--- title: "8 Genuine Quotes By H. L. Mencken" description: "8 Genuine quotes by H. L. Mencken. Plus more from H. L. Mencken and more Genuine sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/h-l-mencken-245_accepting_the-genuine-music-lover-may-accept-the-c_50969.jpg" --- > [The genuine music lover may accept the carnal husk of opera to get at the kernel of actual music within, but that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-genuine-music-lover-may-accept-the-carnal-husk-of-opera-to-get-at/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/598/h-l-mencken-245_accepting_the-genuine-music-lover-may-accept-the-c_50969.jpg) > [The movies today are too rich to have any room for genuine artists. They produce a few passable craftsmen, but no artists.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-movies-today-are-too-rich-to-have-any-room-for-genuine-artists/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/h-l-mencken-245_art_the-movies-today-are-too-rich-to-have-an_97871.png) > [Here the only genuine conflict is between true believers. Of a given text in Holy Writ one faction may say this thing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/here-the-only-genuine-conflict-is-between-true-believers-of-a-given/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f92/h-l-mencken-245_accusing_here-the-only-genuine-conflict-is-betwee_718463.png) > [Capitalism undoubtedly has certain boils and blotches upon it, but has it as many as government? Has it as many as marriage?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/capitalism-undoubtedly-has-certain-boils-and-blotches-upon-it-but-has/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/h-l-mencken-245_capitalism_capitalism-undoubtedly-has-certain-boils_1508320.jpg) > [Only to often on meeting scientific men, even those of genuine distiction, one finds that they are dull fellows and very stupid.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/only-to-often-on-meeting-scientific-men-even-those-of-genuine/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/h-l-mencken-245_charming_only-to-often-on-meeting-scientific-men_1535142.png) > [The fact is that liberty, in any true sense, is a concept that lies quite beyond the reach of the inferior man's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-fact-is-that-liberty-in-any-true-sense-is-a-concept-that-lies/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0cc/h-l-mencken-245_average_the-fact-is-that-liberty-in-any-true-sen_2855584.jpg) > [In the United States...politics is purged of all menace, all sinister quality, all genuine significance, and stuffed with such gorgeous humors, such…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/in-the-united-states-politics-is-purged-of-all-menace-all-sinister/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/h-l-mencken-245_campaigns_in-the-united-states-politics-is-purged_2891216.jpg) > [There is no possibility whatsoever of reconciling science and theology, at least in Christendom. Either Jesus arose from the dead or He…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-no-possibility-whatsoever-of-reconciling-science-and/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e12/h-l-mencken-245_agnostic_there-is-no-possibility-whatsoever-of-re_2994555.jpg) ## Other authors on Genuine ## 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/genuine/h-l-mencken/#itemlist", "name": "8 Genuine Quotes By H. L. Mencken", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The genuine music lover may accept the carnal husk of opera to get at the kernel of actual music within, but that is no sign that he approves the carnal husk or enjoys gnawing through it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. 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They produce a few passable craftsmen, but no artists. Can you imagine a Beethoven making $100, 000 a year?", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. Mencken" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-movies-today-are-too-rich-to-have-any-room-for-genuine-artists/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/h-l-mencken-245_art_the-movies-today-are-too-rich-to-have-an_97871.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/h-l-mencken-245_art_the-movies-today-are-too-rich-to-have-an_97871.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/db3/h-l-mencken-245_art_the-movies-today-are-too-rich-to-have-an_97871.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The movies today are too rich to have any room for genuine artists. They produce a few passable craftsmen…” — H. L. 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Has it as many as marriage? Has it as many as religion? I doubt it. It is the only basic institution of modern man that shows any genuine health and vigor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. Mencken" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/capitalism-undoubtedly-has-certain-boils-and-blotches-upon-it-but-has/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/h-l-mencken-245_capitalism_capitalism-undoubtedly-has-certain-boils_1508320.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/h-l-mencken-245_capitalism_capitalism-undoubtedly-has-certain-boils_1508320.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fa/h-l-mencken-245_capitalism_capitalism-undoubtedly-has-certain-boils_1508320.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Capitalism undoubtedly has certain boils and blotches upon it, but has it as many as government? Has it as…” — H. L. 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Mencken" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/only-to-often-on-meeting-scientific-men-even-those-of-genuine/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/h-l-mencken-245_charming_only-to-often-on-meeting-scientific-men_1535142.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/h-l-mencken-245_charming_only-to-often-on-meeting-scientific-men_1535142.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9b0/h-l-mencken-245_charming_only-to-often-on-meeting-scientific-men_1535142.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Only to often on meeting scientific men, even those of genuine distiction, one finds that they are dull…” — H. L. 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Either Jesus arose from the dead or He didn't. If he did, then Christianity becomes plausible; if He did not, then it is sheer nonsense. I defy any genuine scientists to say that he believes in the Resurrection, or indeed in any other cardinal dogma of the Christian system.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. 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