Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.

A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.

Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what sting is justice.

Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what sting is justice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

I confess I enjoy democracy immensely. It is incomparably idiotic, and hence incomparably amusing.

I confess I enjoy democracy immensely. It is incomparably idiotic, and hence incomparably amusing.

Nine times out of ten, in the arts as in life, there is actually no...

Nine times out of ten, in the arts as in life, there is actually no...

If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please...

If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please...

Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend...

Each party steals so many articles of faith from the other, and the candidates spend...

The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe.

The truth that survives is simply the lie that is pleasantest to believe.

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...

Opera in English is, in the main, just about as sensible as baseball in Italian.

Opera in English is, in the main, just about as sensible as baseball in Italian.

An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes...

An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes...

There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible, and wrong.

There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible, and wrong.

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.

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...

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...

A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven brag...

A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven brag...

Self-respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.

Self-respect: the secure feeling that no one, as yet, is suspicious.

Let's not burn the universities yet. After all, the damage they do might be worse.

Let's not burn the universities yet. After all, the damage they do might be worse.