"For every complex problem" (Mencken?)

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, 22 Apr 2005 01:17:51 -0400, bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:

>http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=512538
>Question
>Subject: Research Quote: An answer that is clear, simple--and wrong
>Category: Reference, Education and News
>Asked by: jeffbhc001-ga
>List Price: $15.00 Posted: 21 Apr 2005 19:20 PDT
>Expires: 21 May 2005 19:20 PDT
>Question ID: 512538
>
>I understand that the American newspaperman, H.L. Mencken said: "For
>every complex problem, there is an answer that is clear, simple--and
>wrong."
>
>What is the reference for this?  Did he really say this?

"Explanations exist; they have existed for all time; there is always a
well-known solution to every human problem --- neat, plausible, and
wrong."
-- H.L. Mencken, _Prejudices: Second Series_ (1920), p. 158

http://www.talkreason.org/articles/Misquotations.cfm
http://www.io.com/gibbonsb/mencken/megaquotes.html


--Ben Zimmer