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

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

Every man sees in his relatives, and especially in his cousins, a series of grotesque...

Every man sees in his relatives, and especially in his cousins, a series of grotesque...

The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were...

The penalty for laughing in a courtroom is six months in jail; if it were...

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

Democracy is the art and science of running the circus from the monkey cage.

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 urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to...

The urge to save humanity is almost always a false front for the urge to...

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

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.

Judge: a law student who marks his own examination-papers.

Judge: a law student who marks his own examination-papers.

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.

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 -...

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

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

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

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.

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

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

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...

The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than...

The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than...

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

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

Historian: an unsuccessful novelist.

Historian: an unsuccessful novelist.

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...

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...