A folded white paper box with a split across its top rests on purple fabric beside a brass key.

Original artwork, not a still

H. L. Mencken

For every problem, there is a solution that is simple, elegant, and wrong.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The line warns that an attractively simple solution may still be wrong. Its apparent universal certainty is part of the aphorism rather than proof that elegance always fails.

Context reviewed

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