Whosoever lies shows that he despises God and fears men.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
(Attributed)
Confidence in others’ honesty is no light testimony of one’s own integrity.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
(Attributed)
Nothing is as firmly held as what man knows least.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
(Attributed)
If you don’t know how to die, don’t worry; Nature will tell you what to do on the spot, fully and adequately. She will do this job perfectly for you; don’t bother your head about it.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
(Attributed)
He who imposes his argument by bravado and command shows that it is weak in reason.
[Qui establit son discours par braverie et commandement, montre que la raison y est foible.]
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays, Book 3, ch. 11 “Of Cripples [Des Boyteux]” (1587) (3.11) (1595) [tr. Frame (1943)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:He that with braverie and by comaundement will establish his discourse, declareth his reason to be weake.
[tr. Florio (1603), "Of the Lame or Cripple"]Who will establish his Discourse by Authority and Huffing, discovers his Reason to be very weak.
[tr. Cotton (1686)]He who will establish this proposition by authority and huffing discovers his reason to be very weak.
[tr. Cotton/Hazlitt (1877), "On the Lame"]He who establishes his argument by defiance and by command shews that his reasoning is weak.
[tr. Ives (1925)]Any man who supports his opinion with challenges and commands demonstrates that his reasons for it are weak.
[tr. Screech (1987), "On the Lame"]He who establishes his argument by noise and command shows that his reason is weak.
[Source]
There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
(Attributed)
No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) French essayist
Essays (1580-1588)
I endeavor to be wise when I cannot be merry, easy when I cannot be glad, content when I cannot be mended and patient when there be no redress.
Elizabeth Montagu (1720-1800) English intellectual, conversationalist
Letter (c. 1739)
A sex symbol becomes a thing. I hate being a thing.
Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962) American actress, sex symbol
(Attributed)
If you’re sure you understand everything that’s going on, you’re hopelessly confused.
Walter Mondale (1928-2021) American politician
(Attributed)
It is not only for what we do that we are held responsible, but also for what we do not do.
Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
(Attributed)
Alt. trans.: "It is not what we do, but also what we do not do, for which we are accountable."
It infuriates me to be wrong when I know I’m right.
Molière (1622-1673) French playwright, actor [stage name for Jean-Baptiste Poquelin]
(Attributed)
Kindness is the mark of faith; and whoever has not kindness has not faith.
Muhammad (570-632) Arabian merchant, prophet, founder of Islam [Mohammed]
The Sayings of Mohammed, #254 [tr. Abdullah Al-Suhrawardy (1941)]
Patience is the key to contentment.
Muhammad (570-632) Arabian merchant, prophet, founder of Islam [Mohammed]
(Attributed)
I respect faith, but doubt is what gets you an education.
Wilson Mizner (1876-1933) American screenwriter and wit
(Attributed)
quoted in H L Mencken's Dictionary of Quotations (1942)
Life’s a tough proposition, and the first hundred years are the hardest.
Wilson Mizner (1876-1933) American screenwriter and wit
(Attributed)
I never saw a mob rush across town to do a good deed.
Wilson Mizner (1876-1933) American screenwriter and wit
(Attributed)
The worst-tempered people I’ve ever met were the people who knew they were wrong.
Wilson Mizner (1876-1933) American screenwriter and wit
(Attributed)
I can usually judge a fellow by what he laughs at.
Wilson Mizner (1876-1933) American screenwriter and wit
(Attributed)
We especially need imagination in science. It is not all mathematics, nor all logic, but it is somewhat beauty and poetry.
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) American astronomer, educator
(Attributed)
The world of learning is so broad, and the human soul is so limited in power! We reach forth and strain every nerve, but we seize only a bit of the curtain that hides the infinite from us.
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) American astronomer, educator
(Attributed)
When we are chafed and fretted by small cares, a look at the stars will show us the littleness of our own interests.
