Civilization, in fact, grows more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. Wars are no longer waged by the will of superior men, capable of judging dispassionately and intelligently the causes behind them and the effects flowing out of them. The are now begun by first throwing a mob into a panic; they are ended only when it has spent its ferine fury. H.l. Mencken
About This Quote

When Lord Acton said, “Civilization, in fact, grows more maudlin and hysterical; especially under democracy it tends to degenerate into a mere combat of crazes; the whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary. Wars are no longer waged by the will of superior men, capable of judging dispassionately and intelligently the causes behind them and the effects flowing out of them. The are now begun by first throwing a mob into a panic; they are ended only when it has spent its ferine fury.

Source: In Defense Of Women

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More Quotes By H.l. Mencken
  1. Every normal man must be tempted, at times, to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats.
  2. Happiness is the china shop love is the bull.
  3. You can't do anything about the length of your life, but you can do something about its width and depth.
  4. The older I grow, the more I distrust the familiar doctrine that age brings wisdom.
  5. An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it makes a better soup.
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