Henry Louis “H. L.” Mencken was born in Baltimore, Maryland, in1880 and died in the same city in 1956 at the age of 75.
Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, magazine editor, satirist, and a very vocal critic of American life and culture.
He is regarded by many as one of the most influential American writers of the first half of the twentieth century. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians and contemporary movements.
As a newspaper reporter he is probably best remembered for his extensive coverage of the infamous Scopes trial, which he dubbed the ” monkey trial.” The trial of a young schoolteacher, who was prosecuted for teaching about evolution based on the works of Charles Darwin, was just an example of the force of Christian Fundamentalism in the U.S. at that time.
He followed the theories of the German philosopher Nietzsche and was a detractor of religion in general. He believed representative democracy was a system in which inferior men dominated their superiors. He also had strong reservations regarding U.S. participation in World War II.
H.L. Mencken had a strong impact on the American left and the American libertarian movement, perhaps because he was able to write in an era when “political correctness” had yet to rear its ugly head.
Looking through the quotes selected by our LifeDaily team gives an insight into the mind of H. L. Mencken:
- Love is the triumph of imagination over intelligence.
- Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
- It is hard to believe that a man is telling the truth when you know that you would lie if you were in his place.
- For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
- An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
- Temptation is a woman’s weapon and man’s excuse.
- It is even harder for the average ape to believe that he has descended from man.
- Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.
- Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
- There is always an easy solution to every problem – neat, plausible, and wrong.
- Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution?
- If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.
- Every election is a sort of advance auction sale of stolen goods.
- A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.
- A good politician is quite as unthinkable as an honest burglar.
- We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.
- A newspaper is a device for making the ignorant more ignorant and the crazy crazier.
- A judge is a law student who marks his own examination papers.
- Faith may be defined briefly as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbable.
- Bachelors know more about women than married men; if they didn’t they’d be married too.
As you can see, the cynicism of H. L. Mencken was not confined to one subject.
Can you identify with any of his opinions? Have you ever read any of his work?
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