HENRY LOUIS MENCKEN
September 12, 1880 - January 29, 1956
Puritanism. The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.
All government, of course, is against liberty.
All men are frauds. The only difference between them is that some admit it. I myself deny it.
An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.
For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong.
If a politician found he had cannibals among his constituents, he would promise them missionaries for dinner.
If I ever marry, it will be on a sudden impulse - as a man shoots himself.
Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time.
In this world of sin and sorrow there is always something to be thankful for; as for me, I rejoice that I am not a Republican.
Temptation is a woman's weapon and man's excuse.
Adultery is the application of democracy to love.
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.
It is not materialism that is the chief curse of the world, as pastors teach, but idealism. Men get into trouble by taking their visions and hallucinations too seriously.
Love is the delusion that one woman differs from another.
Marriage is a wonderful institution, but who would want to live in an institution?
The only really happy folk are married women and single men.
No matter how happily a woman may be married, it always pleases her to discover that there is a nice man who wishes that she were not.
* * *
No comments:
Post a Comment