--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: One may no more live in the world without…" description: "\"One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able to go to hell without perspiring.\" — H. L...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0e/h-l-mencken-245_able_one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-withou_1620443.png" --- # One may no more live in the world without picking up the… ![“One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able to go to hell without perspiring.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0e/h-l-mencken-245_able_one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-withou_1620443.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0e/h-l-mencken-245_able_one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-withou_1620443.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0e/h-l-mencken-245_able_one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-withou_1620443.png) > “One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able to go to hell without perspiring.” [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. Living in the world inevitably involves adopting its moral biases; escaping moral judgment is impossible. **In simple terms:** Worldly life brings moral bias. Key Takeaway Reflect on personal ethics. Themes morality society human nature hypocrisy Mood skeptical thoughtful Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - daily interactions - political debate - media consumption - personal decision making Key Concepts ethical relativism social conditioning existentialism Questions to Reflect On - Can one live ethically without bias? - What defines “moral prejudice”? A Different Perspective Some argue moral independence is achievable through philosophy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hell/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Prejudices](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prejudices/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [Moral prejudices are the stopgaps of virtue; and, as is the case with other stopgaps, it is often more difficult to get either out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/augustus-william-hare/moral-prejudices-are-the-stopgaps-of-virtue-and-as-is-the-case-with/) [Augustus William Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/augustus-william-hare/) > [When any practice has become the fixed rule of the society in which we live, it is always wise to adhere to that rule,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-trollope/when-any-practice-has-become-the-fixed-rule-of-the-society-in-which/) [Anthony Trollope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-trollope/) > [I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. It is an absurd attitude to take towards life. We are not sent into the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/i-never-approve-or-disapprove-of-anything-now-it-is-an-absurd-3/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [“But the stories had made him different, too. They had shaped his appetite, his moral prejudices, who he was.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nancy-horan/but-the-stories-had-made-him-different-too-they-had-shaped-his/) [Nancy Horan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nancy-horan/) > [“We are not sent into the world to air our moral prejudices.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/we-are-not-sent-into-the-world-to-air-our-moral-prejudices/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Almost every sect of Christianity is a perversion of its essence, to accommodate it to the prejudices of the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/almost-every-sect-of-christianity-is-a-perversion-of-its-essence-to/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [I had thought everyone in the electronic world would be so laid back, but there's as many cliques and prejudices as any other world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-meredith/i-had-thought-everyone-in-the-electronic-world-would-be-so-laid-back/) [Anna Meredith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-meredith/) > [You have to liberate yourself first from the prejudices of the world in which you live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-kagan/you-have-to-liberate-yourself-first-from-the-prejudices-of-the-world/) [Donald Kagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-kagan/) > [Tell the devil to go to hell... that's where he belongs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hart/tell-the-devil-to-go-to-hell-that-s-where-he-belongs/) [Mark Hart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hart/) > [The name of the game is to talk to people. If you don't talk to people, you can't get started...You knock on twenty doors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesar-chavez/the-name-of-the-game-is-to-talk-to-people-if-you-don-t-talk-to-people/) [Cesar Chavez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesar-chavez/) > [I want to be able to open up the really good treasures of the Church and Christianity to people, and that's not going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-green/i-want-to-be-able-to-open-up-the-really-good-treasures-of-the-church/) [Alan Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-green/) > [If I had to lay bets, my bet would be that everything is going to go to hell, but, you know, what else have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-rorty/if-i-had-to-lay-bets-my-bet-would-be-that-everything-is-going-to-go/) [Richard Rorty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-rorty/) > [Let me go to hell, that's all i ask.