---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Human progress is furthered, not by…"
description: "\"Human progress is furthered, not by conformity, but by aberration.\" — H. L. Mencken"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/h-l-mencken-245_aberration_human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-confo_1813955.png"
---

#  Human progress is furthered, not by conformity, but by…

![“Human progress is furthered, not by conformity, but by aberration.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/h-l-mencken-245_aberration_human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-confo_1813955.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/h-l-mencken-245_aberration_human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-confo_1813955.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/h-l-mencken-245_aberration_human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-confo_1813955.png)

> “Human progress is furthered, not by conformity, but by aberration.”

[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.

Progress arises from challenging norms; conformity hinders innovation, while deviation drives advancement.

**In simple terms:** Progress needs deviation, not conformity.

Key Takeaway

Encourage nonconformity for growth.

Themes

innovation conformity progress

Mood

critical inspirational

Type

philosophical analytical

When to use this quote

- business development
- scientific research
- artistic creation

Key Concepts

social theory creative disruption

Questions to Reflect On

- How can societies balance stability and innovation?
- What risks accompany deviation?

A Different Perspective

Conformity can provide stability.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Aberration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aberration/) [Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity/) [Conformity Aberration](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/conformity-aberration-2139104/) [Furthered Conformity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/furthered-conformity-2139103/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Human progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-progress/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Nature of man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature-of-man/) [Progress](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress/) [Progress Furthered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/progress-furthered-2139102/) [Wisdom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wisdom/)

## Related quotes

> [It is common to assume that human progress affects everyone - that even the dullest man, in these bright days, knows more than any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/it-is-common-to-assume-that-human-progress-affects-everyone-that-even/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [Every step in human progress, from the first feeble stirrings in the abyss of time, has been opposed by the great majority of men.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/every-step-in-human-progress-from-the-first-feeble-stirrings-in-the/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [Moral certainty is always a sign of cultural inferiority. The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/moral-certainty-is-always-a-sign-of-cultural-inferiority-the-more-3/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [Man is never honestly the fatalist, nor even the stoic. He fights his fate, often desperately. He is forever entering bold exceptions to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/man-is-never-honestly-the-fatalist-nor-even-the-stoic-he-fights-his/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [Capital punishment has probably been responsible for a good deal of human progress. The overwhelming majority of those executed were of the sort whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/capital-punishment-has-probably-been-responsible-for-a-good-deal-of/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [All human progress, even in morals, has been the work of men who have doubted the current moral values, not of men who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/all-human-progress-even-in-morals-has-been-the-work-of-men-who-have/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [I have little belief in human progress. The human race is incurably idiotic. It will never be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/i-have-little-belief-in-human-progress-the-human-race-is-incurably/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [“The more uncivilized the man, the surer he is that he knows precisely what is right and what is wrong. All human progress, even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-more-uncivilized-the-man-the-surer-he-is-that-he-knows-precisely/)

[H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/)

> [In our wildest aberrations we dream of an equilibrium we have left behind and which we naively expect to find at the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/in-our-wildest-aberrations-we-dream-of-an-equilibrium-we-have-left/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [The alternative of hypothetical universalism, according to which Christ's work is sufficient for all but efficient only for the elect, was alive and well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-d-crisp/the-alternative-of-hypothetical-universalism-according-to-which/)

[Oliver D. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-d-crisp/)

> [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [When I first began examining the global-warming scare, I found nothing more puzzling than the way officially approved scientists kept on being shown to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-booker/when-i-first-began-examining-the-global-warming-scare-i-found-nothing/)

[Christopher Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-booker/)

> [“I could see clearly that this growing belligerence was an aberration, coming not from intention, but from the Fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-redfield/i-could-see-clearly-that-this-growing-belligerence-was-an-aberration/)

[James Redfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-redfield/)

> [I'm very proud of being Italian-American, but people don't realize that the mafia is just this aberration. The real community is built on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chazz-palminteri/i-m-very-proud-of-being-italian-american-but-people-don-t-realize/)

[Chazz Palminteri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chazz-palminteri/)

