The quotations of

H. L. Mencken

American journalist and writer

1880–1956

63 quotes, most often on Government, Politics and Clever Jabs. Part of the Writers collection.

The government consists of a gang of men exactly like you and me. They have, taking one with another, no special talent for the business of government; they have only a talent for getting and holding office.
- Government
I believe that all government is evil, and that trying to improve it is largely a waste of time.
- Government
Every decent man is ashamed of the government he lives under.
A Mencken Chrestomathy (1949)
- Government
Every government is a scoundrel.
- Government
The only good bureaucrat is one with a pistol at his head. Put it in his hand and it’s good-bye to the Bill of Rights.
On Politics: A Carnival of Buncombe (1920-1936), p. 279
- Government
The State is not force alone. It depends upon the credulity of man quite as much as upon his docility. Its aim is not merely to make him obey, but also to make him want to obey.
Minority Report: H.L. Mencken’s Notebooks (1956), p. 217-218
- Government
- Power
The most dangerous man to any government is the man who is able to think things out for himself, without regard to the prevailing superstitions and taboos.
“Le Contrat Social”, in: Prejudices: Third Series (1922)
- Government
- Thinking
In other words, government is a broker in pillage, and every election is sort of an advance auction sale of stolen goods.
“Sham Battle”, Baltimore Evening Sun (26 October 1936); repr. A Carnival of Buncombe (1956), p. 325
- Government
- Voting
Laws are no longer made by a rational process of public discussion; they are made by a process of blackmail and intimidation, and they are executed in the same manner.
The American Mercury (May 1930)
- Government
- Laws

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