--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Whenever \"A\" attempts by law to impose…" description: "\"Whenever \"A\" attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon \"B,\" \"A\" is most likely a scoundrel.\" — H. L. Mencken" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/h-l-mencken-245_character_whenever-a-attempts-by-law-to-impose-his_3079681.png" --- # Whenever "A" attempts by law to impose his moral standards… ![“Whenever "A" attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon "B," "A" is most likely a scoundrel.” quote by H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/h-l-mencken-245_character_whenever-a-attempts-by-law-to-impose-his_3079681.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/h-l-mencken-245_character_whenever-a-attempts-by-law-to-impose-his_3079681.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1b5/h-l-mencken-245_character_whenever-a-attempts-by-law-to-impose-his_3079681.png) > “Whenever "A" attempts by law to impose his moral standards upon "B," "A" is most likely a scoundrel.” [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. Argues that imposing personal morals on others often reveals the imposer’s own moral failings **In simple terms:** Moral imposition signals the imposer’s hypocrisy Key Takeaway Question the motives behind moral judgments before acting Themes ethics hypocrisy social control Mood critical analytical skeptical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - political discourse - legal reforms - education curricula - media commentary Key Concepts moral relativism power dynamics philosophical critique Questions to Reflect On - When is moral enforcement justified? - How to differentiate self‑interest from genuine concern? A Different Perspective May ignore situations where moral standards protect vulnerable groups ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Drug](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drug/) [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/law/) [Liberty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/liberty/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Political](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/political/) [Scoundrels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/scoundrels/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [“Life cannot remain tolerable unless we learn to let each other alone in all matters that are not of immediate and obvious concern to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/life-cannot-remain-tolerable-unless-we-learn-to-let-each-other-alone/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [States are not moral agents, people are, and can impose moral standards on powerful institutions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/states-are-not-moral-agents-people-are-and-can-impose-moral-standards/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [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/) > [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/) > [All attempts at law, all religion, all ethical norms might be nothing more than attempts by the weak to restrain the strong. Then, within…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-zebrowski/all-attempts-at-law-all-religion-all-ethical-norms-might-be-nothing/) [George Zebrowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-zebrowski/) > [I've always thought respectable people scoundrels, and I look anxiously at my face every morning for signs of my becoming a scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/i-ve-always-thought-respectable-people-scoundrels-and-i-look/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Patriotism is the last refuge to which a scoundrel clings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/patriotism-is-the-last-refuge-to-which-a-scoundrel-clings/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [It's very hard not to be a scoundrel nowadays. 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Clayton: Your flattery warms my heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/judith-mcnaught/whitney-you-black-hearted-treacherous-conniving-scoundrel-clayton/) [Judith McNaught](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/judith-mcnaught/) > [He who speaks ill of an absent friend, or fails to take his part if attacked by another, that man is a scoundrel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/he-who-speaks-ill-of-an-absent-friend-or-fails-to-take-his-part-if/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Only by himself, with one acre and a house, will a dunce be a dunce. 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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. 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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. 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