"Governments, whatever their pretensions otherwise, try to preserve……" — H. L. Mencken
"Governments, whatever their pretensions otherwise, try to preserve themselves by holding the individual down ... Government itself, indeed, may be reasonably defined as a conspiracy against him. Its one permanent aim, whatever its form, is to hobble him sufficiently to maintain itself."
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H. L. Mencken
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647 Quotes by H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken has 647 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
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A man full of faith is simply one who has lost the capacity for clear and realistic thought.
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Religion deserves no more respect than a pile of garbage.
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When I die, I shall be content to vanish into nothingness.... No show, however good, could conceivably be good forever…
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People say we need religion when what they really mean is we need police.
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Everyman is thoroughly happy twice in his life, just after he has met his first love, and just after he…
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Well, I tell you, if I have been wrong in my agnosticism, when I die I'll walk up to God…
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The Old Testament, as everyone who has looked into it is aware, drips with blood; there is, indeed, no more…
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Men become civilized, not in proportion to their willingness to believe, but in their readiness to doubt.
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To every complex question there is a simple answer and it is wrong...
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The average man never really thinks from end to end of his life. The mental activity of such people is…
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I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind - that its modest and greatly overestimated services…
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Goverment is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those…
See all 647 quotes by H. L. Mencken »
More Aim Quotes
This quote is filed under Aim Quotes,
one of 1,830 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
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The aim of art is to represent not the outward appearance of things, but their inward significance.
— Aristotle
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The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.
— Aristotle
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Every art and every inquiry, and similarly every action and choice, is thought to aim at some good; and for…
— Aristotle
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Our efforts are not aimed at isolating Israel or de-legitimizing it; rather we want to gain legitimacy for the cause…
— Mahmoud Abbas
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Tourism is a crucial industry that could employ millions of Filipinos, skilled and unskilled alike, cross those 7,107 islands of…
— Benigno Aquino III
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If you watch animals objectively for any length of time, you're driven to the conclusion that their main aim in…
— David Attenborough
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Some writers confuse authenticity, which they ought always to aim at, with originality, which they should never bother about.
— Wystan Hugh Auden
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Dress is at all times a frivolous distinction, and excessive solicitude about it often destroys its own aim.
— Jane Austen
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The aim and final end of all music should be none other than the glory of God and the refreshment…
— Johann Sebastian Bach
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A boy carries out suggestions more wholeheartedly when he understands their aim.
— Robert Baden-Powell
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Social media is a giant distraction to the ultimate aim, which is honing your craft as a songwriter. There are…
— Bryan Adams
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Schools are not intended to moralize a wicked world, but to impart knowledge and develop intelligence, with only two social…
— Jacques Barzun
See all 1,830 Aim Quotes »