- Notes from a small bedroom - a new blog that's well worth a look. And also brings a handy H.L.Mencken quote:
"The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed – and thus clamorous to be led to safety – by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary."I really must read some more Mencken. Anyone got any suggestions of especially good collections?
4 Comments:
you can't go wrong with ol' HL. His Chrestomathy is the best place to start, but you might as well pick up the Vintage HL Mencken as well. HL Mencken on Religion is great too, especially for the 1920s take on the ID debate, aka the Scopes trial.
If nothing else, hunt down on the tinterwebnet his two obits of Williams Jennings Bryan, possibly the most beautifully savage pieces of journalism ever.
I keep meaning to update my own Mencken page (here), but I never seem to get round to it.
'A Politician' is also a must-read.
Try "A Carnival of Buncombe: HL Mencken on Politics". It's basically a collection of his columns foir the Baltimore Sun from the 1920's onwards. But despite being obsolesete punditry, it wears incredibly well.
Aye, a genius indeed:
"An idealist is one who, on noticing that a rose smells better than a cabbage, concludes that it will also make better soup."
Now where have I seen that one before? ;)
Post a Comment