--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A professor must have a theory as a dog…" description: "\"A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.\" — H. L. Mencken" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/h-l-mencken-245_dog_a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog_2955304.png" --- # A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas. ![“A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/h-l-mencken-245_dog_a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog_2955304.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/h-l-mencken-245_dog_a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog_2955304.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/h-l-mencken-245_dog_a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog_2955304.png) > “A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.” [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A professor needs a theory as a dog needs fleas—both are essential, albeit uncomfortable. **In simple terms:** Professors need theories. Key Takeaway Embrace necessary discomfort. Themes education theory necessity Mood philosophical provocative Type intellectual critical When to use this quote - teaching - research - academic life Key Concepts academic rigor intellectual discomfort Questions to Reflect On - Why are uncomfortable ideas valuable? - How can we make theory more accessible? A Different Perspective Discomfort may deter some scholars. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) [Dog Fleas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog-fleas-3678171/) [Fleas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fleas/) [Professor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professor/) [Professor Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/professor-theory-4474469/) [Teachers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teachers/) [Theory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory/) [Theory Dog](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/theory-dog-4474468/) ## Related quotes > [It's a good thing for a dog to have fleas; keeps his mind off being a dog.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-a-good-thing-for-a-dog-to-have-fleas-keeps-his-mind-off-being-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [First draw dog, then fleas. First paint apple, then worm holes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-bongart/first-draw-dog-then-fleas-first-paint-apple-then-worm-holes/) [Sergei Bongart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-bongart/) > [Consider him in his highest incarnation: the university professor. What is his function? Simply to pass on to fresh generations of numskulls a body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/consider-him-in-his-highest-incarnation-the-university-professor-what/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“NATURAL FLEA PROTECTION FOR DOGS An easy way to protect your dog from fleas is to apply a drop or two of eucalyptus essential…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/editors-of-storey-publishing-s-country-wisdom-bulletins/natural-flea-protection-for-dogs-an-easy-way-to-protect-your-dog-from/) [Editors of Storey Publishing's Country Wisdom Bulletins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/editors-of-storey-publishing-s-country-wisdom-bulletins/) > [Consider... the university professor. What is his function? Simply to pass on to fresh generations of numskulls a body of so-called knowledge that is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/consider-the-university-professor-what-is-his-function-simply-to-pass/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [There is no idea so stupid that you can't find a professor who will believe it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-is-no-idea-so-stupid-that-you-can-t-find-a-professor-who-will/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [I think of myself as a serious professor who, during the weekend, writes novels.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/i-think-of-myself-as-a-serious-professor-who-during-the-weekend/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) > [The professor, instead of being the "sage on the stage," functions as a "guide on the side."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-king/the-professor-instead-of-being-the-sage-on-the-stage-functions-as-a/) [Alison King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-king/) > [It was always assumed I would be a professor. I grew up thinking it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-kahneman/it-was-always-assumed-i-would-be-a-professor-i-grew-up-thinking-it/) [Daniel Kahneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-kahneman/) > [Once I had a professor say to me, "You know you have as much education as a lot of white people." I answered, "Doctor,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joycelyn-elders/once-i-had-a-professor-say-to-me-you-know-you-have-as-much-education/) [Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joycelyn-elders/) > [My mother was an economics professor. I'm proficient in math, and statistics, game theory, symbolic logic and all of that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-hickey/my-mother-was-an-economics-professor-i-m-proficient-in-math-and/) [Dave Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-hickey/) > [I got an A in philosophy because I proved my professor didn't exist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judy-tenuta/i-got-an-a-in-philosophy-because-i-proved-my-professor-didn-t-exist/) [Judy Tenuta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judy-tenuta/) > [“The Professor is coming...