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

— H. L. Mencken, Prejudices: Third Series (1922)

About H. L. Mencken

1880 – 1956

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

“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.”

“An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it is also more nourishing.”

“The young man who has not wept is a savage, and the old man who will not laugh is a fool.”

“Reminiscences make one feel so deliciously aged and sad.”

“Old age deprives the intelligent man only of qualities useless to wisdom.”

“Growing old is no more than a bad habit which a busy man has no time to form.”

“All the best sands of my life are somehow getting into the wrong end of the hourglass.”

“The young have exalted notions, because they have not been humbled by life or learned its necessary limitations.”