> [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

## 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 Aberration quotes

> [Christianity does not oppose debauchery and uncontrollable passions and the like as much as it opposes... flat mediocrity, this nauseating atmosphere, this homey, civil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/soren-kierkegaard/christianity-does-not-oppose-debauchery-and-uncontrollable-passions/)

[Soren Kierkegaard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/soren-kierkegaard/)

> [I'm very proud of being Italian-American, but people don't realize that the mafia is just this aberration. The real community is built on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chazz-palminteri/i-m-very-proud-of-being-italian-american-but-people-don-t-realize/)

[Chazz Palminteri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chazz-palminteri/)

> [“I could see clearly that this growing belligerence was an aberration, coming not from intention, but from the Fear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-redfield/i-could-see-clearly-that-this-growing-belligerence-was-an-aberration/)

[James Redfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-redfield/)

> [When I first began examining the global-warming scare, I found nothing more puzzling than the way officially approved scientists kept on being shown to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-booker/when-i-first-began-examining-the-global-warming-scare-i-found-nothing/)

[Christopher Booker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-booker/)

> [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/)

[Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/)

> [The alternative of hypothetical universalism, according to which Christ's work is sufficient for all but efficient only for the elect, was alive and well…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-d-crisp/the-alternative-of-hypothetical-universalism-according-to-which/)

[Oliver D. Crisp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-d-crisp/)

> [In our wildest aberrations we dream of an equilibrium we have left behind and which we naively expect to find at the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/in-our-wildest-aberrations-we-dream-of-an-equilibrium-we-have-left/)

[Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/)

> [The captain, thinking over this event afterward, realized that by his own lifelong standards he had a crew composed entirely of lunatics, with himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hal-clement/the-captain-thinking-over-this-event-afterward-realized-that-by-his/)

[Hal Clement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hal-clement/)

> [I have no problem with it. I don't look on homosexuality as an aberration. It's just they way they're born, and how could any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrea-thompson/i-have-no-problem-with-it-i-don-t-look-on-homosexuality-as-an/)

[Andrea Thompson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrea-thompson/)

> [ \[Dr. Constain James\] refuted so well the aberrations of Darwinism… \[A system\] which is repugnant at once to history, to the tradition of all… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-pius-ix/dr-constain-james-refuted-so-well-the-aberrations-of-darwinism-a/)

[Pope Pius IX](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-pius-ix/)

> [It might be comforting to assume that intolerance is an aberration within Islam but discrimination against Christians or any other non-Muslim is in fact…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-coren/it-might-be-comforting-to-assume-that-intolerance-is-an-aberration/)

[Michael Coren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-coren/)

> [The era of the political was one of anomie: crisis, violence, madness and revolution. The era of the trans-political is that of anomaly: an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-era-of-the-political-was-one-of-anomie-crisis-violence-madness/)

[Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/)

> [The cold war was an aberration. Note how quickly the Europeans turned on America once 400 hostile divisions were no longer on their borders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/the-cold-war-was-an-aberration-note-how-quickly-the-europeans-turned/)

[Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/)

> [What I have is P.H. positive chronic myeloid leukemia, which is an aberration in your white blood cells.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/what-i-have-is-p-h-positive-chronic-myeloid-leukemia-which-is-an/)

[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/)

> [“Being born with a talent or an inclination for goodness is the aberration.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-maguire/being-born-with-a-talent-or-an-inclination-for-goodness-is-the/)

[Gregory Maguire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-maguire/)

[Browse all 103 Aberration quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aberration/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "Human progress is furthered, not by conformity, but by aberration.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "H. L. Mencken"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-conformity-but-by-aberration/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Aberration"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-conformity-but-by-aberration/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/h-l-mencken-245_aberration_human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-confo_1813955.png",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/h-l-mencken-245_aberration_human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-confo_1813955.png",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/41c/h-l-mencken-245_aberration_human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-confo_1813955.png",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“Human progress is furthered, not by conformity, but by aberration.” — 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": "Human progress is furthered, not by...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-conformity-but-by-aberration/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/human-progress-is-furthered-not-by-conformity-but-by-aberration/#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
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
