--- title: "2 Evangelists Quotes By H.L. Mencken" description: "2 Evangelists quotes by H.L. Mencken. Plus more from H.L. Mencken and more Evangelists sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5e/h-l-mencken-2-5374_a-scientific-man-and_what-i-d-like-to-read-is-a-scientific-re_1003654.jpg" --- > [“What I'd like to read is a scientific review, by a scientific psychologist--if any exists--of 'A Scientific Man and the Bible'. By what route do otherwise sane men come to believe such palpable nonsense? How is it possible for a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/what-i-d-like-to-read-is-a-scientific-review-by-a-scientific/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d5e/h-l-mencken-2-5374_a-scientific-man-and_what-i-d-like-to-read-is-a-scientific-re_1003654.jpg) > [“We are, in fact, a nation of evangelists; every third American devotes himself to improving and lifting up his fellow-citizens, usually by force; the messianic delusion is our national disease.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/we-are-in-fact-a-nation-of-evangelists-every-third-american-devotes/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/135/h-l-mencken-2-5374_america_we-are-in-fact-a-nation-of-evangelists-e_1970276.jpg) ## Other authors on Evangelists - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b017/author-mark-dever-64135.jpg) Mark Dever 6 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evangelists/mark-dever/) ## More by H.L. Mencken > [“Suffice it to say that the vile arts of the hussy prevailed over that noble and upright man—that she enticed him, by adroit appeals…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/suffice-it-to-say-that-the-vile-arts-of-the-hussy-prevailed-over-that/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“I can't recall a single masculine figure created by a woman who is not, at bottom, a booby.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/i-can-t-recall-a-single-masculine-figure-created-by-a-woman-who-is/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/as-democracy-is-perfected-the-office-of-president-represents-more-and/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [ “If there had been any formidable body of cannibals in the country he \[Harry Truman\] would have promised to provide them with free missionaries,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/if-there-had-been-any-formidable-body-of-cannibals-in-the-country-he/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“I have seen something of the horrors of war, and much too much of the worse horrors of peace.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/i-have-seen-something-of-the-horrors-of-war-and-much-too-much-of-the/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“Don’t tell me. I have been there. No longer ago than last Tuesday—or was it last Monday?—I went into one of those big restaurants…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/don-t-tell-me-i-have-been-there-no-longer-ago-than-last-tuesday-or/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“ONE OF the most irrational of all the conventions of modern society is the one to the effect that religious opinions should be respected.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/one-of-the-most-irrational-of-all-the-conventions-of-modern-society/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“But though every normal man thus cherishes the soothing unction that he is the intellectual superior of all women, and particularly of his wife,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/but-though-every-normal-man-thus-cherishes-the-soothing-unction-that/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“If the average man is made in God's image, then a man such as Beethoven or Aristotle is plainly superior to God, and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/if-the-average-man-is-made-in-god-s-image-then-a-man-such-as/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“The American moron’s mind simply does not run in that direction; he wants to keep his Ford, even at the cost of losing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/the-american-moron-s-mind-simply-does-not-run-in-that-direction-he/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“Once I ventured the guess that men worked in response to a vague inner urge for self-expression. But that was probably a shaky theory,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/once-i-ventured-the-guess-that-men-worked-in-response-to-a-vague/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“He writes the worst English that I have ever encountered. It reminds me of a string of wet sponges; it reminds me of tattered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/he-writes-the-worst-english-that-i-have-ever-encountered-it-reminds/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“For men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in proportion to their readiness to doubt. The more stupid the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/for-men-become-civilized-not-in-proportion-to-their-willingness-to/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“Where is the graveyard of dead gods? What lingering mourner waters their mounds? There was a time when Jupiter was the king of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/where-is-the-graveyard-of-dead-gods-what-lingering-mourner-waters/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) > [“If I had my way no man guilty of golf would be eligible to any office of trust or profit under the United States,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken-2/if-i-had-my-way-no-man-guilty-of-golf-would-be-eligible-to-any-office/) [H.L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken-2/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evangelists/h-l-mencken-2/#itemlist", "name": "2 Evangelists Quotes By H.L. Mencken", "numberOfItems": 2, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“What I'd like to read is a scientific review, by a scientific psychologist--if any exists--of 'A Scientific Man and the Bible'. By what route do otherwise sane men come to believe such palpable nonsense? How is it possible for a human brain to be divided into two insulated halves, one functioning normally, naturally and even brilliantly, and the other capable only of such ghastly balderdash which issues from the minds of Baptist evangelists? Such balderdash takes various forms, but it is at its worst when it is religious. Why should this be so? What is there in religion that completely flabbergasts the wits of those who believe in it? I see no logical necessity for that flabbergasting. Religion, after all, is nothing but an hypothesis framed to account for what is evidentially unaccounted for. In other fields such hypotheses are common, and yet they do no apparent damage to those who incline to them. But in the religious field they quickly rush the believer to the intellectual Bad Lands. He not only becomes anaesthetic to objective fact; he becomes a violent enemy of objective fact. It annoys and irritates him. He sweeps it away as something somehow evil...”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H.L. 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