Government is actually the worst failure of civilized man. There has never been a really good one, and even those that are most tolerable are arbitrary, cruel, grasping and unintelligent.
Interpretation
The quote critiques government as a fundamental failure of civilization.
H. L. Mencken expresses a deep skepticism toward government, asserting that it has consistently failed to serve humanity effectively. He contends that even the best governments fall short, exhibiting traits of arbitrariness and cruelty, suggesting that the very nature of governance is flawed and often detrimental to society.
In practice
This quote could be used in a political debate to emphasize the failures of current governments.
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.
Being offended by freedom of speech should never be regarded as a justification for violence.
How do you put everyone in the pool, so you have the right to dry yourself in the sun?
Perhaps I can say that I am a bit astute, that I can adapt to circumstances, but it is also true that I am a bit naive. Yes, but the best summary, the one that comes more from the inside and I feel most true is this: I am a sinner whom the Lord has looked upon.
Abortion is murder in the womb...A child is a gift of God. If you do not want him, give him to me.
An important fact about verbal behavior is that speaker and listener may reside within the same skin.
The dead are visible only in the terrible lidless eye of memory.
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