--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Congress consists of one-third, more or…" description: "\"Congress consists of one-third, more or less, scoundrels; two-thirds, more or less, idiots; and three-thirds, more or less, poltroons.\" — H. L. Mencken" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/h-l-mencken-245_congress_congress-consists-of-one-third-more-or-l_1812470.png" --- # Congress consists of one-third, more or less, scoundrels… ![“Congress consists of one-third, more or less, scoundrels; two-thirds, more or less, idiots; and three-thirds, more or less, poltroons.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/h-l-mencken-245_congress_congress-consists-of-one-third-more-or-l_1812470.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/h-l-mencken-245_congress_congress-consists-of-one-third-more-or-l_1812470.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efc/h-l-mencken-245_congress_congress-consists-of-one-third-more-or-l_1812470.png) > “Congress consists of one-third, more or less, scoundrels; two-thirds, more or less, idiots; and three-thirds, more or less, poltroons.” [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. Political bodies are often composed of incompetent and self‑serving individuals. **In simple terms:** Politics is filled with flawed people. Key Takeaway Seek accountability and reform. Themes politics critique human nature Mood skeptical critical Type satirical philosophical When to use this quote - voting - activism - policy advocacy Key Concepts cynicism institutional decay Questions to Reflect On - What reforms could reduce incompetence? - How can citizens influence better leadership? A Different Perspective Not all politicians are bad; some work for public good. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Congress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/congress/) [Congress Consists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/congress-consists-2126496/) [Consists Scoundrels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consists-scoundrels-2126497/) [Idiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idiot/) [Idiots Thirds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idiots-thirds-2126499/) [Scoundrels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scoundrels/) [Thirds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirds/) [Thirds Idiots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thirds-idiots-2126498/) [Three](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/three/) [Two](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/two/) ## Related quotes > [Whenever "A" attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon "B," "A" is most likely a scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/whenever-a-attempts-by-law-to-impose-his-moral-standards-upon-b-a-is/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [No man ever quite believes in any other man. One may believe in an idea absolutely, but not in a man. In the highest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/no-man-ever-quite-believes-in-any-other-man-one-may-believe-in-an-2/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Whenever A annoys or injures B on the pretense of saving or improving X, A is a scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/whenever-a-annoys-or-injures-b-on-the-pretense-of-saving-or-improving/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [The truth, indeed, is something that mankind, for some mysterious reason, instinctively dislikes. Every man who tries to tell it is unpopular, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-truth-indeed-is-something-that-mankind-for-some-mysterious-reason/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Under the pressure of fanaticism, and with the mob complacently applauding the show, democratic law tends more and more to be grounded upon the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/under-the-pressure-of-fanaticism-and-with-the-mob-complacently/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Has the art of politics no apparent utility? Does it appear to be unqualifiedly ratty, raffish, sordid, obscene, and low down, andits salient virtuosi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/has-the-art-of-politics-no-apparent-utility-does-it-appear-to-be/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Hanging one scoundrel, it appears, does not deter the next. Well, what of it? The first one is at least disposed of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/hanging-one-scoundrel-it-appears-does-not-deter-the-next-well-what-of/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [Forgive me…I called you an idiot. I spoke too hastily. You are not. Had I given it more thought, I would have called you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lloyd-alexander/forgive-me-i-called-you-an-idiot-i-spoke-too-hastily-you-are-not-had/) [Lloyd Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lloyd-alexander/) > [It is difficult to believe that even idiots ever succumbed to such transparent contradictions, to such gaudy processions of mere counter-words, to so vast…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-difficult-to-believe-that-even-idiots-ever-succumbed-to-such/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“Now answer me, sincerely, honestly, who lives past forty? I'll tell you who does: fools and scoundrels.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoevsky/now-answer-me-sincerely-honestly-who-lives-past-forty-i-ll-tell-you/) [Fyodor Dostoevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoevsky/) > [“The worst sort of scoundrels took up the chase. Drunkards, incorrigibles, poor whites who didn’t even own shoes delighted in this opportunity to scourge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/the-worst-sort-of-scoundrels-took-up-the-chase-drunkards/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [With a woman, always make good use of a secret. She will be proportionally grateful to you, like a scoundrel who grants his respect…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/honor-de-balzac/with-a-woman-always-make-good-use-of-a-secret-she-will-be/) [Honore de Balzac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/honor-de-balzac/) > [“He's unspoiled. We're all scoundrels, and he's only pretending to be one. He's a pure soul." "Yes, until he runs into temptation