Quote by H. L. Mencken

The chief knowledge that a man gets from reading books is the knowledge that very few of them are worth reading.

The chief knowledge that a man gets from reading books is th

Summary

This quote suggests that through reading books, one realizes that only a small number of them hold true value. It implies that many books may not offer substantial knowledge or insight, emphasizing the importance of discerning the worthiness of a book before investing time in it. This quote encourages individuals to be selective in their reading choices and to prioritize quality over quantity, acknowledging that not all books will contribute significantly to one's knowledge or intellectual growth.

Topics

By H. L. Mencken

Liked the quote? Share it with your friends.

Random Quotations

If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the oppositio

If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Freedom Slavery Cruelty Destiny Americaandamericans

It is a lovely thing to have a husband and wife developing t

It is a lovely thing to have a husband and wife developing together and having the feeling of falling in love again. That is what marriage really means helping one another to reach the full status of being persons, responsible and autonomous beings who do not run away from life.

Life is supposed to be a series of peaks and valleys. The se

Life is supposed to be a series of peaks and valleys. The secret is to keep the valleys from becoming Grand Canyons.

To have ego means to believe in your own strength. And to al

To have ego means to believe in your own strength. And to also be open to other people's views. It is to be open, not closed. So, yes, my ego is big, but it's also very small in some areas. My ego is responsible for my doing what I do - bad or good.

Barbra Streisand

People who talk much say nothing.

People who talk much say nothing.

Freedom and responsibility aren't interconnected things. The

Freedom and responsibility aren't interconnected things. They are the same thing.

Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.

Art is our chief means of breaking bread with the dead.

Leisure is the mother of Philosophy.

Leisure is the mother of Philosophy.

I love 'Top Chef.' I think it rewrote the book on how food s

I love 'Top Chef.' I think it rewrote the book on how food shows are presented on TV.

Noble fathers have noble children.

Noble fathers have noble children.

It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freed

It is not the simple statement of facts that ushers in freedom; it is the constant repetition of them that has this liberating effect. Tolerance is the result not of enlightenment, but of boredom.

When I hear so much impatient and irritable complaint, so mu

When I hear so much impatient and irritable complaint, so much readiness to replace what we have by guardians for us all, those supermen, evoked somewhere from the clouds, whom none have seen and none are ready to name, I lapse into a dream... I see children playing on the grass, ...they are restive and quarrelsome; they cannot agree to any common plan; their play annoys them; it goes poorly. And one says, let us make Jack the master; Jack knows all about it; Jack will tell us what each is to do and we shall all agree. But Jack is like all the rest; Helen is discontented with her part and Henry with his, and soon they fall again into their old state. No, the children must learn to play by themselves; there is no Jack the master. And in the end slowly and with infinite disappointment they do learn a little; they learn to forbear, to reckon with anther, accept a little where they wanted much, to live and let live, to yield when they must yield; perhaps, we may hope, not to take all they can. But the condition is that they shall be willing at least to listen to one another, to get the habit of pooling their wishes. Somehow or other they must do this, if the play is to go on; maybe it will not, but there is no Jack, in or out of the box, who can come to straighten the game.

Judge Learned Hand