--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Public ... demands certainties…" description: "\"The Public ... demands certainties ... But there are not certainties\" — H. L. Mencken" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ed/h-l-mencken-245_certainties_the-public-demands-certainties-but-there_2284666.png" --- # The Public ... demands certainties ... But there are not… ![“The Public ... demands certainties ... But there are not certainties” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ed/h-l-mencken-245_certainties_the-public-demands-certainties-but-there_2284666.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ed/h-l-mencken-245_certainties_the-public-demands-certainties-but-there_2284666.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ed/h-l-mencken-245_certainties_the-public-demands-certainties-but-there_2284666.png) > “The Public ... demands certainties ... But there are not certainties” [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. The public demands certainty, yet true certainty is unattainable, highlighting a paradox in societal expectations. **In simple terms:** People want certainty, but it doesn't exist. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty in public discourse. Themes certainty public expectation philosophy knowledge paradox Mood skeptical reflective Type philosophical critical When to use this quote - education - policy making - public communication - critical thinking Key Concepts epistemology social psychology media studies Questions to Reflect On - How do you cope with uncertainty? - What sources provide reliable knowledge? A Different Perspective Some certainty can be approximated; not all is impossible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Certainties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainties/) [Certainty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainty/) [Decision](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision/) [Decision making](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/decision-making/) [Demand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/demand/) [Doubt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/doubt/) ## Related quotes > [The public, with its mob yearning to be instructed, edified and pulled by the nose, demands certainties; it must be told definitely and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/the-public-with-its-mob-yearning-to-be-instructed-edified-and-pulled/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [I shall not mingle conjectures with certainties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-shall-not-mingle-conjectures-with-certainties/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [We want to have certainties and no doubts- results and no experiments- without even seeing that certainties can arise only through doubt and results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/we-want-to-have-certainties-and-no-doubts-results-and-no-experiments/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [To become informed and hold government accountable, the general public needs to obtain news that is comprehensive yet interesting and understandable, that conveys facts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-alterman/to-become-informed-and-hold-government-accountable-the-general-public/) [Eric Alterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-alterman/) > [You see the images that the public is demanding. Why more reality-based TV? You'd think that after the first Survivor it would have gone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/montel-williams/you-see-the-images-that-the-public-is-demanding-why-more-reality/) [Montel Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/montel-williams/) > [The papers feed the public interest but then the public interest demands more in the press and speculation can look like fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/the-papers-feed-the-public-interest-but-then-the-public-interest/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [Until the public demands otherwise, the policy makers will continue to serve their financiers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-hansen/until-the-public-demands-otherwise-the-policy-makers-will-continue-to/) [James Hansen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-hansen/) > [Now the expectation is that, once the public decides that the artist is gentrified, the public demands that the artist stop growing. And \[the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-corgan/now-the-expectation-is-that-once-the-public-decides-that-the-artist/) [Billy Corgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-corgan/) > [He seemed so certain about everything, didn't he? And yet none of his certainties was worth one hair of a woman's head. He wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/he-seemed-so-certain-about-everything-didn-t-he-and-yet-none-of-his/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [“Customers loves certainty, make sure you give it to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/customers-loves-certainty-make-sure-you-give-it-to-them/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [Even wen hope seems lost, certainties cannot b broken. thy define who we are n who we can become...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-wen-hope-seems-lost-certainties-cannot-b-broken-thy-define-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The first step is always identifying both the certainties and uncertainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/the-first-step-is-always-identifying-both-the-certainties-and/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [Certainties are arrived at only on foot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/certainties-are-arrived-at-only-on-foot/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [“No," said Blackwell, "she won't, because that would be a violation of the very personal terms I will have established in our conversation. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/no-said-blackwell-she-won-t-because-that-would-be-a-violation-of-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) ## 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 Certainties quotes > [“No," said Blackwell, "she won't, because that would be a violation of the very personal terms I will have established in our conversation. That's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-gibson/no-said-blackwell-she-won-t-because-that-would-be-a-violation-of-the/) [William Gibson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-gibson/) > [Our lifelong certainties about the world can be demolished in a single second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-auster/our-lifelong-certainties-about-the-world-can-be-demolished-in-a/) [Paul Auster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-auster/) > [Certainties are arrived at only on foot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-porchia/certainties-are-arrived-at-only-on-foot/) [Antonio Porchia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-porchia/) > [I shall not mingle conjectures with certainties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-newton/i-shall-not-mingle-conjectures-with-certainties/) [Isaac Newton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-newton/) > [“The first step is always identifying both the certainties and uncertainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-redhead/the-first-step-is-always-identifying-both-the-certainties-and/) [Steven Redhead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-redhead/) > [We want to have certainties and no doubts- results and no experiments- without even seeing that certainties can arise only through doubt and results…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/we-want-to-have-certainties-and-no-doubts-results-and-no-experiments/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Even wen hope seems lost, certainties cannot b broken. thy define who we are n who we can become...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/even-wen-hope-seems-lost-certainties-cannot-b-broken-thy-define-who/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Customers loves certainty, make sure you give it to them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/customers-loves-certainty-make-sure-you-give-it-to-them/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [He seemed so certain about everything, didn't he? And yet none of his certainties was worth one hair of a woman's head. He wasn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-camus/he-seemed-so-certain-about-everything-didn-t-he-and-yet-none-of-his/) [Albert Camus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-camus/) > [The thing the Buddhists and the Sufis have in common is a belief that religious certainties are destructive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luke-rhinehart/the-thing-the-buddhists-and-the-sufis-have-in-common-is-a-belief-that/) [Luke Rhinehart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luke-rhinehart/) > [“A certain way to have financial security in life is not enough savings, but enough ability.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/a-certain-way-to-have-financial-security-in-life-is-not-enough/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [There are no absolute certainties in this universe. A man must try to whip order into a yelping pack of probabilities, and uniform success…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-vance/there-are-no-absolute-certainties-in-this-universe-a-man-must-try-to/) [Jack Vance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-vance/) > [“Creativity could be described as letting go of certainties.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-sheehy/creativity-could-be-described-as-letting-go-of-certainties/) [Gail Sheehy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-sheehy/) > [I am not a mathematician, but I was aware that for centuries, mathematics was considered the queen of the sciences because it claimed certainty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/i-am-not-a-mathematician-but-i-was-aware-that-for-centuries/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“Among the many certainties whose lack he complained of, one alone is present, and it is that all things appear to us as they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umberto-eco/among-the-many-certainties-whose-lack-he-complained-of-one-alone-is/) [Umberto Eco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/umberto-eco/) [Browse all 44 Certainties quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certainties/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Public ... demands certainties ... 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