“Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt.”— H. L. Mencken, What I Believe, The Forum 84, September 1930Share
“The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.”— H. L. MenckenShare
“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”— H. L. MenckenShare
“Those who conduct themselves with morality, integrity and consistency need not fear the forces of inhumanity and cruelty.”— Nelson MandelaShare
“I have no fear that the result of our experiment will be that men may be trusted to govern themselves without a master.”— Thomas JeffersonShare
“It is a general popular error to suppose the loudest complainers for the publick to be the most anxious for its welfare.”— Edmund BurkeShare
“The basic stimulus to the intelligence is doubt, a feeling that the meaning of an experience is not self-evident.”— W. H. AudenShare
“I doubt if a charging elephant, or a rhino, is as determined, or hard to check, as a socially ambitious mother.”— Will RogersShare
“Though I admire republican principles in theory, yet I am afraid the practice may be too perfect for human nature.”— Horace WalpoleShare
