H. L. Mencken Quotes

Not every great man is a grand human being.

You can be a great president and be ridden with flaws. Of course we know that.

I think there are good men and women in all decades. We've grown cynical. And look at what we do to all our heroes: Churchill, FDR, Kennedy, they all had affairs. But heroic things happen every day.

I think Barack Obama has brought a new level of ethical standards to Washington. Has he changed some basic hard-knuckle politics? No. You need hard-knuckle politics to succeed.

I love to deal with doctrines and events. The contests of men about men I greatly dislike.

I think it is important for readers to know that it is possible to bring intellectualism and idealism to the White House and still be political enough to advance an agenda.

It is not in the nature of politics that the best men should be elected. The best men do not want to govern their fellowmen.

Who, then, will govern? The answer must be, Man - for we have no angels in the shape of men, as yet, who are willing to take charge of our political affairs.

When you cover politics, you realize that knowing how to talk about character matters more and more. The way we hold ideas is more important than the ideas.

During my eighty-seven years I have witnessed a whole succession of technological revolutions. But none of them has done away with the need for character in the individual or the ability to think.

Politics is a place of humble hopes and strangely modest requirements, where all are good who are not criminal and all are wise who are not ridiculously otherwise.

This mode of electioneering suited neither my taste nor my principles. I though it equally unsuitable to my personal character and to the station in which I am placed.

It is a maxim of wise government to deal with men not as they ought to be but as they are.

You cannot change the psychology of a people by a coup d'etat, or by some quick process of political chemistry convert an idle nobleman into a serious worker, or a medical student into a full-blown statesman.

Strong men know when to compromise.

The force of character is cumulative.

Lincoln was a supreme politician. He understood politics because he understood human nature.

You are who you are, and in politics, if you stay who you are, you do better.

Who so taketh in hand to frame any state or government ought to presuppose that all men are evil, and at occasions will show themselves so to be.

Coolidge's preference for experience over ideas was a deeply rooted trait.

To say America can have strong leadership without strong character is to say we can get water without the wet.

I must admit that we have yet to understand how [Donald Trump] will develop his idea, his pledge to make America great again, but I hope this will not hinder the development of our cooperation.

I find Donald Trump to be very kind and generous. I find him to have a great sense of humor.

[Democrats] have got to start winning elections. That involves not some great idea, but it also involves recruiting candidates. And Rahm Emanuel, the mayor of Chicago, who has given obnoxiousness a new definition in his personal behavior, oftentimes in his dealings with the press, had a very good point.

Personal virtue is no substitute for political hard-headedness.