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Robert A. Heinlein Quotes

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[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated

[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a million or more a year, he knows he is important ... so his opinions of foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even though he proves himself to be ignorant and subliterate every time he opens his mouth.

Robert A. Heinlein
Athlete, Thinking, Media

You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Political, Prejudice
Robert A. Heinlein (2014). “Revolt in 2100”, p.53, Hachette UK

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Robert A. Heinlein
Life, Motivational, Atheist
Time Enough for Love "Intermission" (1973)

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.

Robert A. Heinlein
Inspirational, Freedom, Responsibility
"The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress" by Robert A. Heinlein, (Ch. 6), 1966.

Anyone who can worship a trinity and insist that his religion is a monotheism can believe anything.

Robert A. Heinlein
Believe, Religion, Worship
Robert A. Heinlein (1985). “Job, a Comedy of Justice”, Del Rey

Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, "This you may not read, this you must not know," the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man who has been hoodwinked in this fashion; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, whose mind is free. No, not the rack nor the atomic bomb, not anything. You can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.

Robert A. Heinlein
Fashion, Atheist, Freedom

Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.

Robert A. Heinlein
Race, People, Political

It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the country and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn't the whole population.

Robert A. Heinlein
Country, Long, People
Robert A. Heinlein (1982). “Friday”

Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty. This is known as "bad luck.

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Thinking, Creating
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.228, Penguin

A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.

Robert A. Heinlein
Loss, Dying, Culture
Robert A. Heinlein (1982). “Friday”

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.

Robert A. Heinlein
Stupidity, Underestimate, Attributes

Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.

Robert A. Heinlein
Stupid, Ignorance, Forever

Learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.

Robert A. Heinlein
Rude, Happiness And Love, Duty
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.331, Penguin

I never learned from a man who agreed with me.

Robert A. Heinlein
Wise, Wisdom, Learning

It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creeds into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.

Robert A. Heinlein
Law, Political, Mind

Democracy can survive anything except Democrats

Robert A. Heinlein
Democracy, Politics, Democrat

I think perhaps of all the things a police state can do to its citizens, distorting history is possibly the most pernicious.

Robert A. Heinlein
Thinking, Police, Citizens
"The Past Through Tomorrow" by Robert A. Heinlein, G. P. Putnam Inc., (p. 401), 1967.

Remember though, your best weapon is between your ears and under your scalp -provided it's loaded.

Robert A. Heinlein
Ears, Weapons, Remember

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.

Robert A. Heinlein
Clear Goals, Excellence, Loyal

There are two ways of forming an opinion. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all-important, and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything, and facts are junked when they do not fit theory.

Robert A. Heinlein
Two, Mind, Important

Never pick up a stray kitten . . . unless you've already made up your mind to be owned by it.

Robert A. Heinlein
Mind, Kitten, Made

You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.

Robert A. Heinlein
Wisdom, Peace, Freedom
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.227, Penguin

Patriotism is not 'my country right or wrong'; patriotism means loving the ideals for which America stands and having the courage to speak up when these ideals are distorted for personal or political gain. The American government was instituted to be the servant of the people, not our master.

Robert A. Heinlein
Country, Mean, Government

The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance.

Robert A. Heinlein
Athlete, People, United States

A fool cannot be protected from his folly. If you attempt to do so, you will not only arouse his animosity but also you will be attempting to deprive him of whatever benefit he is capable of deriving from experience. Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.

Robert A. Heinlein
Pigs, Benefits, Waste
Time Enough for Love "Prelude II" (1973)

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