The Road To H.L. (Mencken)

PithArtist

As American phrase-coiners go, Henry Louis Mencken (1880-1956) was one of the all-time greats.  Having lived before the era of the t-shirt, and never having seen a television while in his prime, H. L. had to make the funny happen with deep, forceful wit and a devastating touch for expression.  Writer and editor of the Baltimore Sun newspaper (remember newspapers?) , Mencken wrote about everything from politics to sports to classical music.  Have interests that broad, and you’re bound to get something right:

On idealism:

An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup.

On boring people:

It is the dull man who is always sure, and the sure man who is always dull.

On putting up with dummies:

Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin to slit throats.

On “birthers”, “death panels” and other embarrassments:

The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary.

(Admittedly, it’s a little long for a t-shirt, but could old H. L. hit the nail on the head.)

And on what Shakespeare was famous for:

After all, all he did was string together a lot of old, well-known quotations.

Check out the great H. L. Mecnken at http://www.quotationspage.com/quotes/H._L._Mencken