--- title: "8 Late Quotes By H. L. Mencken" description: "8 Late quotes by H. L. Mencken. Plus more from H. L. Mencken and more Late sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/h-l-mencken-245_accounts_there-is-in-fact-no-reason-to-believe-th_285888.jpg" --- > [There is, in fact, no reason to believe that any given natural phenomenon, however marvelous it may seem today, will remain forever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-in-fact-no-reason-to-believe-that-any-given-natural/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e13/h-l-mencken-245_accounts_there-is-in-fact-no-reason-to-believe-th_285888.jpg) > [That it should still be necessary, at this late stage in the senility of the human race to argue that women have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/that-it-should-still-be-necessary-at-this-late-stage-in-the-senility-2/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d30/h-l-mencken-245_arguing_that-it-should-still-be-necessary-at-thi_1299764.png) > [He marries best who puts it off until it is too late.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/he-marries-best-who-puts-it-off-until-it-is-too-late/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/48d/h-l-mencken-245_best_he-marries-best-who-puts-it-off-until-it_1449869.png) > [The late William Jennings Bryan, L.L.D., always had one great advantage in controversy; he was never burdened with an understanding of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-late-william-jennings-bryan-l-l-d-always-had-one-great-advantage/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0a/h-l-mencken-245_advantage_the-late-william-jennings-bryan-l-l-d-al_1568876.png) > [The Gettysburg Adress has been included, of late, in several anthologies of poetry. It actually meets the major requirement of all poetry:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-gettysburg-adress-has-been-included-of-late-in-several/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/h-l-mencken-245_anthology_the-gettysburg-adress-has-been-included_1811227.png) > [There is nothing worse than an idle hour, with no occupation offering. People who have many such hours are simply animals waiting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-nothing-worse-than-an-idle-hour-with-no-occupation-offering/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/574/h-l-mencken-245_animal_there-is-nothing-worse-than-an-idle-hour_1855391.png) > [It seems to me that society usually wins. There are, to be sure, free spirits in the world, but their freedom, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-seems-to-me-that-society-usually-wins-there-are-to-be-sure-free/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/h-l-mencken-245_analysis_it-seems-to-me-that-society-usually-wins_2358026.png) > [Women hate revolutions and revolutionists. They like men who are docile, and well-regarded at the bank, and never late at meals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/women-hate-revolutions-and-revolutionists-they-like-men-who-are/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/h-l-mencken-245_docile_women-hate-revolutions-and-revolutionist_3146407.png) ## Other authors on Late ## 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/late/h-l-mencken/#itemlist", "name": "8 Late Quotes By H. L. Mencken", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is, in fact, no reason to believe that any given natural phenomenon, however marvelous it may seem today, will remain forever inexplicable. Soon or late the laws governing the production of life itself will be discovered in the laboratory, and man may set up business as a creator on his own account. The thing, indeed, is not only conceivable; it is even highly probable.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. 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It actually meets the major requirement of all poetry: It is a mellifluous and emotional statement of the obviously not true. The men who fought for self-determination at Gettysburg were not the Federals but the Confederates.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. Mencken" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-gettysburg-adress-has-been-included-of-late-in-several/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/h-l-mencken-245_anthology_the-gettysburg-adress-has-been-included_1811227.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/h-l-mencken-245_anthology_the-gettysburg-adress-has-been-included_1811227.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38c/h-l-mencken-245_anthology_the-gettysburg-adress-has-been-included_1811227.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Gettysburg Adress has been included, of late, in several anthologies of poetry. It actually meets the…” — H. L. 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There are, to be sure, free spirits in the world, but their freedom, in the last analysis, is not much greater than that of a canary in a cage. They may leap from perch to perch; they may bathe and guzzle at their will; they may flap their wings and sing. But they are still in the cage, and soon or late it conquers them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. Mencken" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-seems-to-me-that-society-usually-wins-there-are-to-be-sure-free/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/h-l-mencken-245_analysis_it-seems-to-me-that-society-usually-wins_2358026.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/h-l-mencken-245_analysis_it-seems-to-me-that-society-usually-wins_2358026.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c15/h-l-mencken-245_analysis_it-seems-to-me-that-society-usually-wins_2358026.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It seems to me that society usually wins. 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Mencken" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/women-hate-revolutions-and-revolutionists-they-like-men-who-are/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/h-l-mencken-245_docile_women-hate-revolutions-and-revolutionist_3146407.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/h-l-mencken-245_docile_women-hate-revolutions-and-revolutionist_3146407.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1c6/h-l-mencken-245_docile_women-hate-revolutions-and-revolutionist_3146407.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Women hate revolutions and revolutionists. They like men who are docile, and well-regarded at the bank, and…” — H. L. 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