Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.

A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.

Life is a dead-end street.

Life is a dead-end street.

Honor is simply the morality of superior men.

Honor is simply the morality of superior men.

Women always excel men in that sort of wisdom which comes from experience. To be...

Women always excel men in that sort of wisdom which comes from experience. To be...

Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes...

Unquestionably, there is progress. The average American now pays out twice as much in taxes...

I go on working for the same reason that a hen goes on laying eggs.

I go on working for the same reason that a hen goes on laying eggs.

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to...

Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to...

Time stays, we go.

Time stays, we go.

Men have a much better time of it than women. For one thing, they marry...

Men have a much better time of it than women. For one thing, they marry...

If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries...

If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries...

The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it...

The average man does not get pleasure out of an idea because he thinks it...

When women kiss it always reminds one of prize fighters shaking hands.

When women kiss it always reminds one of prize fighters shaking hands.

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

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

Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing.

Theology is the effort to explain the unknowable in terms of the not worth knowing.

The cynics are right nine times out of ten.

The cynics are right nine times out of ten.

It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach,...

It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach,...

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

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

Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a...

Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a...

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the...

Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the...

The common argument that crime is caused by poverty is a kind of slander on...

The common argument that crime is caused by poverty is a kind of slander on...