I think the Negro people should feel secure enough by now to face a reasonable ridicule without terror. I am unalterably opposed to all efforts to put down free speech, whatever the excuse.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of free speech and the courage to confront ridicule without fear.
H. L. Mencken's quote reflects a belief in the strength and resilience of the Negro people in the face of societal ridicule, advocating for the necessity of free speech. Mencken argues that individuals should feel empowered to express themselves openly and withstand criticism, regardless of the challenges they face, and he firmly opposes any attempts to suppress this freedom under any guise.
In practice
In a speech about civil rights, one could use this quote to highlight the necessity of expressing one's views freely.
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 am an opponent of war and of war preparations and an opponent of universal military training and conscription; but entirely apart from that issue, I hold that segregation in any part of the body politic is an act of slavery and an act of war.
It's important to underscore this overriding fact: women are not just victims of conflict-they are agents of peace and agents of change.
When I am in the battlefield, I love it more than my wedding night with the most beautiful of women
The goal of any true resistance is to affect outcomes, not just to vent. And the only way to affect outcomes and thrive in our lives is to find the eye in the hurricane and act from that place of inner strength.
Victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.
I say: The time has come for my courageous and proud people, after decades of displacement and colonial occupation and ceaseless suffering, to live like other peoples of the earth, free in a sovereign and independent homeland.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.