People constantly speak of 'the government' doing this or that, as they might speak of God doing it. But the government is really nothing but a group of men, and usually they are very inferior men. They may have some better man working for them, but they themselves are seldom worthy of any respect.
Interpretation
The government is merely a collection of individuals, often lacking in quality and worthy of little respect.
H. L. Mencken critiques the tendency of people to attribute power and agency to 'the government' as if it were a monolithic entity, similar to how they might reference God. Instead, he points out that government is comprised of ordinary men, who often do not possess the attributes that earn them genuine respect, suggesting a distrust of authority based on the character of those who hold power.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about civic engagement to emphasize the importance of scrutinizing those in power.
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.
Government actually grew during the Reagan years.
Previously known for its six syllables of sweetness and light, reconciliation has become the political fighting word of the year.
Those who today murdered our people in an ambush not only plotted to murder some Jews but intended to provoke us... The Arabs stand to gain from such a development. They want the country to be in a state of perpetual pogrom.... Any further bloodshed [by the Jews] will only bring political advantage to the Arabs and harm us... Our strength is in the defense... and this strength will give us political victory if England and the world will know that we are defending ourselves rather than attacking.
I learned that fighting on the chess board could also have an impact on the political climate in the country.
The bureaucracy takes itself to be the ultimate purpose of the state
One of the biggest curses from which India is suffering - I do not say that other countries are free from it, but I think our condition is much worse - is bribery and corruption. That really is a poison.
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