The formula of the argument is simple and familiar: to dispose of a problem all that is necessary is to deny that it exists.
Interpretation
Avoiding a problem by ignoring its existence does not solve it.
H. L. Mencken highlights a common human tendency to deny problems rather than confront them head-on. This quote serves as a reminder that simply ignoring an issue does not make it disappear; rather, it often exacerbates the situation and leads to more significant consequences.
In practice
In a discussion about mental health, this quote can emphasize the importance of acknowledging issues rather than ignoring them.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
No social stability without individual stability.
Amnesia is not knowing who one is and wanting desperately to find out. Euphoria is not knowing who one is and not caring. Ecstasy is knowing exactly who one is - and still not caring.
Memory can change the shape of a room; it can change the color of a car. And memories can be distorted. They're just an interpretation, they're not a record, and they're irrelevant if you have the facts. (Leonard Shelby, Memento)
There's an unwritten law that you cannot have a Jewish character in a film who isn't 100 percent perfect, or you're labeled anti-Semitic.
Murderers are not monsters, they're men. And that's the most frightening thing about them.
Giving frees us from the familiar territory of our own needs by opening our mind to the unexplained worlds occupied by the needs of others.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.