Saturday, April 01, 2006

H L Mencken

A man's women folk, whatever their outward show of respect for his merit and authority, always regard him secretly as an ass, and with something akin to pity. His most gaudy sayings and doings seldom deceive them; they see the actual man within, and know him for a shallow and pathetic fellow. In this fact, perhaps, lies one of the best proofs of feminine intelligence, or, as the common phase makes it, feminine intuition.
In Defense of Women [1918, rev. 1922], Part I, p.3

Thanks for reminding MFT of him, Mela and thanks MFT for a good catch. I love Mencken. Aphorisms and longer quotes.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Here's, like, an alternate ending...
Maybe I don't like your blog because I'm jealous! You write all this nonsense over here, instead of writing to me! Like, hello!

Mr roT said...

Jealous schmealous.

Anonymous said...

It's a reasonable hypothesis.

My Frontier Thesis said...

Man, "is not, ordinarily, capable of the profound and overmastering feeling that its practice demands... Nor has he the intellectual resolution and audacity, the hard drive of character, needed for a direct onslaught upon the gods. The thought of facing them [the gods] in their rainbow crowns and robes of lightning appalls him; his inferiority complex gets in the way; he has all he can do to face the policeman on the beat and his own wife."

Mencken, Treatise on the Gods

Mr roT said...

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

— H. L. Mencken