A man of active and resilient mind outwears his friendships just as certainly as he outwears his love affairs, his politics and his epistemology.
Interpretation
Active and resilient thinkers tend to exhaust their relationships and interests over time.
This quote by H. L. Mencken suggests that individuals who are constantly engaged in thought and exploration may find that their friendships, romantic relationships, and political beliefs lose vitality as they evolve. The idea is that the very nature of a curious and dynamic mind leads one to outgrow or become disillusioned with various aspects of life, including the connections and passions they once held dear.
In practice
This quote can be shared in a discussion about the challenges of maintaining relationships in a rapidly changing world.
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.
Plan for this world as if you expect to live forever; but plan for the hereafter as if you expect to die tomorrow.
I know how young black men are seen. They're boys - scared little boys, oftentimes. I was one of them. I was completely afraid of the Los Angeles Police Department.
By definition, of course, we believe the person with a stigma is not quite human. On this assumption we exercise varieties of discrimination, through which we effectively, if often unthinkingly, reduce his life chances.
I believe that the place where an animal dies is a sacred one. There is a need to bring ritual into the conventional slaughter plants and use as a means to shape people's behavior. It would help prevent people from becoming numbed, callous, or cruel. The ritual could be something very simple, such as a moment of silence. In addition to developing better designs and making equipment to insure the humane treatments of all animals, that would be my contribution.
You put too much stock in human intelligence, it doesn't annihilate human nature.
Today, the degradation of the inner life is symbolized by the fact that the only place sacred from interruption is the private toilet.
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