The 100 phrases of H. L. Mencken most important of this writer

Henry Louis Mencken was a renowned journalist, satirist, essayist, and critic of American culture, who he became famous for his aggressive and acid views of the Scopes Trial, dubbing it 'the trial of the bow'. The cultural views of him are to this day studied by many, as he was racist and anti-semitic, on the same level as other famous people at the time of the world wars.

In order to know the reflection of an era marked by discrimination and values ​​that today we would consider ultraconservative, here we will take a tour of some of the H phrases. L. Mencken more important.

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The phrases of H. L. Mencken most outstanding

Perhaps we will never know his true inclinations, but we can learn more about his life and his vision of the world with the best phrases of H. L. Mencken, which we will show next.

1. War is a good thing, because it is honest, it admits the central fact of human nature...

A strange unpopular opinion about the benefit of war.

2. Trust is the feeling of being able to believe a person even when we know that we would lie in his place.

Her perception of the background of trust.

3. It is entirely lawful for a Catholic to avoid pregnancy by resorting to mathematics, although it is still forbidden to resort to physics or chemistry.

A critique of the conflict between science and religion.

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4. What is a political campaign but a concentrated effort to remove a group of politicians who are bad, and put in others who are believed to be better. The first conclusion, I think is always correct; the second is certainly false.

A direct critic of the way politics was handled.

5. A cynic is someone who, when he smells flowers, immediately looks for a coffin.

Always seeing the negative side of life.

6. For every human problem there is always an easy, clear, plausible and wrong solution.

Things don't always go as expected, but sometimes that's for the best.

7. Love is like a war, easy to start, difficult to end, impossible to forget.

All our experiences in love always leave an indelible mark.

8. Nature hates a fool.

Warning us that we must be cunning in this world.

9. Theology: effort to explain what is not known, putting it in terms of not "being worthy" of knowing.

Denying the tax nature of religion that its concepts are the only correct ones.

10. Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.

Certainly when we fall in love there is an element of illusion to it.

11. Religion encompasses concepts that go against all common sense. He can only defend himself by making assumptions and adopting rules of logic that are never heard of in any other field of human thought.

One of his criticisms of the oppressive system of the church.

12. Remorse: regret for having waited so long to do something.

One of the most difficult weights to undo.

13. Live so that you can stare anyone in the eye and tell them to go to hell.

Never regret what you do.

14. He drops the king's head, and tyranny becomes freedom. The change seems abysmal. Then, piece by piece, the face of freedom hardens, and little by little it becomes the same old face of tyranny. Then another cycle, and then another.

Not all politicians who promote democracy want the freedom of the people, but seek to obtain absolute power.

15. A famous man is one who is known by many people whom he is glad he does not know.

Behind the admiration of some, there is a lot of greed behind.

16. Democracy is the art of managing the circus from the cage of the apes.

He never agreed with the way democracy develops.

17. It takes a naturally trusting person a long time to come to terms with the idea that God won't help him after all.

Many people have this type of conflict, where they must find a middle ground for their beliefs.

18. The older I get, the more I distrust the general belief that old age brings wisdom.

Do you think old age brings absolute wisdom?

19. Definition of a rich man: someone who earns a hundred dollars more than his sister-in-law's husband.

When money becomes a race to be better than the other.

20. I believe in only one thing: freedom; but I don't believe in freedom enough to want to impose it on anyone.

Freedom is a responsibility and right of each person.

21. Conscience: inner voice that warns us that someone may be watching.

Conscience does not always leave us calm, but it is a tool to hide our sins.

22. An idealist is a man who, assuming that a rose smells better than a cabbage, deduces that a rose soup would also taste better.

Excessive idealism causes us to lose the course of life.

23. The main value of money is that we value it more than it is worth.

It is we who impose the value of money and place it above anything else.

24. The most dangerous man for any government is the man who has the ability to think things out for himself, regardless of superstitions or taboos.

Perhaps that is why it seeks to silence as many voices as possible.

25. Puritanism: The tormenting fear that someone, somewhere, is happy.

Religious fanaticism creates dissatisfied and fearful people.

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26. It is impossible to imagine the universe managed by a wise, just and omnipotent God, but it is very easy to imagine it managed by a council of gods.

Speaking that there is not one God, but several of them.

27. When 'A' annoys or hurts 'B' under the guise of saving or improving 'X', 'A' is a crook.

No end justifies an unjust means.

28. Faith can be succinctly defined as an illogical belief that the unlikely will happen.

Faith can be present in many things that generate positive change.

29. Every decent man is ashamed of the government under which he lives.

Every person should fully understand the weight of choosing a good or a bad politician.

