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

Quote by H L Mencken

Topics: H L Mencken Quotes

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think...

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think...

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.

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.

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

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

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.

I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough...

I believe in only one thing: liberty; but I do not believe in liberty enough...

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...

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...

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.

Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.

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...

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...

I never smoked a cigarette until I was nine.

I never smoked a cigarette until I was nine.

A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both...

A politician is an animal which can sit on a fence and yet keep both...

Nevertheless, it is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended...

Nevertheless, it is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended...

We must be willing to pay a price for freedom.

We must be willing to pay a price for freedom.

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...

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 hard for the ape to believe he descended from man.

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

I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because...

I never lecture, not because I am shy or a bad speaker, but simply because...