2026 Reading Challenge

Asa > Asa's Quotes

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  • #1
    H.L. Mencken
    “We are here and it is now. Further than that, all human knowledge is moonshine.”
    ― H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy
    tags: attributed, knowledge, reality, wisdom
    133 likes

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  • #2
    H.L. Mencken
    “Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.”
    ― H. L. Mencken
    tags: government
    121 likes

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  • #3
    H.L. Mencken
    “Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.”
    ― H.L. Mencken, Prejudices First Series
    tags: diplomacy, love, outrage
    776 likes

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  • #4
    H.L. Mencken
    “Puritanism: The haunting fear that someone, somewhere, may be happy.”
    ― H.L. Mencken, A Mencken Chrestomathy
    tags: attitude, definitions, fear, happiness, orthodoxy, puritanism, strictness
    520 likes

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  • #5
    H.L. Mencken
    “A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.”
    ― H.L. Mencken
    tags: cynic, definitions
    353 likes

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  • #6
    H.L. Mencken
    “The notion that a radical is one who hates his country is naïve and usually idiotic. He is, more likely, one who likes his country more than the rest of us, and is thus more disturbed than the rest of us when he sees it debauched. He is not a bad citizen turning to crime; he is a good citizen driven to despair.”
    ― H.L. Mencken
    tags: activist, patriotism
    342 likes

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  • #7
    H.L. Mencken
    “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.”
    ― H.L. Mencken, Minority Report
    tags: funny, humor, joke, kids, respect, smart, wife
    265 likes

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  • #8
    H.L. Mencken
    “Equality before the law is probably forever unattainable. It is a noble ideal, but it can never be realized, for what men value in this world is not rights but privileges.”
    ― H.L. Mencken
    tags: equality, privilege, rights
    117 likes

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  • #9
    H.L. Mencken
    “The plain fact is that education is itself a form of propaganda - a deliberate scheme to outfit the pupil, not with the capacity to weigh ideas, but with a simple appetite for gulping ideas ready-made. The aim is to make 'good' citizens, which is to say, docile and uninquisitive citizens.”
    ― H.L. Menchken
    tags: education, homeschool, homeschooling
    116 likes

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  • #10
    H.L. Mencken
    “Giving every man a vote has no more made men wise and free than Christianity has made them good.”
    ― H.L. Mencken
    tags: christianity, democracy
    115 likes

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  • #11
    H.L. Mencken
    “Democracy is the worship of jackals by jackasses.”
    ― H.L. Mencken
    tags: political-commentary
    93 likes

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  • #12
    H.L. Mencken
    “The demagogue is one who preaches doctrines he knows to be untrue to men he knows to be idiots.”
    ― H.L. Mencken
    tags: anarchy, democracy, elections, freedom, government, idiocracy, laissez-faire, libertarian, liberty, people, politicians, politics, statism, stupid, voluntaryism, voting
    88 likes

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  • #13
    H.L. Mencken
    “The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it. Power is what all messiahs really seek: not the chance to serve. This is true even of the pious brethren who carry the gospel to foreign parts.”
    ― H.L. Mencken, Minority Report
    tags: anointed, deceit, elite, false-prophets, falsehood, gospel, humanity, humility, messiahs, power, proselytizing, rulers, service
    81 likes

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  • #14
    H.L. Mencken
    “No one ever lost money underestimating the intelligence of the American public.”
    ― H.L. Mencken
    tags: misattributed-p-t-barnham
    67 likes



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attributed
knowledge
reality
wisdom
government
diplomacy
love
outrage
attitude
definitions
fear
happiness
orthodoxy
puritanism
strictness
cynic
activist
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funny
humor
joke
kids
respect
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wife
equality
privilege
rights
education
homeschool
homeschooling
christianity
democracy
political-commentary
anarchy
elections
freedom
idiocracy
laissez-faire
libertarian
liberty
people
politicians
politics
statism
stupid
voluntaryism
voting
anointed
deceit
elite
false-prophets
falsehood
gospel
humanity
humility
messiahs
power
proselytizing
rulers
service
misattributed-p-t-barnham