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) American astronomer, educator
(Attributed)
Every formula which expresses a law of nature is a hymn of praise to God.
Maria Mitchell (1818-1889) American astronomer, educator
Inscription on bust in American Academy of Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame (1905)
Who overcomes
By force, hath overcome but half his foe.John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
Paradise Lost, 1.648 (1667)
The mind is its own place, and in itself
Can make a Heav’n of Hell, a Hell of Heav’n.John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
Paradise Lost, 1.254 (1667)
A man may be heretic to the truth if he believes things only because his pastor says so, or the assembly so determines, without knowing other reason; though his belief be true, yet the very truth he holds becomes his heresy.
John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
Areopagitica
Loneliness is the first thing which God’s eye nam’d not good.
John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
Tetrachordon
As good almost kill a man as kill a good book: who kills a man kills a reasonable creature, God’s image; but he who destroys a good book, kills reason itself, kills the image of God, as it were in the eye.
John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
Areopagitica: a Speech for the Liberty of Unlicensed Printing to the Parliament of England (1644),
These two
Imparadis’d in one another’s arms.John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
Paradise Lost, 4.505 (1667)
Knowledge cannot defile, nor consequently the books, if the will and conscience be not defiled …. Wholesome meats to a vitiated stomach differ little or nothing from unwholesome; and best books to a naughty mind are not unappliable to occasions of evil.
John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
Areopagitica
It is only to the individual faith of each that the Deity has opened the way to salvation.
John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
De Doctrina Cristana, Preface
Good, the more communicated, more abundant grows.
John Milton (1608-1674) English poet
(Attributed)
A cow may be drained dry; and if the Chancellors of the Exchequer persist in meeting every deficiency that occurs by taxing the brewing and distilling industries, they will inevitably kill the cow that lays the golden milk.
Frederick Milner (1849-1931) British politician
(Attributed)
One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
(Attributed)
“It’s snowing still,” said Eeyore gloomily.
“So it is.”
“And freezing.”
“Is it?”
“Yes,” said Eeyore. “However,” he said, brightening up a little, “we haven’t had an earthquake lately.”A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 1 “A House Is Built at Pooh Corner” (1928)
(Source)
Eeyore and Christopher Robin.
Written down like this, it doesn’t seem a very good song, but coming through pale fawn fluff at about half-past eleven on a very sunny morning, it seemed to Pooh to be one of the best songs he had ever sung. So he went on singing it.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 4 “Tiggers Don’t Climb Trees” (1928)
(Source)
Pooh wondered if being a faithful Knight meant that you just went on being faithful without being told things.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 10 “An Enchanted Place” (1928)
(Source)
“Good morning, Eeyore,” said Pooh.
“Good morning, Pooh Bear,” said Eeyore gloomily. “If it is a good morning,” he said. “Which I doubt,” said he.A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh
“What would I do?” I said to Pooh,
“If it wasn’t for you,” and Pooh said: “True,
It isn’t much fun for One, but Two
Can stick together,” says Pooh, says he.
“That’s how it is,” says Pooh.A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Now We Are Six
The next moment the day became very bothering indeed, because Pooh was so busy not looking where he was going that he stepped on a piece of the Forest which had been left out by mistake.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 3 “The Search for Small” (1928)
(Source)
Pooh knew what he meant, but, being a Bear of Very Little Brain, couldn’t think of the words.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 3 “The Search for Small” (1928)
(Source)
“Rabbit’s clever,” said Pooh.
“Yes,” said Piglet. “Rabbit’s clever.”
“And he has a Brain.”
“Yes,” said Piglet, “Rabbit has a Brain.”
There was a long silence.
“I suppose,” said Pooh, “that’s why he never understands anything.”A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 8 “Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing” (1928)
(Source)
“Rabbit,” said Pooh to himself. “I like talking to Rabbit. He talks about sensible things. He doesn’t use long, difficult words, like Owl. He uses short, easy words, like ‘What about lunch?’ and ‘Help yourself, Pooh.'”
