H. L. Mencken Quotes
I believe in only one thing and that thing is human liberty. If ever a man is to achieve anything like dignity, it can happen only if superior men are given absolute freedom to think what they want to think and say what they want to say. I am against any man and any organization which seeks to limit or deny that freedom... [and] the superior man can be sure of freedom only if it is given to all men.
Mencken, H. L. Minority Report: H. L. Mencken's Notebooks. Alfred A. Knopf, 1956.
Spinoza’s ideas were considered so radical and dangerous that he was the only man in history who was excommunicated by the Catholics, the Jews and the Muslims.
Berger, an elected Congressman, was denied his seat after he had written an editorial against the First World War {587982} and been convicted under the then existing law. The House vote was 311 to 1. The 1 was Voigt. Berger was re-elected again anyway. Finally, the Supreme Court overturned his conviction and the House seated Burger. The one had been right; the 311, wrong.
In 1989 the leader of Iran, Ayatollah Khomeini, claimed that Salmon Rushde, a British author and Iranian native, had written a blasphemous book and should therefore be killed. Not all Muslim spiritual leaders agreed:. 6 weeks after making this statement on television, he himself was assassinated.
Henry Louis Mencken was an American journalist, essayist, satirist, cultural critic, and scholar of American English. He commented widely on the social scene, literature, music, prominent politicians, and contemporary movements. His satirical reporting on the Scopes Trial, which he dubbed the "Monkey Trial," also gained him attention.
