“Democrats are always happy. Democracy is a sort of laughing gas.”

— H. L. Mencken, The Master Illusion, The American Mercury, March 1925

About H. L. Mencken

1880 – 1956

American journalist and critic, known for "The American Language".

“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.”

“A man may be a fool and not know it—but not if he is married.”

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”

“Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.”

“Isn't it a pleasure to study and practice what you have learned?”

“The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in hills.”

“That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.”

“Therefore the wise man is always happy.”

“No one can be happy without virtue.”