for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-stankovi/he-s-unspoiled-we-re-all-scoundrels-and-he-s-only-pretending-to-be/) [Vladimir Stanković](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-stankovi/) > [Poets and beggars, musicians and prophets, warriors and scoundrels, all creatures of that unbridled reality, we have had to ask but little of our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eduardo-galeano/poets-and-beggars-musicians-and-prophets-warriors-and-scoundrels-all/) [Eduardo Galeano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eduardo-galeano/) > [So the fool, as distinct from the scoundrel, is completely self- satisfied; in fact, he can easily become dangerous, as it does not take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dietrich-bonhoeffer/so-the-fool-as-distinct-from-the-scoundrel-is-completely-self/) [Dietrich Bonhoeffer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dietrich-bonhoeffer/) ## 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 Congress quotes > [Well, my wife, Cathy Gillespie, worked for Joe Barton, who was running for Congress in 1984.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ed-gillespie/well-my-wife-cathy-gillespie-worked-for-joe-barton-who-was-running/) [Ed Gillespie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ed-gillespie/) > [We will make sure our troops have all that is necessary to complete their missions. That's why I went to the Congress last September…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-w-bush/we-will-make-sure-our-troops-have-all-that-is-necessary-to-complete/) [George W. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-w-bush/) > [ I can't imagine that I would be asked that by the president-elect \[Donald Trump\], or then-president \[Barack Obama\]. But it's - I'm very clear.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-mattis/i-can-t-imagine-that-i-would-be-asked-that-by-the-president-elect/) [James Mattis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-mattis/) > [So our focus has to be on the things that we can control, which is to take the necessary measures working with Congress to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-carney/so-our-focus-has-to-be-on-the-things-that-we-can-control-which-is-to/) [Jay Carney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-carney/) > [It's disgraceful that year after year, Congress has bowed to the tobacco lobby and refused to act.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-kennedy/it-s-disgraceful-that-year-after-year-congress-has-bowed-to-the/) [Edward Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-kennedy/) > [The Constitution is very clear on the - on the declaration of war or reacting to international crimes - crimes against nations. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-pitts/the-constitution-is-very-clear-on-the-on-the-declaration-of-war-or/) [Joe Pitts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-pitts/) > [Can you understand why the Congress, most states and most cities refuse to pass legislation requiring the registration and licensing of any and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-forbes/can-you-understand-why-the-congress-most-states-and-most-cities/) [Malcolm Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-forbes/) > [“ Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/united-states-congress/congress-shall-make-no-law-respecting-an-establishment-of-religion-or/) [United States Congress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/united-states-congress/) > [As the longest serving Independent in the history of the United States Congress, as somebody who came into office by defeating an incumbent Democratic…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-sanders/as-the-longest-serving-independent-in-the-history-of-the-united/) [Bernie Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-sanders/) > [As the first Member of Congress from western Washington to serve on the House Agriculture Committee in over 50 years, I am proud to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-larsen/as-the-first-member-of-congress-from-western-washington-to-serve-on/) [Rick Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-larsen/) > [About one-half of the members of Congress are seekers for office at the nomination of the President. Of the remainder, at least one-half have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-quincy-adams/about-one-half-of-the-members-of-congress-are-seekers-for-office-at/) [John Quincy Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-quincy-adams/) > [My younger self could not imagine standing on the floor of Congress as a member of Congress voting on legislation that, if enacted, would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritchie-torres/my-younger-self-could-not-imagine-standing-on-the-floor-of-congress/) [Ritchie Torres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritchie-torres/) > [Rahul Gandhi cannot be a prime minister because he is a citizen of Britain, and his Indian citizenship will be cancelled; he won't even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/subramanian-swamy/rahul-gandhi-cannot-be-a-prime-minister-because-he-is-a-citizen-of/) [Subramanian Swamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/subramanian-swamy/) > [We need less travelling by jet plaes from congress to congress... but more kneeling and praying and pleading to God to have mercy on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martyn-lloyd-jones/we-need-less-travelling-by-jet-plaes-from-congress-to-congress-but/) [Martyn Lloyd-Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martyn-lloyd-jones/) > [Well I think that what we're seeing now is that the people feel like they, the people in Congress don't have their consent to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-ingraham/well-i-think-that-what-we-re-seeing-now-is-that-the-people-feel-like/) [Laura Ingraham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-ingraham/) [Browse all 3,400 Congress quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/congress/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Congress consists of one-third, more or less, scoundrels; two-thirds, more or less, idiots; and three-thirds, more or less, poltroons.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. 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