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel/let-me-go-to-hell-that-s-all-i-ask/) [Samuel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel/) > [ If that's the kind of person you want, vote for Hillary \[Clinton\], vote for \[Donald\] Trump - and you go to hell with both… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-farrakhan/if-that-s-the-kind-of-person-you-want-vote-for-hillary-clinton-vote/) [Louis Farrakhan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-farrakhan/) > [In the particular dwells the tawdry. In the conceptual dwells the grand, the transcendent, the everlasting. Earthly countries and single malignant boys can go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lionel-shriver/in-the-particular-dwells-the-tawdry-in-the-conceptual-dwells-the/) [Lionel Shriver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lionel-shriver/) ## 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 Able quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [I have observed this in my experience of slavery, - that whenever my condition was improved, instead of its increasing my contentment, it only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/i-have-observed-this-in-my-experience-of-slavery-that-whenever-my/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [There is something about the South that accepts the supernatural. If you don't accept it and you're having a conversation with someone who does,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alice-englert/there-is-something-about-the-south-that-accepts-the-supernatural-if/) [Alice Englert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alice-englert/) > [In the '80s, the way radio was programmed, if you didn't have a hit record you weren't going to be able to make any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/huey-lewis/in-the-80s-the-way-radio-was-programmed-if-you-didn-t-have-a-hit/) [Huey Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/huey-lewis/) > [I think I've had the longest career of strength, focus, and still being able to sell records. I think I'm that guy. I'm still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nas/i-think-i-ve-had-the-longest-career-of-strength-focus-and-still-being/) [Nas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nas/) > [I have that need in me, I want everyone to love me, but I'm embarrassed by that need, so I wanted to cover it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-have-that-need-in-me-i-want-everyone-to-love-me-but-i-m-embarrassed/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [Thinking about the things that happened, I don't know any other ball player would could have done what he (Jackie Robinson) did. To be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pee-wee-reese/thinking-about-the-things-that-happened-i-don-t-know-any-other-ball/) [Pee Wee Reese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pee-wee-reese/) > [I wanted to remember in order to be able to return.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anais-nin/i-wanted-to-remember-in-order-to-be-able-to-return/) [Anais Nin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anais-nin/) > [Government schools, with your tax money, now discourage the teaching of multiplication tables by rote memorization but teach reading by the 'look-and-say' method which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/greg-perry/government-schools-with-your-tax-money-now-discourage-the-teaching-of/) Greg Perry > [I don't know if I would qualify as mainstream. I think I have managed to function pretty successfully on the fringes of the music…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-metheny/i-don-t-know-if-i-would-qualify-as-mainstream-i-think-i-have-managed/) [Pat Metheny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-metheny/) > [What we're supposed to do as actors is be able to portray real human beings and emotions. And if you grow up in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-browning/what-we-re-supposed-to-do-as-actors-is-be-able-to-portray-real-human/) [Emily Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-browning/) > [The reason that Apple is able to create products like iPad is because we always try to be at the intersection of technology and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-jobs/the-reason-that-apple-is-able-to-create-products-like-ipad-is-because/) [Steve Jobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-jobs/) > [It was an important period for us, because even though we weren't a "punk band", and what became a model for a punk band,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-mallinder/it-was-an-important-period-for-us-because-even-though-we-weren-t-a/) [Stephen Mallinder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-mallinder/) > [- You look fine. - Right. I look fine. Except I don't, said Zora, tugging sadly at her man's nightshirt. This was why Kiki…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zadie-smith/you-look-fine-right-i-look-fine-except-i-don-t-said-zora-tugging/) [Zadie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zadie-smith/) > [There is a way to be a woman, ask for what we deserve and be able to negotiate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tracee-ellis-ross/there-is-a-way-to-be-a-woman-ask-for-what-we-deserve-and-be-able-to/) [Tracee Ellis Ross](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tracee-ellis-ross/) Browse all 17,257 Able quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able to go to hell without perspiring.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "H. L. Mencken" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-without-picking-up-the-moral/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Able" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-without-picking-up-the-moral/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0e/h-l-mencken-245_able_one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-withou_1620443.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0e/h-l-mencken-245_able_one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-withou_1620443.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d0e/h-l-mencken-245_able_one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-withou_1620443.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“One may no more live in the world without picking up the moral prejudices of the world than one will be able…” — 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": "One may no more live in...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-without-picking-up-the-moral/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/one-may-no-more-live-in-the-world-without-picking-up-the-moral/#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 } } ] } ```