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Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule—and both commonly succeed, and are right.

H. L. Mencken

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H. L. Mencken
Age: 75 †
Born: 1880
Born: September 12
Died: 1956
Died: January 29
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Henry Louis Mencken
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Suppose two-thirds of the members of the national House of Representatives were dumped into the Washington garbage incinerator tomorrow, what would we lose to offset our gain of their salaries and the salaries of their parasites?
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Religion is fundamentally opposed to everything I hold in veneration - courage, clear thinking, honesty, fairness, and, above all, love of the truth.
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The course of the United States in World War II, I said, was dishonest, dishonorable, and ignominious, and the Sunpapers, by supporting Roosevelt's foreign policy, shared in this disgrace.
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At eight or nine, I suppose intelligence is no more than a small spot of light on the floor of a large and murky room.
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Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.
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When fanatics are on top there is no limit to oppression.
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A man always blames the woman who fools him. In the same way he blames the door he walks into in the dark.
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The editors are committed to nothing save this: to keep common sense as fast as they can, to belabor sham as agreeably as possible, to give civilized entertainment.
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The truth is that Christian theology, like every other theology, is not only opposed to the scientific spirit it is also opposed to all other attempts at rational thinking.
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The trouble with Communism is the Communists, just as the trouble with Christianity is the Christians.
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One smart reader is worth a thousand boneheads.
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On one issue, at least, men and women agree. They both distrust women.
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No married man is genuinely happy if he has to drink worse whisky than he used to drink when he was single.
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Jealousy is a keen observer, but looks for all the wrong signs.
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The great difficulty about keeping the Ten Commandments is that no man can keep them and be a gentleman.
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In the United States, doing good has come to be, like patriotism, a favorite device of persons with something to sell.
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Psychotherapy is the theory that the patient will probably get well anyhow and is certainly a damn fool.
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The difference between the smartest dog and the stupidest man - say a Tennessee Holy Roller - is really very small.
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Some immemorial imbecilities have been added deliberately, on the ground that it is just as interesting to note how foolish men have been as to note how wise they have been.
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He slept more than any other president, whether by day or by night. Nero fiddled, but Coolidge only snored.
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