"One may no more live in the..." - Quote by H L Mencken
One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able to go to hell without perspiring.
More by H L Mencken
“The Gettysburg Adress has been included, of late, in several anthologies of poetry. It actually meets the major requirement of all poetry: It is a mellifluous and emotional statement of the obviously not true. The men who fought for self-determination at Gettysburg were not the Federals but the Confederates.”
“As for Lindbergh, another eminent servant of science, all he proved by his gaudy flight across the Atlantic was that God takes care of those who have been so fortunate as to come into the world foolish. Expressing skepticism that adventure does not necessarily contribute to scientific knowledge.”
“The objection of the scandalmonger is not that she tells of racy doings, but that she pretends to be indignant about them.”
More on Morality
“The aim of justice is to give everyone his due.”
“... man was not born a carnivorous animal, but born to live on the fruits and herbs that the earth grows. I know we must all err. I would give up milk if I could, but I cannot. I have made that experiment times without number. I could not, after a serious illness, regain my strength, unless I went back to milk. That has been the tragedy of my life. But the basis of my vegetarianism is not physical, but moral. If anybody said that I should die if I did not take beef tea or mutton, even on medical advice, I would prefer death. That is the basis of my vegetarianism.”
“I have to live for others and not for myself: that's middle-class morality.”
More on Society
“Voting is a meaningless exercise. I'm not going to waste my time with it. These parties, these politicians are given to us as a way of making us feel we have freedom of choice. But we don't. Everything is done to you in this country.”
“When everybody looks at our generation of kids, they always call us the misfits - you know, like we just don't give a damn.”
“Graffiti is beautiful; like a brick in the face of a cop.”