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 4 “Tiggers Don’t Climb Trees” (1928)
(Source)
“Look at me jumping” squeaked Roo, and fell into another mouse-hole.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh
“I have been Foolish and Deluded,” said Pooh, “and I am a Bear of No Brain at All.”
“You’re the Best Bear in All the World,” said Christopher Robin soothingly.A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh
Kanga said to Roo, “Drink up your milk first, dear, and talk afterwards.” So Roo, who was drinking his milk, tried to say that he could do both at once
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh
“Eeyore, what are you doing there?” said Rabbit.
“I’ll give you three guesses, Rabbit. Digging holes in the ground? Wrong. Leaping from branch to branch of a young oak-tree? Wrong. Waiting for somebody to help me out of the river? Right. Give Rabbit time, and he’ll always get the answer.”A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 6 “Eeyore Joins the Game” (1928)
(Source)
“Hallo, are you stuck?”
“N-no,” said Pooh carelessly. “Just resting and thinking and humming to myself.”A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh
“When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what’s the first thing you say to yourself?”
“What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?”
“I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet.
Pooh nodded thoughtfully.
“It’s the same thing,” he said.A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh (1926)
But now I am Six, I’m as clever as clever.
So I think I’ll be six now for ever and ever.A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Now We are Six, “The End”
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 10 “An Enchanted Place” (1928)
(Source)
You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.
A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
Winnie-the-Pooh
To be absolutely certain about something, one must know everything or nothing about it.
Olin Miller (fl. early 20th C) American humorist
(Attributed)
What a pity human beings can’t exchange problems. Everyone knows exactly how to solve the other fellow’s.
Olin Miller (fl. early 20th C) American humorist
(Attributed)
You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.
Olin Miller (fl. early 20th C) American humorist
(Attributed)First quoted by Walter Winchell, "On Broadway" (7 Jan 1937)
Also frequently attributed to Mark Twain, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Ethel Barrett; the latter used it ("We would worry less about what others think of us, if we realized how seldom they do") in her 1968 book Don’t Look Now But Your Personality is Showing. See here for more information.
Variants:
- "You’ll worry less about what people think about you when you realize how seldom they do."
- "You wouldn’t worry about what people may think of you if you could know how seldom they do."
- "We wouldn’t worry so much about what folks think of us if we knew how seldom they do."
- "You wouldn’t worry so much about what people think of you, if you knew how seldom they do."
- "You wouldn’t worry so much about what other people think if you realized how seldom they do."
See also Johnson.
As a matter of fact, have you never noticed that most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of a witness?
Margaret Millar (1915-1994) American-Canadian mystery and suspense writer
The Weak-Eyed Bat (1942)
(Source)
Often misattributed to Mark Twain, usually as "Most conversations are simply monologues delivered in the presence of witnesses."
More information on this quote's origins: Most Conversations Are Simply Monologues Delivered in the Presence of a Witness – Quote Investigator®
Laws are only words written on paper, words that change on society’s whim and are interpreted differently daily by politicians, lawyers, judges, and policemen. Anyone who believes that all laws should always be obeyed would have made a fine slave catcher. Anyone who believes that all laws are applied equally, despite race, religion, or economic status, is a fool.
John J. Miller (b. 1954) American writer
Wild Cards IX, “And Hope to Die” (1991)
(ed. George R. R. Martin)
The one thing we can never get enough of is love. And the one thing we never give enough is love.
Henry Miller (1891-1980) American novelist
Insomnia, or The Devil at Large (1971)
Republicans say that Democrats want a huge, monolithic Federal institution that will compromise personal liberty and freedom by controlling individuals’ lives with intrusive policies and a dictatorial agenda. Republicans, of course, believe that is the job of Organized Religion.
Dennis Miller (b. 1953) American comedian, television personality
(Attributed)
The biggest conspiracy has always been the fact that there is no conspiracy. Nobody’s out to get you. Nobody gives a shit whether you live or die. There, you feel better now?
