H. L. Mencken Quotes About Life

• You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Ocean, Sea

• The more a man dreams, the less he believes.

  H. L. Mencken

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  H.L. Mencken (1920). “Prejudices Second Series”

• I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Wise, Believe

• You come into the world with nothing, and the purpose of your life is to make something out of nothing.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Change, Wisdom

• 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.

  H. L. Mencken

  Love, Life, Relationship

  H.L. Mencken “A little book in C major”, Рипол Классик

• Conscience is the inner voice that warns us that someone might be looking.

  H. L. Mencken

  Funny, Life, Freedom

• Life is a constant oscillation between the sharp horns of dilemmas.

  H. L. Mencken

  Funny, Life, Choices

• An idealist is one who, on noticing that roses smell better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Food, Vegetables

  H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.617, Vintage

• The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Spiritual, War

  H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.131, Vintage

• When I mount the scaffold at last these will be my farewell words to the sheriff: Say what you will against me when I am gone, but don't forget to add, in common justice, that I was never converted to anything.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Goodbye, Farewell

  Baltimore Evening Sun, June 12, 1922.

• The most valuable of all human possessions, next to a superior and disdainful air, is the reputation of being well-to-do.

  H. L. Mencken

  Funny, Life, Success

  H. L. Mencken, Marion Elizabeth Rodgers (2010). “H.L. Mencken: Prejudices: First, Second, and Third Series”, Hubsta Ltd

• How little it takes to make life unbearable: a pebble in the shoe, a cockroach in the spaghetti, a woman's laugh.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Laughter, Shoes

  H.L. Mencken (2012). “Mencken Chrestomathy”, p.620, Vintage

• Everyman is thoroughly happy twice in his life, just after he has met his first love, and just after he has left his last one.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, True Love, First Love

• Whenever "A" attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon "B," "A" is most likely a scoundrel.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, War, Government

• Lying is not only excusable; it is not only innocent; it is, above all, necessary and unavoidable. Without the ameliorations that it offers, life would become a mere syllogism and hence too metallic to be borne.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Success, Lying

  H. L. Mencken (1924). “Prejudices Fourth Series”

• The average man gets his living by such depressing devices that boredom becomes a sort of natural state to him.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Depressing, Men

  H. L. Mencken (2015). “In Defense of Women: Human Sexuality”, p.49, 谷月社

• I go on working for the same reason that a hen goes on laying eggs. There is in every living creature an obscure but powerful impulse to active functioning. Life demands to be lived. Inaction, save as a measure of recuperation between bursts of activity, is painful and dangerous to the healthy organism- in fact, it is almost impossible. Only the dying can be really idle.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Success, Powerful

• Life is a dead-end street.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Dead Ends, Streets

• It is more blessed to give than receive; for example, wedding presents.

  H. L. Mencken

  Funny, Life, Blessed

• Watching two women kiss is like watching two prizefighters shake hands.

  H. L. Mencken

  Life, Kissing, Hands

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