The capacity of human beings to bore one another seems to be vastly greater than that of any other animal.

—H. L. Mencken

boredom animals

About H. L. Mencken

Portrait of H. L. Mencken

Henry Louis Mencken (September 12, 1880 – January 29, 1956) was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on literature, music, prominent politicians, and contemporary movements. His satirical reporting on the Scopes trial, which he dubbed the "Monkey Trial", also earned him...

More quotations from H. L. Mencken

Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule—and both commonly succeed, and are right.

—H. L. Mencken

politics power democracy fitness

We must respect the other fellow's religion, but only in the same sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.

—H. L. Mencken

religion respect subjectivity relativism

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.

—H. L. Mencken

politics sin sorrow Republicans

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace in a continual state of alarm (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing them with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

—H. L. Mencken

politics imagination worry alarm menace

A cynic is a man who, when he smells flowers, looks around for a coffin.

—H. L. Mencken

cynicism death flowers coffins

More quotations tagged with “animals”

I can find God in nature, in animals, in birds and the environment.

God nature animals birds

An environmental setting developed over millions of years must be considered to have some merit. Anything so complicated as a planet, inhabited by more than a million and a half species of plants and animals, all of them living together in a more or less balanced equilibrium in which they continually use and reuse the same molecules of the soil and air, cannot be improved by aimless and uninformed tinkering.

—E. F. Schumacher

life progress animals harmony plants air equilibrium

God is really only another artist. He invented the giraffe, the elephant, and the cat. He has no real style. He just goes on trying other things.

—Pablo Picasso

God art animals

To everyone's surprise, wildlife abounds in the deserted environs of the doomed [Chernobyl] nuclear plant. Elk, wild pigs, wolves, and rabbits all seem to be flourishing. These animals have somehow learned to cope with the high levels of radiation. Who knows, perhaps there are mutations: A pig that can climb. A rabbit with a prehensile tail. An elk with a unicorn's horn. Cells are quick-change artists. Life loves life. Humans may end, but the world won't.

life danger nature disaster animals wildlife nuclear power mutation

It's always been and always will be the same in the world: the horse does the work, and the coachman is tipped.

power work animals control enslavement

History

14 Mar 2015 Added