Government Quotes by H. L. Mencken
All Government quotes H. L. Mencken’s page
H. L. Mencken calls government the worst failure of civilized man, a group of men that often betrays its people. He notes that liberty is a two‑headed boon, yet many decent people feel ashamed of the system that rules them. He warns that the most dangerous person to a government is one who thinks for himself.
![“[Government's] great contribution to human wisdom...is the discovery that the taxpayer has more than one pocket.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/774/h-l-mencken-245_contribution_government-s-great-contribution-to-human_2023094.png)
![“Mankind has failed miserably in its effort to devise a rational system of government. [...] The art of government is the exclusive possession of quacks and frauds. It has been so since the earliest days, and it will probably remain so until the end of time.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a3e/h-l-mencken-245_art_mankind-has-failed-miserably-in-its-effo_1593851.jpg)
![“[T]he only thing wrong with Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was that it was the South, not the North, that was fighting for a government of the people, by the people and for the people.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b4e/h-l-mencken-245_abraham_t-he-only-thing-wrong-with-abraham-linco_1672393.png)
![“Since the early days, [the church] has thrown itself violently against every effort to liberate the body and mind of man. It has been, at all times and everywhere, the habitual and incorrigible defender of bad governments, bad laws, bad social theories, bad institutions. It was, for centuries, an…” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a51/h-l-mencken-245_all-time_since-the-early-days-the-church-has-thro_2325142.png)
![“[Government] is apprehended, not as a committee of citizens chosen to carry on the communal business of the whole population, but as a separate and autonomous corporation, mainly devoted to exploiting the population for the benefit of its own members.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0ec/h-l-mencken-245_autonomous_government-is-apprehended-not-as-a-commi_1115230.jpg)
![“Government, in its very essence, is opposed to all increase in knowledge. Its tendency is always towards permanence and against change...[T]he progress of humanity, far from being the result of government, has been made entirely without its aid and in the face if its constant and bitter opposition.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1e/h-l-mencken-245_aids_government-in-its-very-essence-is-oppose_2900850.png)
