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The most popular man under a democracy is not the most democratic man, but the most despotic man. The common folk delight in the exactions of such a man. They like him to boss them. Their natural gait is the goose step.
H. L. Mencken
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H. L. Mencken
Age: 75 †
Born: 1880
Born: September 12
Died: 1956
Died: January 29
Autobiographer
Essayist
Historian
Journalist
Linguist
Literary Critic
Satirist
Social Critic
Writer
Baltimore
Maryland
Henry Louis Mencken
Natural
Popular
Men
Delight
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Folks
Gait
Democratic
Despotic
Step
Goose
Steps
Geese
Democracy
Folk
Common
Boss
More quotes by H. L. Mencken
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
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Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms and men in love.
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The sort of man who likes to spend his time watching a cage of monkeys chase one another, or a lion gnaw its tail, or a lizard catch flies, is precisely the sort of man whose mental weakness should be combated at the public expense, not fostered.
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The objection of the scandalmonger is not that she tells of racy doings, but that she pretends to be indignant about them.
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A living language is like a man suffering incessantly from small hemorrhages, and what it needs above all else is constant transactions of new blood from other tongues. The day the gates go up, that day it begins to die.
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We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine.
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The worshiper is the father of the gods.
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The real man lies in the depths of subconscious.
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The thing constantly overlooked by those hopefuls who talk about abolishing war is that it is by no means an evidence of decay but rather a proof of health and vigor.
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The longest sentence you can form with two words is: I do.
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The idea that the sole aim of punishment is to prevent crime is obviously grounded upon the theory that crime can be prevented, which is almost as dubious as the notion that poverty can be prevented.
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Every complex problem has a simple solution that doesn't work.
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Adultery is the application of democracy to love.
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Watching two women kiss is like watching two prizefighters shake hands.
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All great religions, in order to escape absurdity, have to admit a dilution of agnosticism. It is only the savage, whether of the African bush or the American gospel tent, who pretends to know the will and intent of God exactly and completely.
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Experience is a poor guide to man, and is seldom followed. What really teaches a man is not experience, but observation.
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Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
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Sunday is a day given over by Americans to wishing that the themselves were dead and in Heaven, and that their neighbors were dead and in Hell.
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The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself.
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Hamlet has been played by 5,000 actors, no wonder he is crazy.
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