For it is mutual trust, even more than mutual interest that holds human associations together. Our friends seldom profit us but they make us feel safe. Marriage is a scheme to accomplish exactly that same end.
Interpretation
The essence of strong relationships lies in mutual trust rather than just shared interests.
H. L. Mencken emphasizes the importance of mutual trust in both friendships and marriages, stating that while friends may not always bring tangible benefits, they provide a sense of safety and security. This trust forms the foundation of human connections and is essential for lasting relationships.
In practice
In a speech on the qualities of lasting friendships, this quote can be used to emphasize the importance of trust.
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.
Our listening creates a sanctuary for the homeless parts within another person.
You cannot have all chiefs; you gotta have Indians too._x000D_ _x000D_ Perfect love cannot be without equality._x000D_ _x000D_ A friend to everybody and to nobody is the same thing._x000D_ _x000D_ We are all alike, on the inside.
Our sense of belonging can never be greater than our level of self acceptance.
You can find women who have never had an affair, but it is hard to find a woman who has had just one.
Our lives are shaped as much by those who leave us as they are by those who stay. Loss is our legacy. Insight is our gift. Memory is our guide
Written on the body is a secret code only visible in certain lights: the accumulations of a lifetime gather there. In places the palimpsest is so heavily worked that the letters feel like Braille. I like to keep my body rolled up away from prying eyes, never unfold too much, or tell the whole story. I didn't know that Louise would have reading hands. She has translated me into her own book.
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