The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore. It is not so much a war as an endless standing in line. The objection to it is not that it is predominantly painful, but that it is lacking in sense.
~ H. L. Mencken

:::

Here is tragedy—and here is America. For the curse of the country, as well of all democracies, is precisely the fact that it treats its best men as enemies. The aim of our society, if it may be said to have an aim, is to iron them out. The ideal American, in the public sense, is a respectable vacuum.
~ H. L. Mencken

:::

Liberty and democracy are eternal enemies, and every one knows it who has ever given any sober reflection to the matter.
~ H. L. Mencken

:::