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-professor-is-coming/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I never had a single female professor throughout my whole education, from the beginning of university to the end. Even all the books were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-geller/i-never-had-a-single-female-professor-throughout-my-whole-education/) [Margaret Geller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-geller/) > [You get kicked around long enough, you become a professor of pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-borgnine/you-get-kicked-around-long-enough-you-become-a-professor-of-pain/) [Ernest Borgnine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-borgnine/) ## 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/) [Explore all 827 H. L. Mencken quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) ## More Dog quotes > [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/) [L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/) > [I don't like being away from home. That's one reason why I don't work as much as I used to \[when I started my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-powell/i-don-t-like-being-away-from-home-that-s-one-reason-why-i-don-t-work/) [Jane Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-powell/) > [I'm 38 and I'm single, and I'm having my most intense and gratifying relationship with a dog. But we all learn about love in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/caroline-knapp/i-m-38-and-i-m-single-and-i-m-having-my-most-intense-and-gratifying/) [Caroline Knapp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/caroline-knapp/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [That dog, I say that dog is lower than a snake full of buckshot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/foghorn-leghorn/that-dog-i-say-that-dog-is-lower-than-a-snake-full-of-buckshot/) [Foghorn Leghorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/foghorn-leghorn/) > [It is a fool of a shepherd who culls his dogs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jefferson-smith/it-is-a-fool-of-a-shepherd-who-culls-his-dogs/) [Jefferson Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jefferson-smith/) > [“Flattery looks like friendship, just like a wolf looks like a dog.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-auliq-ice/flattery-looks-like-friendship-just-like-a-wolf-looks-like-a-dog/) [Oscar Auliq-Ice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-auliq-ice/) > [Brothers and Sisters, I bid you beware Of giving your heart to a dog to tear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudyard-kipling/brothers-and-sisters-i-bid-you-beware-of-giving-your-heart-to-a-dog/) [Rudyard Kipling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudyard-kipling/) > [Most people are sensitized to animals through their cats and dogs, but for me it was a flounder. I used to go fishing with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mathews/most-people-are-sensitized-to-animals-through-their-cats-and-dogs-but/) [Dan Mathews](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mathews/) > [A shoe dog is somebody that really loves shoes, and that was me. I was a runner... that became important to me, and it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-knight/a-shoe-dog-is-somebody-that-really-loves-shoes-and-that-was-me-i-was/) [Phil Knight](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-knight/) > [“I rub the ears of my dog, my stupid goddam ruddy great dog that I never wanted but who hung around anyway and who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-ness/i-rub-the-ears-of-my-dog-my-stupid-goddam-ruddy-great-dog-that-i/) [Patrick Ness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-ness/) > [The sound man, immune as to a sacrifice of straw dogs, faces the passing human generations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/the-sound-man-immune-as-to-a-sacrifice-of-straw-dogs-faces-the/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [ “A hasty dog always burns his mouth. \[192\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-t-plaatje/a-hasty-dog-always-burns-his-mouth-192/) [Sol T. Plaatje](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-t-plaatje/) > [And if the big dog ain't me, then the house won't get guarded - period.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaquille-o-neal/and-if-the-big-dog-ain-t-me-then-the-house-won-t-get-guarded-period/) [Shaquille O'Neal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaquille-o-neal/) > [“A year-long study by the University of Pennsylvania, ending in 2009 and published in the journal Applied Animal Behavior Science (Elsevier), showed that aggressive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-custo/a-year-long-study-by-the-university-of-pennsylvania-ending-in-2009/) [Edward Custo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-custo/) [Browse all 6,836 Dog quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dog/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. Mencken" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog-must-have-fleas/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dog" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog-must-have-fleas/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/h-l-mencken-245_dog_a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog_2955304.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/h-l-mencken-245_dog_a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog_2955304.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/859/h-l-mencken-245_dog_a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog_2955304.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“A professor must have a theory as a dog must have fleas.” — H. L. Mencken", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "H. L. Mencken", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "A professor must have a theory...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog-must-have-fleas/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/a-professor-must-have-a-theory-as-a-dog-must-have-fleas/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```