Immorality: the morality of those who are having a better time.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that what is considered immoral is often defined by those who are not enjoying life to the fullest.
H. L. Mencken's quote explores the idea that societal norms of morality are often dictated by those who are less adventurous or less willing to embrace life's pleasures. It implies that those who are having a better time may participate in actions deemed immoral simply because they seek enjoyment and fulfillment outside of conventional boundaries. This positions the concept of morality as subjective and influenced by individual experiences and happiness.
In practice
A discussion on ethical dilemmas in a philosophical lecture.
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.
By speaking, by thinking, we undertake to clarify things, and that forces us to exacerbate them, dislocate them, schematize them. Every concept is in itself an exaggeration.
And thus I aspire to preach the gospel, not where Christ was already named so that I would not build on another man's foundation.
Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for all people.
My turning point was my pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela. It was then that I, who had dedicated most of my life to penetrate the 'secrets' of the universe, realized that there are no secrets. Life is and will always be a mystery.
Old age isn't a battle; old age is a massacre.
It goes with a courageous intent to greet the universe as it really is, not to foist our emotional predispositions on it but to courageously accept what our explorations tell us.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.