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The acerbic American journalist and social critic H.L. Mencken (1880-1956) is credited with the quote. The original quote was "No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public." One of the most prominent critics during the '20s and '30s, Mencken took aim at Prohibition, the Depression, the Suffrage Movement, and the great democratic experiment in general. While writing for the Baltimore Sun for most of his life, Mencken also edited the highly influential literary magazine American Mercury, championing the work of then-struggling writers Theodore Dreiser, Sherwood Anderson, Sinclair Lewis, and Eugene O'Neill. Mencken
delighted in lambasting the arrogance of the wealthy, but he was also merciless in his attitude towards middle-class complacency. He even coined a quasi-scientific term for the ignorant American Joe -- "Boobus Americanus." His account of the Scopes "Monkey Trial" so enraged locals that police had to rescue him from an angry mob. Mencken also brought us the famous saying, "Those who can -- do. Those who can't -- teach." You can find more of his witticisms at The Watchful Eye, an exceedingly hip digital design company. Don't forget to check out their gallery of digital art after you've immersed yourself in some healthy cynicism.
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