"The fact is that liberty, in any..." - Quote by H L Mencken
The fact is that liberty, in any true sense, is a concept that lies quite beyond the reach of the inferior man's mind. And no wonder, for genuine liberty demands of its votaries a quality he lacks completely, and that is courage. The man who loves it must be willing to fight for it; blood, said Jefferson, is its natural manure. Liberty means self-reliance, it means resolution, it means the capacity for doing without . . . the average man doesn't want to be free. He wants to be safe.
More by H L Mencken
“American journalism (like the journalism of any other country) is predominantly paltry and worthless. Its pretensions are enormous, but its achievements are insignificant.”
“I write in order to attain that feeling of tension relieved and function achieved which a cow enjoys on giving milk.”
“There is, in fact, no reason to believe that any given natural phenomenon, however marvelous it may seem today, will remain forever inexplicable. Soon or late the laws governing the production of life itself will be discovered in the laboratory, and man may set up business as a creator on his own account. The thing, indeed, is not only conceivable; it is even highly probable.”
More on Liberty
“Under the law of nature, all men are born free, every one comes into the world with a right to his own person, which includes the liberty of moving and using it at his own will. This is what is called personal liberty, and is given him by the Author”
“I would like to be interpreted as a liberal libertarian, like leave everybody alone and let them do their own thing.”
“Once a man has tasted freedom he will never be content to be a slave.”
More on Freedom
“Once you know what it means to choose in favor of yourself, there is no power in the universe that can make you choose against yourself.”
“Pressed into service means pressed out of shape.”
“For a man to act himself, he must be perfectly free; otherwise he is in danger of losing all sense of responsibility or of self- respect.”