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.
The way to deal with superstition is not to be polite to it, but to tackle it with all arms, and so rout it, cripple it, and make it forever infamous and ridiculous. Is it, perchance, cherished by persons who should know better? Then their folly should be brought out into the light of day, and exhibited there in all its hideousness until they flee from it, hiding their heads in shame.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Superstition should be confronted aggressively rather than ignored or treated with respect.
In this quote, H. L. Mencken asserts that superstition is a phenomenon that deserves not just calm dismissal but a fierce and dedicated opposition. He emphasizes that it must be exposed and ridiculed so that those who cling to such beliefs, often despite better knowledge, can see the folly of their ways. Only through rigorous confrontation can society rid itself of these irrational beliefs and reveal their absurdity to those who may hold them dear.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a public debate on science education, one might quote Mencken to emphasize the importance of confronting erroneous beliefs.
More from H. L. Mencken
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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.
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