H. L. Mencken? Jo Petty? Max L. Forman? Apocryphal?
Question for Quote Investigator: Freedom is precious. Without continual vigilance, it disappears. Safeguarding it requires unrelenting commitment. A popular political commentator said something like the following about freedom:
No price that is ever asked for it is half the cost of doing without it.
This statement has been attributed to the Baltimore-based cultural critic H. L. Mencken; however, I have not found a solid citation. Would you please help me?
Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1924 H. L. Mencken published the collection “Prejudices Fourth Series” which contained the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
The ancient American tradition, in so far as it was vital and productive and civilized, was obviously a tradition of individualism and revolt, not of herd-morality and conformity …
In brief, we must be willing to pay a price for freedom, for no price that is ever asked for it is half the cost of doing without it.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1941 “The Reader’s Digest” printed the following as a filler item:2
We must be willing to pay a price for freedom, for no price that is ever asked for it is half the cost of doing without it.
—H. L. Mencken, Prejudices (Knopf)
In 1962 the quotation collection “Apples of Gold” compiled by Jo Petty contained the following item without attribution:3
We must be willing to pay a price for freedom, for no price that is ever asked for it is half the cost of doing without it.
In 1970 “The World’s Greatest Quotations” compiled by Max L. Forman included the following:4
We must be willing to pay a price for freedom, for no price that is ever asked for it is half the cost of doing without it. — H. L. Mencken
In 1996 the collection “Words of Honor” compiled by Dan McKinnon printed a slightly altered instance without attribution:5
We must be willing to pay a price for freedom, for no price that is ever asked for freedom is half the cost of doing without it.
In conclusion, H. L. Mencken deserves credit for the statement he wrote in “Prejudices Fourth Series” in 1924. Mencken’s words were subsequently reprinted in compilations of memorable quotations.
Image Notes: Illustration of a breaking chain from Clker-Free-Vector-Images at Pixabay. Image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Maurice Norris whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- 1924 Copyright, Prejudices Fourth Series by H. L. Mencken, Chapter 1: The American Tradition, Quote Page 18 to 20, Borzoi: Alfred A. Knopf, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1941 May, The Reader’s Digest, Volume 38, Number 229, (Filler item), Quote Page 144, The Reader’s Digest Association, Pleasantville, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1962, Apples of Gold, Compiled by Jo Petty, Topic: Joy, Quote Page 29, The C. R. Gibson Company, Norwalk, Connecticut. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1970 Copyright, The World’s Greatest Quotations, Compiled and Created by Max L. Forman, Topic: Freedom and Liberty, Quote Page 272, An Exposition-Banner Book: Exposition Press, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- 1996, Words of Honor, Compiled by Dan McKinnon, Topic: America the Great, Quote Page 185, House of Hits Publishing, Jamaica, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