--- title: "7 Devices Quotes By H. L. Mencken" description: "7 Devices quotes by H. L. Mencken. Plus more from H. L. Mencken and more Devices sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f40/h-l-mencken-245_auctions_the-government-consists-of-a-gang-of-men_314966.jpg" --- > [The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-government-consists-of-a-gang-of-men-exactly-like-you-and-me-they/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f40/h-l-mencken-245_auctions_the-government-consists-of-a-gang-of-men_314966.jpg) > [It is not a sign of communal well-being when men turn to their government to execute all their business for them, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-not-a-sign-of-communal-well-being-when-men-turn-to-their/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14f/h-l-mencken-245_affair_it-is-not-a-sign-of-communal-well-being_567318.png) > [It is the fundamental theory of all the more recent American law...that the average citizen is half-witted, and hence not to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-the-fundamental-theory-of-all-the-more-recent-american-law-that/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/623/h-l-mencken-245_america_it-is-the-fundamental-theory-of-all-the_676409.jpg) > [A woman usually respects her father, but her view of her husband is mingled with contempt, for she is of course privy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-woman-usually-respects-her-father-but-her-view-of-her-husband-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f51/h-l-mencken-245_contempt_a-woman-usually-respects-her-father-but_1161338.png) > [The average man gets his living by such depressing devices that boredom becomes a sort of natural state to him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-average-man-gets-his-living-by-such-depressing-devices-that/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/335/h-l-mencken-245_average_the-average-man-gets-his-living-by-such_1659936.png) > [In the United States, doing good has come to be, like patriotism, a favorite device of persons with something to sell.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/in-the-united-states-doing-good-has-come-to-be-like-patriotism-a/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/82d/h-l-mencken-245_cynical_in-the-united-states-doing-good-has-come_1874499.png) > [The acting that one sees upon the stage does not show how human beings comport themselves in crises, but how actors think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-acting-that-one-sees-upon-the-stage-does-not-show-how-human/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/174/h-l-mencken-245_acting_the-acting-that-one-sees-upon-the-stage_3234778.png) ## Other authors on Devices ## More by H. L. Mencken > [Alimony - the ransom that the happy pay to the devil.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/alimony-the-ransom-that-the-happy-pay-to-the-devil/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [A bad artist almost always tries to conceal his incompetence by whooping up a new formula.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-bad-artist-almost-always-tries-to-conceal-his-incompetence-by/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [ By profession a biologist, \[Thomas Henry Huxley\] covered in fact the whole field of the exact sciences, and then bulged through its four fences.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/by-profession-a-biologist-thomas-henry-huxley-covered-in-fact-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [So few men are really worth knowing, that it seems a shameful waste to let an anthropoid prejudice stand in the way of free…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/so-few-men-are-really-worth-knowing-that-it-seems-a-shameful-waste-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Man's objection to love is that it dies hard; woman's, that when it is dead, it stays dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/man-s-objection-to-love-is-that-it-dies-hard-woman-s-that-when-it-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The lunatic fringe wags the underdog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-lunatic-fringe-wags-the-underdog/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [For it is an absurdity to call a country civilized in which a decent and industrious man, laboriously mastering a trade which is valuble…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-an-absurdity-to-call-a-country-civilized-in-which-a-decent/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Women have simple tastes. They get pleasure out of the conversation of children in arms and men in love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/women-have-simple-tastes-they-get-pleasure-out-of-the-conversation-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The critic, to interpret his artist, even to understand his artist, must be able to get into the mind of his artist; he must…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-critic-to-interpret-his-artist-even-to-understand-his-artist-must/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [There is, in fact, nothing about religious opinions that entitles them to any more respect than other opinions get. On the contrary, they tend…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-in-fact-nothing-about-religious-opinions-that-entitles-them/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Don't overestimate the decency of the human race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/don-t-overestimate-the-decency-of-the-human-race/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Liberty ... was a two-headed boon. There was first, the liberty of the people as a whole to determine the forms of their own…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/liberty-was-a-two-headed-boon-there-was-first-the-liberty-of-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [To the extent that I am genuinely educated, I am suspicious of all the things that the average citizen believes and the average pedagogue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/to-the-extent-that-i-am-genuinely-educated-i-am-suspicious-of-all-the/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Philosophy first constructs a scheme of happiness and then tries to fit the world to it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/philosophy-first-constructs-a-scheme-of-happiness-and-then-tries-to/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [For it is the natural tendency of the ignorant to believe what is not true. In order to overcome that tendency it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/for-it-is-the-natural-tendency-of-the-ignorant-to-believe-what-is-not/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devices/h-l-mencken/#itemlist", "name": "7 Devices Quotes By H. L. 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