1,045 Quotes by H. L. Mencken

Never drink if you’ve got any work to do. Never.

If x is the population of the United States and y is the degree of imbecility of the average American, then democracy is the theory that x times y is less than y.

The pedant and the priest have always been the most expert of logicians – and the most diligent disseminators of nonsense and worse.

The average man’s love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary. It takes a special sort of man to understand and enjoy liberty and he is usually an outlaw in democratic societies.

The smallest atom of truth represents some man’s bitter toil and agony; for every ponderable chunk of it there is a brave truth-seeker’s grave upon some lonely ash-dump and a soul roasting in hell.

Every complex problem has a simple solution that doesn’t work.

The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.

The fact is that the average man’s love of liberty is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of sense, justice and truth.

Those who can’t teach – administrate. Those who can’t administrate – go into politics.