The practical politician, as every connoisseur of ochlocracy knows, is not a man who seeks to inoculate the innumerable caravan of voters with new ideas; he is a man who seeks to search out and prick into energy the basic…

Quote by Henry Louis Mencken

Topics: Politicians Quotes

The natural tendency of every government is to grow steadily worse - that is, to...

The natural tendency of every government is to grow steadily worse - that is, to...

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...

Truth would quickly cease to become stranger than fiction, once we got as used to...

Truth would quickly cease to become stranger than fiction, once we got as used to...

Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction...

Government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction...

Government under democracy is thus government by orgy, almost by orgasm.

Government under democracy is thus government by orgy, almost by orgasm.

Painting is the art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to...

Painting is the art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to...

Adultery is the application of democracy to love

Adultery is the application of democracy to love

Democracy is based upon so childish a complex of fallacies that they must be protected...

Democracy is based upon so childish a complex of fallacies that they must be protected...

Time is the great legalizer, even in the field of morals.

Time is the great legalizer, even in the field of morals.

That it should still be necessary, at this late stage in the senility of the...

That it should still be necessary, at this late stage in the senility of the...

The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply...

The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all; it is simply...

I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war...

I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war...

The kind of man who wants government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always...

The kind of man who wants government to adopt and enforce his ideas is always...

Complete masculinity and stupidity are often indistinguishable.

Complete masculinity and stupidity are often indistinguishable.

It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the...

It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the...

The chief knowledge that a man gets from reading books is the knowledge that very...

The chief knowledge that a man gets from reading books is the knowledge that very...

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...

I give you Chicago. It is not London and Harvard. It is not Paris and...

I give you Chicago. It is not London and Harvard. It is not Paris and...

I'm mad at Hank Aaron for deciding to play one more season. I threw him...

I'm mad at Hank Aaron for deciding to play one more season. I threw him...

When I contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was visibly manifested, in guiding us...

When I contemplate the interposition of Providence, as it was visibly manifested, in guiding us...

Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse. One comfort we have - Cincinnati sounds...

Chicago sounds rough to the maker of verse. One comfort we have - Cincinnati sounds...

The crowds in the big towns, with their mild, knobby faces, their bad teeth and...

The crowds in the big towns, with their mild, knobby faces, their bad teeth and...