The military caste did not originate as a party of patriots, but as a party of bandits
Interpretation
The military class began as a group of lawless individuals rather than true patriots.
H. L. Mencken's quote suggests that the military caste, often revered for its role in protecting a nation, originally emerged from a more dubious background marked by banditry rather than genuine patriotism. This perspective challenges the conventional glorification of military forces, instead highlighting the complex and sometimes morally ambiguous origins of those who are tasked with wielding power and authority in a society.
In practice
Discussing the historical roots of military institutions in a philosophy class.
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.
[A] woman should have every honorable motive to exertion which is enjoyed by man, to the full extent of her capacities and endowments. The case is too plain for argument. Nature has given woman the same powers, and subjected her to the same earth, breathes the same air, subsists on the same food, physical, moral, mental and spiritual. She has, therefore, an equal right with man, in all efforts to obtain and maintain a perfect existence.
I'm trying to knock the medical profession into accepting its responsibilities, and those responsibilities include assisting their patients with death.
There is little or no magic about them, except the ordinary everyday sort which helps them to disappear quietly and quickly when large stupid folk like you and me come blundering along, making a noise like elephants which they can hear a mile off.
Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war... Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters.
There is a kind of courtesy in skepticism. It would be an offense against polite conventions to press our doubts too far.
In cases of major discrepancy its always reality thats got it wrong ... reality is frequently inaccurate.
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