Herein indeed consists the excellence of the English government, that all parts of it form...