All [zoos] actually offer to the public in return for the taxes spent upon them is a form of idle and witless amusement, compared to which a visit to a penitentiary, or even to a State legislature in session, is informing, stimulating and ennobling.
Interpretation
Mencken critiques zoos as mere superficial entertainment compared to more enriching experiences.
H. L. Mencken's quote suggests that zoos provide only mindless amusement to visitors, which pales in comparison to the educational and stimulating experiences offered by places like penitentiaries or state legislatures. He points out that while zoos are funded by taxpayers and may seem entertaining, they do not contribute to the intellectual or moral elevation of society in the same way that more serious institutions can.
In practice
During a discussion on the importance of educational institutions, one might quote Mencken to emphasize the value of intellectual experiences over mere entertainment.
I know a good many men of great learning-that is, men born with an extraordinary eagerness and capacity to acquire knowledge. One and all, they tell me that they can't recall learning anything of any value in school. All that schoolmasters managed to accomplish with them was to test and determine the amount of knowledge that they had already acquired independently-and not infrequently the determination was made clumsily and inaccurately.
It takes a long while for a naturally trustful person to reconcile himself to the idea that after all God will not help him
It is the theory of all modern civilized governments that they protect and foster the liberty of the citizen; it is the practice of all of them to limit its exercise, and sometimes very narrowly.
The central belief of every moron is that he is the victim of a mysterious conspiracy against his common rights and true deserts.
The cure for the evils of democracy is more democracy.
It is my conviction that no normal man ever fell in love, within the ordinary meaning of the term, after the age of thirty.
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds in the name of destiny and in the name of God.
The difficulties which I meet with in order to realize my existence are precisely what awaken and mobilize my activities, my capacities.
Loss of social standing is an ever-present threat for individuals whose social acceptance is based on behavioral traits rather than unconditional human value.
Well I think it is often the case that the biggest bullies take what they know to be their own defects, as they see it, and they put them right on someone else and then they try and destroy the other and that's what Voldemort does.
What leads us astray is confusing more choices with more control. Because it is not clear that the more choices you have the more in control you feel. We have more choices than we've ever had before.
I don't believe that if you do good, good things will happen. Everything is completely accidental and random. Sometimes bad things happen to very good people and sometimes good things happen to bad people. But at least if you try to do good things, then you're spending your time doing something worthwhile.
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