1,045 Quotes by H. L. Mencken

The liberation of the human mind has never been furthered by dunderheads

What ails the truth is that it is mainly uncomfortable, and often dull. The human mind seeks something more amusing, and more caressing.

The storm center of lawlessness in every American State is the State Capitol. It is there that the worst crimes are committed; it is there that lawbreaking attains to the estate and dignity of a learned profession; it is there that contempt for the laws is engendered, fostered, and spread broadcast.

I believe in only one thing and that thing is human liberty. If ever a man is to achieve anything like dignity, it can happen only if superior men are given absolute freedom to think what they want to think and say what they want to say. I am against any man and any organization which seeks to limit or deny that freedom ... the superior man can be sure of freedom only if it is given to all men.

Say what you will about the ten commandments, you must always come back to the pleasant fact that there are only ten of them.

Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner

The longest sentence you can form with two words is: I do.

The more I think you over, the more it comes home to me what an unmitigated Middle Victorian ass you are!

The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.