The only guarantee of the Bill of Rights which continues to have any force and effect is the one prohibiting quartering troops on citizens in time of peace. All the rest have been disposed of by judicial interpretation and legislative whittling.
Interpretation
H.L. Mencken critiques the diminishing power of the Bill of Rights, suggesting that only the right against quartering troops remains intact.
In this quote, H. L. Mencken reflects on the state of the Bill of Rights, expressing concern that most of its protections have been eroded through judicial decisions and legislative actions. He points out that the only remaining effective right is the one that prevents the military from forcing citizens to house troops in peacetime, highlighting a broader commentary on the fragility of civil liberties in the face of government power.
In practice
In a discussion about civil rights, one might employ this quote to emphasize the importance of protecting individual liberties.
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.
Every provisional political set-up following a revolution requires a dictatorship, and an energetic dictatorship at that.
I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the bankers in the rear. Of the two, the one at my rear is my greatest foe.
The shadow of crisis has passed, and the State of the Union is strong.
There is an element of paranoia in this inclination to view any serious attempt at a compromised peace as somehow directed against Israel.
The corporate lobby in Washington is basically designed to stifle all legislative activity on behalf of consumers.
The depositary of power is always unpopular.
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