H.L. Mencken on Ideas
“Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.”
H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) was an American writer and scholar known during his lifetime as “the Sage of Baltimore.” His most famous work was The American Language, an investigation and analysis of the ways English is spoken in the United States. He is also widely remembered for his reporting on the Scopes “Monkey” Trial. Mencken also contributed to the fields of journalism, satire, and social criticism, and his works were an influence for the development of the American Left and Libertarian movements. He died in 1956 at the age of 75
“Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood.”
-H.L. Mencken
