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

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

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.

Love is the delusion that one woman differs from another.

Love is the delusion that one woman differs from another.

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

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

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

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...

We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine.

We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine.

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...

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.

It is hard for the ape to believe he descended from man.

It is hard for the ape to believe he descended from man.

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

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

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.

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

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

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...

When a man laughs at his troubles he loses a great many friends. They never...

When a man laughs at his troubles he loses a great many friends. They never...

To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would...

To die for an idea; it is unquestionably noble. But how much nobler it would...

Life is a dead-end street.

Life is a dead-end street.

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

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

I hate all sports as rabidly as a person who likes sports hates common sense.

I hate all sports as rabidly as a person who likes sports hates common sense.

Morality is the theory that every human act must be either right or wrong, and...

Morality is the theory that every human act must be either right or wrong, and...