No man ever quite believes in any other man. One may believe in an idea absolutely, but not in a man.

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time.

Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time.

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.

Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.

There is a saying in Baltimore that crabs may be prepared in fifty ways and...

There is a saying in Baltimore that crabs may be prepared in fifty ways and...

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

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

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...

Love is the delusion that one man or woman differs from another.

Love is the delusion that one man or woman differs from another.

Historian: an unsuccessful novelist.

Historian: an unsuccessful novelist.

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.

I write in order to attain that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved which...

I write in order to attain that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved which...

Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a movable body.

Temptation is an irresistible force at work on a movable body.

It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from...

It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from...

War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums...

War will never cease until babies begin to come into the world with larger cerebrums...

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.

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,...

Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool....

Before a man speaks it is always safe to assume that he is a fool....

Communism, like any other revealed religion, is largely made up of prophecies.

Communism, like any other revealed religion, is largely made up of prophecies.

There are men so philosophical that they can see humor in their own toothaches. But...

There are men so philosophical that they can see humor in their own toothaches. But...

Have you ever watched a crab on the shore crawling backward in search of the...

Have you ever watched a crab on the shore crawling backward in search of the...

One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of...

One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of...

The opera is to music what a bawdy house is to a cathedral.

The opera is to music what a bawdy house is to a cathedral.