A man's women folk, whatever their outward show of respect for his merit and authority, always regard him secretly as an ass, and with something akin to pity.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that no matter how much respect a man receives from the women in his life, they often secretly hold a lower opinion of him.
H. L. Mencken's quote reflects a cynical view of gender dynamics, proposing that women may outwardly show respect for a man's achievements and position but harbor a deeper, unspoken judgment of him. This perspective implies that a man's ego may be bolstered by societal respect, yet the women closest to him see flaws or incompetencies that others might overlook, leading to a complex and sometimes pitying relationship. It invites reflection on how perceptions can differ between genders and the underlying truths often masked by polite appearances.
In practice
In a discussion about gender roles during a workplace seminar.
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.
I'm so lucky to have been raised the way I have, because my parents believed that everyone had the right to their own feelings, opinions, and existence; as long as they weren't harming others, you had to defend those rights.
Psychologists call this habituation, economists call it declining marginal utility, and the rest of us call it marriage.
We think of faith as a source of comfort and understanding but find our expressions of faith sowing division; we believe ourselves to be a tolerant people even as racial, religious, and cultural tensions roil the landscape. And instead of resolving these tensions or mediating these conflicts, our politics fans them, exploits them,and drives us further apart.
Labels cloud our vision and distract us from seeing how much we have in common with one another.
Where there are no women there are no good manners
I love my sons, I love my husband, and I love my country. But in kingdoms of men, there are few - if any - choices for women. Or the choices are such that there is no greater pain than having to choose.
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