Dennis Miller (b. 1953) American comedian, television personality
(Attributed)
It’s not true that life is one damn thing after another; it is one damn thing over and over.
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950) American poet
(Attributed)
War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
(Attributed)
Some will object, that a comparison cannot fairly be made between the government of the male sex and the forms of unjust power which I have adduced in illustration of it, since these are arbitrary, and the effect of mere usurpation, while it on the contrary is natural. But was there ever any domination which did not appear natural to those who possessed it?
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
The Subjection of Women, ch. 1 (1869)
(Source)
If all mankind, minus one, were of one opinion, and only one person were of the contrary opinion, mankind would be no more justified in silencing that one person, than he, if he had the power, would be justified in silencing mankind.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)
(Source)
We can never be sure that the opinion we are endeavoring to stifle is a false opinion; and if we were sure, stifling it would be an evil still.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)
(Source)
Every great movement must experience three stages: ridicule, discussion, adoption.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
(Attributed)
He who knows only his own side of the case, knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side; if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion. The rational position for him would be suspension of judgment, and unless he contents himself with that, he is either led by authority, or adopts, like the generality of the world, the side to which he feels most inclination.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)
(Source)
The concessions of the privileged to the underprivileged are seldom brought about by any better motive than the power of the unprivileged to extort them.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
(Attributed)
I did not mean that Conservatives are generally stupid; I meant, that stupid persons are generally Conservative. I believe that to be so obvious and undeniable a fact that I hardly think any honorable Gentleman will question it.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
Debate in Parliament with John Pakington (31 May 1866)
Often paraphrased "Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservative."Misquoted in Courtney, Life of John Stuart Mill (1889) as "I never meant to say that the Conservatives are generally stupid. I meant to say that stupid people are generally Conservative. I believe that is so obviously and universally admitted a principle that I hardly think any gentleman will deny it."
The fatal tendency of mankind to leave off thinking about a thing when it is no longer doubtful is the cause of half their errors.
John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) English philosopher and economist
On Liberty, ch. 2 “Of the Liberty of Thought and Discussion” (1859)
(Source)
I think leadership is creating a state of mind in others.
Barbara Mikulski (b. 1936) American politician
(Attributed)
Hey, if you can’t trust an unsigned and untraceable bit of netlore, what can you place your faith in?
Barbara Mikkelson (b. 1959) American urban folklorist
“Can Altoids mints enhance your sexual experience?” Snopes.com (1997)
(Source)
While the article is currently bylined top and bottom by David Mikkelson, it is internally bylined by Barbara. The two divorced in 2014.
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian artist, architect, poet [Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni]
(Attributed)
Widely attributed to Michelangelo as of the late Twentieth Century, but without citation.
The true work of art is but a shadow of the divine perfection.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian artist, architect, poet [Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni]
(Attributed)
If people knew how hard I work to get my mastery, it wouldn’t seem too wonderful after all.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian artist, architect, poet [Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni]
(Attributed)
The earliest attributions only go back to the Twentieth Century (e.g., 1929) in non-academic contexts. No original source is known.
A related attribution, regarding the Sistine Chapel -- "If you knew how much work went into it, you would not call it genius." -- only can be found in the Twenty-First century (e.g., August 2001).
Trifles make perfection, and perfection is no trifle.
Michelangelo (1475-1564) Italian artist, architect, poet [Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni]
(Attributed)
The first appearance of this attribution is in C. C. Colton, Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 168 (1820), with no citation as to where he found it (if he did not make it up himself).
