Maxims

I have a decided weakness for collections of maxims, proverbs, and pithy sayings, wherein most of the wisdom of the human race is accumulated.

They are like the apples in Locke’s state of nature, free to everyone who will bother to pick them up, and given in such abundance that no thought of competition for scarce resources can arise. The grandest of such books of quotations is H. L. Mencken’s New Dictionary of Quotations on Historical Principles from Ancient and Modern Sources. Why Mencken's treatise is the number one book of all time is explained in the essay on Exploring the Canon.

On IR and All That, I have entries—largely from Mencken’s collection—on Golden Rules, Liberty, Justice, Peace, Nature, Reason, and Truth.