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.
Human sympathy has its limits.
There is a huge sense of loneliness as people leave villages and move to cities. It's hard to find that human connection as you move away from where you started.
Whenever he was in company he wanted to get away, and whenever he was alone he wanted company.
When you are in the final days of your life, what will you want? Will you hug that college degree in the walnut frame? Will you ask to be carried to the garage so you can sit in your car? Will you find comfort in rereading your financial statement? Of course not. What will matter then will be people. If relationships will matter most then, shouldn't they matter most now?
but something always went wrong, and the relationship would end precisely at the moment when she was sure that this was the person with whom she wanted to spend the rest of her life. After a long time, she came to the conclusion that men brought only pain, frustration, suffering and a sense of time dragging.
Men are April when they woo, December when they wed. Maids are May when they are maids, but the sky changes when they are wives.
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