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No reporter of my generation, whatever his genius, ever really rated spats and a walking stick until he had covered both a lynching and a revolution.

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
Whatever
Journalism
Ever
Stick
Really
Sticks
Spats
Generation
Lynching
Revolution
Rated
Walking
Reporter
Genius
Reporters
Generations
Covered

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The chief contribution of Protestantism to human thought is its massive proof that God is a bore.
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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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There are no ugly cigars, only ugly smokers.
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Nature abhors a moron.
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If, after I depart this vale, you ever remember me and have thought to please my ghost, forgive some sinner and wink your eye at some homely girl.
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Every failure teaches a man something, to wit, that he will probably fail again.
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Always remember this: If you don't attend the funerals of your friends, they will certainly not attend yours.
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The State doesn't just want you to obey, it wants to make you WANT to obey.
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A great literature is thus chiefly the product of doubting and inquiring minds in revolt against the immovable certainties of the nation.
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Never drink if you've got any work to do. Never.
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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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Wife: one who is sorry she did it, but would undoubtedly do it again.
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As long as you represent me as praising alcohol I shall not complain.
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The common man knows exactly what he wants...and deserves to get it good and hard.
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There are some people who read too much: The bibliobibuli.
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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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Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.
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To argue that the gaps in knowledge which confront the seeker must be filled, not by patient inquiry, but by intuition or revelation, is simply to give ignorance a gratuitous and preposterous dignity.
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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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Looking for an honest politician is like looking for an ethical burglar.
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