"A great literature is thus chiefly the..." - Quote by H L Mencken

“That it should still be necessary, at this late stage in the senility of the human race to argue that women have a fine and fluent intelligence is surely an eloquent proof of the defective observation, incurable prejudice, and general imbecility of their lords and masters.”

“Fame: an embalmer trembling with stage fright.”

“Culture itself is neither education nor law-making: it is an atmosphere and a heritage.”

“Sometimes I wish the public were equally aware of the men of our race in the cultural fields. You, for instance, have you ever bought a book by a Negro writer?”

“My job is unbearable to me because it conflicts with my only desire and my only calling, which is literature. Since I am nothing but literature and can and want to be nothing else, my job will never take possession of me, it may, however, shatter me completely, and this is by no means a remote possibility.”

“This is not writing at all. Indeed, I could say that Shakespeare surpasses literature altogether, if I knew what I meant.”

“Digressions, objections, delight in mockery, carefree mistrust are signs of health.”

“The fact that I have no remedy for all the sorrows of the world is no reason for my accepting yours. It simply supports the strong probability that yours is a fake.”

“Doubt means don't. Don't move. Don't answer. Don't rush forward.”