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H. L. Mencken

H. L. Mencken Quotes

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Famous H. L. Mencken Quotes

“The time must come inevitably when mankind shall surmount the imbecility of religion, as it has surmounted the imbecility of religion's ally, magic. It is impossible to imagine this world being really civilized so long as so much nonsense survives. In even its highest forms religion embraces concepts that run counter to all common sense. It can be defended only by making assumptions and adopting rules of logic that are never heard of in any other field of human thinking.”

ThinkingWorldHumansLongRunningFormCommonImagineImpossibleMagicHeardMankindFieldsThis WorldHighestConceptsLogicEmbraceCommon SenseAssumptionNonsenseCivilizedAlliesBeing RealAdoptingImbecility
Author:H. L. Mencken
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“The liberation of the human mind has never been furthered by dunderheads; it has been furthered by gay fellows who heaved dead cats into sanctuaries and then went roistering down the highways of the world, proving to all men that doubt, after all, was safe - that the god in the sanctuary was finite in his power and hence a fraud. One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent.”

MenWorldMindHumansHas BeensLaughingDoubtGayThousandTenSafeProveCatHorseIntelligentFellowsLiberationHuman MindFraudAgnosticFiniteHighwaysSanctuary
Author:H. L. Mencken
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“Man is never honestly the fatalist, nor even the stoic. He fights his fate, often desperately. He is forever entering bold exceptions to the rulings of the bench of gods. This fighting, no doubt, makes for human progress, for it favors the strong and the brave. It also makes for beauty, for lesser men try to escape from a hopeless and intolerable world by creating a more lovely one of their own.”

MenWorldTryingHumansFightingStrongDestinyForeverDoubtFateProgressCreatingBraveFavorsHonestlyLovelyNo DoubtExceptionHopelessEnteringRulingBenchesStoicHuman Progress
Book:Mencken Chrestomathy
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