Platitude: an idea (a) that is admitted to be true by everyone, and (b) that is not true.

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

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...

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...

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

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

Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.

Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.

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.

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...

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

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

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...

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

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

Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.

It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just and omnipotent God,...

It is impossible to imagine the universe run by a wise, just and omnipotent God,...

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...

If women believed in their husbands they would be a good deal happier and also...

If women believed in their husbands they would be a good deal happier and also...

Love is the delusion that one woman differs from another.

Love is the delusion that one woman differs from another.

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.

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.

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...

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...

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...

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...