This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
In the superman Nietzsche gave the world the conceivable and possible goal for all human effort. Remained there but still a problem and it was this: When the Superman Appears at last on earth, what then? Will there be another super superman to follow and another super-superman after that? In the end, man will become the equal of the creator of the universe, whoever or whatever He may be? Or will a period of decline after eating, with long return down the line, down through the superman to man again, and then on to the anthropoid ape, to the lower mammals, to the asexual cell, and, finally, to mere inert matter, gas, ether, and empty space?
What could be better, really, than to sit by the fire in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against the windowpanes, and the lamp burns?... You forget everything ... and hours go by. Without moving, you walk through lands you imagine you can see, and your thoughts, weaving in and out of the story, delight in the details or follow the outlines of the adventures. You merge with the character; you think you're the one whose heart is beating so hard within the clothes he's wearing.
As we progress, various shades of meaning and deeper levels of understanding will complement this initial effort.
Follow the three R's: - Respect for self. - Respect for others. - Responsibility for all your actions. Remember that not getting what you want is sometimes a wonderful stroke of luck. Learn the rules so you know how to break them properly.
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
In every unbeliever's heart there is an uneasy feeling that, after all, he may awake after death and find himself immortal. This is his punishment for his unbelief. This is the agnostic's Hell.
A kiss on the beach when there is a full moon is the closest thing to heaven.
Worth |
In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins--not through strength but by perseverance.
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
I hate all sports as rabidly as a person who likes sports hates common sense.
Worth |
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
Judge: a law student who marks his own examination-papers.
Worth |
Is the Church fulfilling a purely religious role when by its silence or friendly relationships it lends legitimacy to dictatorial and oppressive government?
Let the refining and improving of your own life keep you so busy that you have little time to criticize others.
There is no truth except in its relation, that is to say, the fashion in which we perceive the objects.
You ask me whether the Orient is up to what I imagined it to be. Yes, it is; and more than that, it extends far beyond the narrow idea I had of it. I have found, clearly delineated, everything that was hazy in my mind. Facts have taken the place of suppositions - so excellently so that it is often as though I were suddenly coming upon old forgotten dreams.
Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
Jury: A group of twelve man who, having lied to the judge about their hearing, health, and business engagements, have failed to fool him.
Worth |
The disparaging of those we love always alienates us from them to some extent. We must not touch our idols; the gilt comes off in our hands.
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
In the duel of sex, woman fights from a dreadnought and man from an open raft.
Hate |
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
Jealousy is the theory that some other fellow has just as little taste.
Worth |
H. L. Mencken, fully Henry Louis Mencken
No one in this world, so far as I know - and I have researched the records for years, and employed agents to help me - has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby.
Friend |