30. Envy is the theory that someone else has just as little taste.

Envy is a feeling that makes people hate for no reason.

31. Every election is a kind of advance auction of stolen goods.

A dark fate about the politics of a nation.

32. The basic fact of human existence is, not a tragedy, but a boredom. It's not so much a war as it is waiting in line for people. The objection to it is not that it is predominantly painful but that it is meaningless.

Speaking of the discouragement that comes to thousands of people as they go through life.

33. It is inaccurate to say that he hates everything.

Is it possible to hate everything?

34. When a man laughs at his problems he loses many friends. They never forgive being stripped of their prerogative.

With their own safety they scare away the people who feed on our misfortunes.

35. Injustice is relatively easy to bear; what is truly unbearable is justice.

Not all justice is fair, especially if it can be bought.

36. No one has gone bankrupt by undervaluing the taste of the American public.

Consumerism has tainted the prospects of Americans.

37. If after I leave this valley you ever think of me and wish to please my spirit, forgive a sinner and wink at a simple girl.

We are all sinners, but that does not take away from us the ability to contribute a grain of sand for good.

38. In any clash between a rogue and a fool the sympathy of mankind turns to the rogue.

Likeability goes hand in hand with a person's appearance and attitude.

39. The average man does not want to be free. He just wants to be sure.

The security of being able to have stability for the rest of your life.

40. Socialism: nothing more than the theory that the slave is always more virtuous than his master.

A political notion that has been used to give way to dictatorships or the decline of a nation.

41. All government is, in its essence, a conspiracy against the superior man: its only permanent aim is to oppress and spoil him.

A negative view of the main purpose of governments.

42. Lawyer: Someone who protects us from thieves by removing temptation.

A sarcastic opinion on the work of lawyers.

43. Before a man speaks, it is always good to assume that he is a fool. After he speaks, you rarely have to guess.

It is always better not to expect anything from anyone to avoid being disappointed.

44. Every government, obviously, is against Liberty.

Do you think that no government is fair and honest enough to bring peace?

45. Time is the great equalizer, even in the field of morality.

Time can put things in their place.

46. There is no memory of a happy philosopher in human history.

Philosophers live on a fine line between happiness and tragedy.

47. Consciousness is a mother-in-law whose visit never ends.

He is always insisting, especially at night to give us insomnia.

48. Tribunal: A place where Jesus Christ and Judas Iscariot would be equals, with the odds in favor of Judas.

A place where everyone is innocent until proven guilty.

49. One of the most cloying human delusions is the notion that friendship must be eternal or, at any rate, life, and that any act that establishes an end is somehow discreditable.

Not all things last forever as we are constantly changing.

50. Happiness is peace after conflict, the overcoming of difficulties, a sense of security and well-being.

Knowing that we were able to successfully overcome an obstacle.

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51. Those who can, do. Those who cannot, teach.

We all have value and something to give.

52. Poverty is a mute that acts under all forms of human activity, not excluding spiritual ones.

Poverty is one of the most demanding global problems that exist.

53. You enter the world with nothing, and the purpose of your life is to make something out of nothing.

We build our own life.

54. The object of practical politics is to keep the population alarmed by threatening it with an endless series of bogeymen, all of them imaginary.

Creating imaginary scandals to distract people from what politicians are really hiding.

55. Socialist: a man who suffers from an overwhelming conviction to believe what is not true.

Socialism is a smokescreen.

56. As democracy improves, the office of president represents, more and more, the inner soul of the people.

Democracy can only work if the leader of the people is in tune with the needs of the people.

57. If a politician discovers that some of his constituents are cannibals, he will promise them missionaries for dinner.

Creating false promises to secure the votes that are best for them.

58. The time must inevitably come when humanity must overcome the imbecility of religion, as it has overcome the imbecility of religion's ally, magic.

With the passage of time we have been able to overcome the mystical character of religion.

59. A good politician is as unthinkable as an honest thief.

They are classified as 'white collar thieves'.

60. On some great and glorious day, the simple people of the earth will at last achieve their heart's desire and the White House will be graced by a downright jerk.

No one knows for sure the true intentions of political leaders.

61. The fact is that the average man's love of freedom is nine-tenths imaginary, exactly like his love of meaning, justice, and truth.

Freedom is more assured to people who have value to society.

62. The only people who are very happy are married women and single men.

Each person has a responsibility to find her own happiness on his own, rather than with someone else.

63. The effort to reconcile science and religion is almost always made, not by theologians, but by scientists unable to completely rid themselves of the piety absorbed by mother's milk.

It is the scientists themselves who try to find a way to create a bridge between religion and science.

64. The only time you have a free press is when you have one.

Opinions are challenged, especially those that are not convenient for politicians.

