One horse-laugh is worth ten thousand syllogisms. It is not only more effective; it is also vastly more intelligent.
Interpretation
Humor is often more impactful and insightful than logical arguments.
H. L. Mencken suggests that laughter, represented by a 'horse-laugh', has a profound effectiveness in communication and understanding compared to complex arguments or reasoning. It implies that humor can convey truths and insights in ways that rational discourse often cannot, highlighting the intelligence found in humor and the emotional connection it creates.
In practice
Using this quote in a speech about the importance of humor in leadership.
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.
Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.
As long as I can make them laugh, it doesn’t matter how, I’ll be alright. If I succeed in that, the human beings probably won’t mind it too much if I remain outside their lives. The one thing I must avoid is becoming offensive in their eyes: I shall be nothing, the wind, the sky.
I like to do all the talking myself. It saves time, and prevents arguments.
The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
HOROSCOPE: Today is a good time for making new friends. A good deed may have unforeseen consequences. Don’t upset any druids. You will soon be going on a very strange journey. Your lucky food is small cucumbers. People pointing knives at you are probably up to no good. PS, we really mean it about the druids.
Murray sounds like a blindfolded man riding a unicycle on the rim of the pit of doom, the men actually facing the danger are all so taciturn that you might as well try interviewing the cars themselves.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.