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The average man gets his living by such depressing devices that boredom becomes a sort of natural state to him.

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
Living
Devices
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Boredom
Men
Average
Life
Gets
Becomes
Sort
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Natural
Depressing

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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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The older I grow the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.
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The first kiss is stolen by the man the last is begged by the woman.
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Liberty and democracy are eternal enemies, and every one knows it who has ever given any sober reflection to the matter.
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The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line.
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A large part of altruism, even when it is perfectly honest, is grounded upon the fact that it is uncomfortable to have unhappy people about one.
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When I hear a man applauded by the mob I always feel a pang of pity for him. All he has to do to be hissed is to live long enough.
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God must love the rich or he wouldn't divide so much among so few of them.
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Youth, though it may lack knowledge, is certainly not devoid of intelligence it sees through shams with sharp and terrible eyes.
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There are no dull subjects. There are only dull writers.
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For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together.
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Taxation, for example, is eternally lively it concerns nine-tenths of us more directly than either smallpox or golf, and has just as much drama in it moreover, it has been mellowed and made gay by as many gaudy, preposterous theories
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The formula of the argument is simple and familiar: to dispose of a problem all that is necessary is to deny that it exists.
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Jealousy is a keen observer, but looks for all the wrong signs.
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Truth would quickly cease to be stranger than fiction, once we got as used to it.
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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
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The best years are the forties after fifty a man begins to deteriorate, but in the forties he is at the maximum of his villainy.
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I have long been convinced that the idea of liberty is abhorrent to most human beings. What they want is security, not freedom. Thus it seldom causes any public indignation when an enterprising tyrant claps down on one of his enemies. To most men it seems a natural proceeding.
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There are two kinds of music German music and bad music.
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[Referring to FDR] If he became convinced tomorrow that coming out for cannibalism would get him the votes he needs so sorely, he would begin fattening a missionary in the White House yard come Wednesday.
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