"Philadelphia is the most pecksniffian of American..." - Quote by H L Mencken
Philadelphia is the most pecksniffian of American cities, and thus probably leads the world.
More by H L Mencken
“The main thing that every political campaign in the United States demonstrates is that the politicians of all parties, despite their superficial enmities, are really members of one great brotherhood. Their principal, and indeed their sole, object is to collar public office, with all the privileges and profits that go therewith. They achieve this collaring by buying votes with other people's money.”
“After all, why be good? How many will actually believe it of us?”
“Balloonists have an unsurpassed view of the scenery, but there is always the possibility that it may collide with them.”
More on Cities
“If you can make it there, you'll make it anywhere; it's up to you, New York, New York.”
“In order to understand the world, one has to turn away from it on occasion; in order to serve others better, one has to hold them at a distance for a time. But where can one find the solitude necessary to vigor, the deep breath in which the mind collects itself and courage gauges its strength? There remain big cities.”
“Cities give us collision. 'Tis said, London and New York take the nonsense out of a man.”
More on American Society
“Nobody ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public.”
“Probably the worst thing that has happened in America in my time is the decay of confidence in the courts. No one can be sure any more that in a given case they will uphold the plainest mandate of the Constitution. On the contrary, everyone begins to be more or less convinced in advance that they won't. Judges are chosen not because they know the Constitution and are in favor of it, but precisely because they appear to be against it.”
“We are the first nation in the history of the world to go to the poorhouse in an automobile.”