"A sense of humor always withers in..." - Quote by H L Mencken

“The true function of art is to criticize, embellish and edit nature… the artist is a sort of impassioned proof-reader, blue penciling the bad spelling of God.”

“One smart reader is worth a thousand boneheads.”

“Mankind has failed miserably in its effort to devise a rational system of government. [...] The art of government is the exclusive possession of quacks and frauds. It has been so since the earliest days, and it will probably remain so until the end of time.”

“A woman springs a sudden reproach upon you which provokes a hot retort, and then she will presently ask you to apologize.”

“When clever people ask me whereI get a poem, I despair.”

“You've got a goal in life. I've got a goal. Now all we need is a football team.”

“. . . the mind is desperate to fix the river {of events} in place: Possessed by ideas of the past, preoccupied with images of the future, it overlooks the plain truth of the moment.”

“Sometimes we are clarified and calmed healthily, as we never were before in our lives, not by an opiate, but by some unconscious obedience to the all-just laws, so that we become like a still lake of purest crystal and without an effort our depths are revealed to ourselves. . . .”

“Though you cannot see, when you take one step, what will be the next, yet follow truth, justice, and plain dealing, and never fear their leading you out of [any difficult situation] in the easiest manner possible.”