65. Truth: Something that discredits someone.

The truth cannot be an excuse to bring someone down.

66. The costliest of follies is to vehemently believe in something that is obviously false. This is the primary occupation of humanity.

Sometimes we allow ourselves to be blinded by the things we imagine.

67. Poetry has done enough when it manages to delight, but prose must also convince.

Praising the power of letters.

68. Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who wants to live in an institution?

A negative stance towards marriage.

69. When a man and a woman marry, they form one being; the first difficulty is to decide what it is.

Marriage must go hand in hand with a commitment to seek a shared future.

70. A philosopher is a blind man in a dark room looking for a black cat that is not there. A theologian is the man who finds it.

Different positions in both professionals.

71. Jury. A group of twelve people who, having lied to the judge about his hearing, health, and work commitments, have failed to deceive him.

Injustices in court are the order of the day.

72. Haste is from the devil. The slowness is from God.

When we act impulsively, regret sets in sooner or later.

73. Judge: A law student who decides his exam grade.

All judges should be people with established values ​​about what is fair.

74. Adultery is the application of democracy to love.

A liberalist view of infidelity.

75. Democracy is a pathetic belief in the collective wisdom of individual ignorance.

Perhaps an illusion that does us more harm than good.

76. The only permanent feeling of the lower man is fear, fear of the unknown, of the complex, of the inexplicable. The one thing he needs above all else is security.

That is why we must build bulletproof security, that way fear will not win us over.

77. It is impossible to imagine that this world is truly civilized, while so much absurdity survives.

The world will not be a peaceful place until everyone achieves optimal coexistence.

78. Self respect. The feeling of security that nobody, until now, suspects anything.

It is the confidence that we create within ourselves to bring it out when necessary.

79. I am totally in favor of common sense, honesty and common decency. This makes me forever ineligible for public office.

Promoting responsibility and decency in people.

80. What men value most in this world are not rights but privileges.

The more power a person acquires, the more he feels untouchable.

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81. Of all the escape mechanisms, death is the most efficient.

Death is the total end of everything.

82. A nation that remains in peace for too long becomes a kind of gigantic old maid.

An 'excuse' to go to war.

83. If such a board does exist, it operates precisely like the board of a corporation that is losing money.

On the council ruled by the gods on the decisions of the world.

84. The bachelor wants a wife but is glad he doesn't have one.

The perpetual debate between being or not in a relationship.

85. A man who can laugh, if only at himself, is never truly miserable.

People who have a good mood are able to deal with situations in a better way.

86. It is the invariable habit of bureaucracies, at all times and in all places, to assume... that every citizen is a criminal. Its sole apparent purpose, pursued with relentless and furious diligence, is to turn assumption into fact.

All who are against the government are suspect in his eyes.

87. Man becomes civilized not in proportion to his readiness to believe, but in proportion to his ease in doubting.

Doubt makes us look for the best answers to improve.

88. Let us trust in God, who always cheated us in the past.

Showing his position regarding the belief in God.

89. The theater is not a place for laborious speculation, but for entertaining performances.

The theater is a refuge for the capacities of our imagination.

90. The New Deal began - like the Salvation Army - by promising the salvation of mankind. But he ended up - like the Salvation Army - opening up buy and sell shops and disturbing the peace.

Reflecting on the drastic change of The New Deal.

91. Single men know more about women than married men; if it were not so, they would be too.

It is common for many people to run away from a commitment as a couple.

92. Underneath the play of all these opposites there is something fundamental and permanent: the basic illusion that man can be governed and at the same time be free.

Can we have a government that guides us but without taking away our freedom?

93. Human life is basically a comedy.

Each one decides if it is a tragic or a funny one.

94. The well-known argument that crime is caused by poverty is an insult against the poor.

Crime can come from any social stratum.

95. Love is the illusion that one woman is different from another.

All people are different and therefore have unique things to offer.

96. Misogynist: a man who hates women as much as women hate each other.

Women can also be your worst enemy.

97. I know some who are constantly drunk on books as other men are drunk on whiskey.

Will the excess for books also be a negative aspect?

98. When you hear a man talk about his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.

Patriotism masquerades as self-interest or fanaticism.

99. Democrats are always happy. Democracy is a kind of laughing gas. It may not cure anything, but it certainly stops the pain.

A patch that stops the bleeding but does not repair the wound.

100. In summary: 1) The cosmos is a giant Ferris wheel making 10,000 revolutions per minute. 2) The man is a dizzy fly taking a ride on that wheel. 3) Religion is the theory that the wheel was designed and set in motion to give you the ride.

Affirmations that define very well the position of this satirical journalist.