A prohibitionist is the sort of man one couldn't care to drink with, even if he drank.
Interpretation
This quote humorously critiques prohibitionists, implying they are unlikable people even in their own drinking habits.
H. L. Mencken's quote illustrates a disdain for prohibitionists by suggesting that their strictness and moralizing make them undesirable companions, even if they were to partake in drinking themselves. It highlights the paradox of someone who campaigns against alcohol while simultaneously lacking the charm or appeal necessary for social drinking, emphasizing the absurdity of their stance.
In practice
In a debate about alcohol laws, one could use this quote to lighten the mood and critique prohibitionist attitudes.
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.
Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end.
The wheels are turning, but the hamsters are all dead. Make it idiot-proof and someone will make a better idiot. I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig, you get dirty; and besides, the pig likes it.
MERCY, n. An attribute beloved of detected offenders.
Kiss. n. A word invented by the poets as a rhyme for "bliss".
Laughter has been implanted in our soul, that the soul may sometime be refreshed.
...after a few days at the desk, telling the truth in an interesting way turns out to be as easy and pleasurable as bathing a cat.
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