To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
One of the first things to learn if you want to be a contemplative is to mind your own business. Nothing is more suspicious, in a man who seems holy, than an impatient desire to reform other men.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
“New Seeds of Contemplation”
It is both dangerous and easy to hate man as he is because he is not “what he ought to be.” If we do not first respect what he is we will never suffer him to become what he ought to be: in our impatience we do away with him altogether.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
“Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander”
The truth that many people never understand, until it is too late, is that the more you try to avoid suffering the more you suffer, because smaller things begin to torture you in proportion to your fear of suffering.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
Prayer and love are learned in the hour when prayer becomes impossible and your heart has turned to stone.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
Then it was as if I suddenly saw the secret beauty of their hearts, the depths of their hearts where neither sin nor desire nor self-knowledge can reach, the core of their reality, the person that each one is in God’s eyes. If only they could see themselves as they really are. If only we could see each other that way all the time, there would be no more war, no more hatred, no more cruelty, no more greed. I suppose the big problem is that we would fall down and worship each other.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander (1966)
We who claim to love peace and justice must always be careful that we do not use our righteousness to provoke the violent, and in this way bring about the conflict for which we, too, like other men, are hungering in secret, and with suppressed barbarity.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
“Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander”
Art enables us to find ourselves and lose ourselves at the same time.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
We do not want to be beginners. But let us be convinced of the fact that we will never be anything else but beginning all our lives.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
Thus, we never see the one truth that would help us begin to solve our ethical and political problems: that we are all more or less wrong.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
“New Seeds of Contemplation”
My life and death are not purely and simply my own business. I live by and for others, and my death involves others.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
The rush and pressure of modern life are a form, perhaps the most common form, of its innate violence. To allow oneself to be carried away by a multitude of conflicting concerns, to surrender to too many demands, to commit oneself to too many projects, to want to help everyone in everything is to succumb to violence.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
“Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander”
The biggest human temptation is to settle for too little.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
The things I thought were so important — because of the effort I put into them — have turned out to be of small value. And the things I never thought about, the things I was never able to either to measure or to expect, were the things that mattered.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
(Attributed)
I think a man is known better by his questions than by his answers.
Thomas Merton (1915-1968) French-American religious and writer [a.k.a. Fr. M. Louis]
Conjectures of a Guilty Bystander, ch. 5 (1965)
Kissing don’t last: cookery do!
George Meredith (1828-1909) English novelist and poet
The Ordeal of Richard Feveral, ch. 24 (1859)
(Source)
A God Who could be served in only one way is too small a God for me.
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859) Polish Hassidic philosopher, rabbi
(Attributed)
Do not be satisfied with the speech of your lips and the thought in your heart, all the promises and good sayings in your mouth, and all the good thoughts in your heart; rather you must arise and do!
Menachem Mendel of Kotzk (1787-1859) Polish Hassidic philosopher, rabbi
(Attributed)
The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one’s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
(Attributed)
The man who is thought to be poor never gets a fair chance. No one wants to listen to him. No one gives a damn what he thinks or knows or feels. No one has any desire for his good opinion. I discovered this principle early in life, and have put it to use ever since.
I have got a great deal more out of men (and women) by having the name of being a well-heeled fellow than I have ever got by being decent to them, or by dazzling them with my sagacity, or by hard industry, or by a personal beauty that is singular and ineffable.H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
“Smart Set” (May 1920)
The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
In Defense of Women, ch. 13 (1918)
The value the world sets upon motives is often grossly unjust and inaccurate. Consider, for example, two of them: mere insatiable curiosity and the desire to do good. The latter is put high above the former, and yet it is the former that moves one of the most useful men the human race has yet produced: the scientific investigator. What actually urges him on is not some brummagem idea of Service, but a boundless, almost pathological thirst to penetrate the unknown, to uncover the secret, to find out what has not been found out before. His prototype is not the liberator releasing slaves, the good Samaritan lifting up the fallen, but a dog sniffing tremendously at an infinite series of rat-holes.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
Smart Set (Aug 1919)
The chief value of money lies in the fact that one lives in a world in which it is overestimated.
H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American writer and journalist [Henry Lewis Mencken]
(Attributed)