H. L. Mencken Quote - Liberty Quotes Blog

"The urge to save humanity is almost always only a false-face for the urge to rule it."

by:	H. L. Mencken (1880-1956) American Journalist, Editor, Essayist, Linguist, Lexicographer, and Critic
Rating:
Categories:	Deception, Despotism, Power
	Tweet

Reader comments about this quote:

Ahh yes, but one prime example Mr. Obamunist Goodwrench the assassin. -- Mike, Norwalk 2
-- L.P., Kirkland, WA
Drop the almost and it's a five-star quote. -- Justin, Elkland 2
Why does Mike bring the current President into this? He is no more of an example than any of the others. Presidents are just flag bearers for the philosophy of their party. -- Waffler, Smith 3
Todays quotes are three of the best that I've seen in many a moon. All three hit the nail directly on the head. -- jim k, Austin,Tx 1
It's sad the color grey is "almost" missing from our intellect. -- Anonymous
Waffler, I used the current president because he is the current president. It really is too bad that your anointed puppet turned out to be such a great example of the quote. Would it make you happy if I used King George the torturer? -- Mike, Norwalk 4
Too true!! Whether from government or the church, the left or the right, history proves this true over and over. Trying to 'save' those that don't want to be saved is in essence the desire to control others. Control is de facto ownership -- someone else may 'own' something, but the one that controls it is indeed the real owner without the risk of liability. -- E Archer, NYC 3
You would be better served Mike by thinking large rather than be thinking small. The tendency described has been the mover of humanity for ever from Tallerand, Alexander, the Greeks, Romans etc. If I remember the latin it was Vini, Vide, Vici. soemthing like that, "I came, I saw, I conquered (controlled)". So what else is knew? -- Waffler, Smith 1 3
Waffler, OK, an expanded, or thinking larger example would be Mr. Obamunist Goodwrench, the assassin and his puppeteers, criminal clown posse, mobster czars, malefactor stars, gangster enforcement, and demonic financiers. Is that large enough or should I expand some more. -- Mike, Norwalk 3
Sad that such a clever man should say such a stupid statement as it misrepresents honesty and integrity -- Anonymous 2
You should have included Waffler, Mike. -- Ken, Allyn, WA 4
What else is new Waffler? What's new is our Constitution whose founders knew that Vini, Vide, Vici was the norm for dictators and monarchs. They gave us the blueprints to avoid all this horror and we've piddly-winked it away and voted an idiot as our president and given him the keys to the kingdom (our economy). It's people like Waffler who have the mistaken idea that Utopia is possible if only the ignorant masses would just agree to live under a benevolent dictator. How many banana republic and African tin-horn dictators does it take to see how stupid this ideology is? -- GunnyCee, Durham, NC 5
In the same paragraph GunnyCee proclaims our Constitution and then lambasts it by attacking the freely elected government operating under it. He probably thoght the narrowly elected and Supreme Court appointed government of Bush II was some kind of great Constitutional achievement. Gunny I suugest a little patience and respect for your fellow citizens who elected the present government in a substantial relateively speaking "landslide". I support your right to be a vocal dissenter but I think you should clean of your act. What is destroying you loyal oppositionists is your anger and your irrationality. Mark my words this election is not going to be a landslide for the angry and irrational "enemies of Obama". I firmly believe that right and rationality will win this election. And it ain't on the side of the Sarah's, Rush's, Mike's and GunnyCee's. Republicans our choosing idiots like Mrs Angle in Nevada. There are some good folk on that side of the aisle, find out who they are? -- Waffler, Smith 4
Waffler you might have a point, but you don't...you see the current POTUS is a kenyan and is a trespasser. I don't feel we should honor the office when it is attained illegally. He is not my president. -- J Carlton, Calgary 3
You are a liar J! Nuff said? You live in Canada, who cares? By being disloyal in that way you are a traitor to America, The Constitution and all that it stands for. But who cares for traitors who are liars. Now an honest and decent men would upset me if they were traitors. -- Waffler, Smith 4
Enemies foreign and domestic. ! Waffler is an idiot !! Mob rule with total disregard for our Constitution and Declaration of independence. ! Swing sets are in order, implement and execute are justifiable options to the treasonous activities committed by elected representatives as also office by appointments ! Never forget the grey ! -- Ronw13, Yachats Or 3
Can one "save" humanity other than by ruling it ? Humans "by nature" are animals; only via powers greater than the natural animalistic ones can he achieve his greatness. And what, do you suppose, Mencken thought of himself ... I wonder if he worried a lot about being humble .. no, I'd guess he thought he could "save" mankind .. how ? By ruling their thinking, NO ? -- Bobble, No. Ferrisburgh, VT 1
Otherwise where would their slaves be? We must breakout of the shell that inhibits us - break those bonds of false hope and security. America has become a cataclysmic effect on the rest of the world and it's time for you to voice your disapproval. Act with deeds and not words..... -- Robert, Somewhere in Europe 2
This quote is a perfect example of the modern environmentalist extremists, it's not about saving the planet it has always been about controlling people and global governance. Sorry Bobble but human beings are not animals, we are created beings made in the image of our Creator and we are put here and given dominion over this world and given the opportunity to make a choice using our own free will to either continue the rebellion against our maker or seek redemption and salvation through our creators plan, he paid the price that we could not and all we have to do is choose to except it or bear the consequences of not. -- Mike, Pleasant Hill 2
Where are the politicians at the podium telling their constituents, "You are responsible for the condition and quality of your life."? Nobody gets elected by putting the responsibility back into the hands of the people. No, the politicians want only your money and your vote, and they get that by promising to relieve the voter of his responsibility and place it with the State. The mistake is to surrender to a 'lord' for the purposes of being taken care of by him. The key difference between the freeman and the slave is where they place the responsibility for himself -- in his own hands or another's. -- E Archer, NYC 3
-- Mary - MI
-- jim k, Austin
Waffler, there is no government working under the original Constitution, its laws or its principles. The freely elected are jail keepers of the occupying statist theocracy infesting this land. The de jure body politic of We The People — ensuring and enlarging individual sovereignty, inalienable rights and liberty at "the laws of nature and of nature's God" (Declaration of Independence) does not exist. Political jailers are taking a hard left into full blown communism (complete with anger, hate, violence, murder, pain, debauchery, destruction, poverty and chaos). -- Mike, Norwalk 1

Bio of H. L. Mencken
More H. L. Mencken Quotes
Books by or about H. L. Mencken
H. L. Mencken Videos
Wikipedia
This H. L. Mencken quote is found in these quote Categories:
Deception Quotes
Despotism Quotes
Power Quotes

Quotes & Quotations - Send This Quote to a Friend