
Source: The Winds of Limbo aka The Fireclown (1965), Chapter 4 (p. 151)
The Sayings of the Wise (1555)
Source: The Winds of Limbo aka The Fireclown (1965), Chapter 4 (p. 151)
“It is better to conceal ignorance than to expose it.”
Fragment 109
Variant translation: Hide our ignorance as we will, an evening of wine soon reveals it.
Numbered fragments
“It's a good thing to be laughed at. It's better than to be ignored.”
In a handwritten note to the Postmaster General, who wanted to take action against "That Was The Week That Was", a satirical program.
Taken from letters-of-note.com http://www.lettersofnote.com/2011/06/it-is-good-thing-to-be-laughed-at.html
1980s
“Better to be ignorant of a matter than half know it.”
Maxim 865
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave
"What I Believe" in The Forum 84 (September 1930), p. 139; some of these expressions were also used separately in other Mencken essays.
1930s
Context: I believe that religion, generally speaking, has been a curse to mankind — that its modest and greatly overestimated services on the ethical side have been more than overcome by the damage it has done to clear and honest thinking.
I believe that no discovery of fact, however trivial, can be wholly useless to the race, and that no trumpeting of falsehood, however virtuous in intent, can be anything but vicious.
I believe that all government is evil, in that all government must necessarily make war upon liberty and the democratic form is as bad as any of the other forms.
I believe that the evidence for immortality is no better than the evidence of witches, and deserves no more respect.
I believe in the complete freedom of thought and speech — alike for the humblest man and the mightiest, and in the utmost freedom of conduct that is consistent with living in organized society.
I believe in the capacity of man to conquer his world, and to find out what it is made of, and how it is run.
I believe in the reality of progress.
I —But the whole thing, after all, may be put very simply. I believe that it is better to tell the truth than to lie. I believe that it is better to be free than to be a slave. And I believe that it is better to know than be ignorant.
“Ignorance and bungling with love are better than wisdom and skill without.”
The Rubaiyat (1120)