“The majority of men prefer delusion to truth. It soothes. It is easy to grasp. Above all, it fits more snugly than the truth into a universe of false appearances—of complex and irrational phenomena, defectively grasped.”

—  H.L. Mencken

1940s–present, Introduction to Nietzsche's The Antichrist

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "The majority of men prefer delusion to truth. It soothes. It is easy to grasp. Above all, it fits more snugly than the …" by H.L. Mencken?
H.L. Mencken photo
H.L. Mencken 281
American journalist and writer 1880–1956

Related quotes

Joseph Joubert photo
Carl Sagan photo

“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”

Source: The Demon-Haunted World : Science as a Candle in the Dark (1995), Ch. 1 : The Most Precious Thing, p. 12
Source: The Demon-Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark

Jack McDevitt photo

“Truth is slippery, not because it is difficult to grasp, but because we prefer our preconceptions, our beliefs, our myths.”

Jack McDevitt (1935) American novelist, Short story writer

Source: Academy Series - Priscilla "Hutch" Hutchins, Odyssey (2006), Chapter 38 (p. 355)

John Lancaster Spalding photo

“When we have not the strength or the courage to grasp a new truth, we persuade ourselves that it is not a truth at all.”

John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) Catholic bishop

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 72

Ian McEwan photo
Hermann Hesse photo

“So every virtue, so our grasp of truth”

The Glass Bead Game (1943)

Gottlob Frege photo

“A judgment, for me is not the mere grasping of a thought, but the admission of its truth.”

Gottlob Frege (1892). On Sense and Reference, note 7.
Über Sinn und Bedeutung, 1892

Francis Pharcellus Church photo
Otto Weininger photo
Jerry Coyne photo

Related topics