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Robert A. Heinlein Quotes - Page 14

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To assess the intelligence of a committee, divide the IQ of its stupidest member by the number of members.

To assess the intelligence of a committee, divide the IQ of its stupidest member by the number of members.

Robert A. Heinlein
Numbers, Members, Stupidest

Gratitude is a euphemism for resentment.

Robert A. Heinlein
Gratitude, Resentment, Euphemism
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.105, Penguin

Note the individual and subjective nature of each case. No two are alike and there is no reason to expect them to be. Each man or woman must find for himself or herself that occupation in which hard work and long hours make him or her happy. Contrariwise, if you are looking for shorter hours and longer vacations and early retirement, you are in the wrong job. Perhaps you need to take up bank robbing. Or geeking in a sideshow. Or even politics.

Robert A. Heinlein
Retirement, Jobs, Hard Work
Robert A. Heinlein (1988). “To Sail Beyond the Sunset”

Its very variety, subtlety, and utterly irrational, idiomatic complexity makes it possible to say things in English which simply cannot be said in any other language.

Robert A. Heinlein
Language, Said, Irrational
Robert A. Heinlein (2014). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.227, Hachette UK

Big money isn't hard to come by. All it costs is a lifetime of single-minded devotion to acquiring it and making it grow into more money.

Robert A. Heinlein
Money, Cost, Lifetime
Robert A. Heinlein (2014). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.233, Hachette UK

Humoring them costs nothing and adds to happiness in a world in which happiness is always in short supply.

Robert A. Heinlein
Add, Cost, World
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.323, Penguin

But, if there ever was a time in history when "peace" meant that there was no fighting going on, I have been unable to find out about it.

Robert A. Heinlein
Fighting, Has Beens, Ifs
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Starship Troopers”, p.103, Penguin

Money is the sincerest of all flattery. Women love to be flattered. So do men.

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Flattery, Flattered
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.236, Penguin

My dear, I used to think I was serving humanity . . . and I pleasured in the thought. Then I discovered that humanity does not want to be served; on the contrary it resents any attempt to serve it. So now I do what pleases myself.

Robert A. Heinlein
Thinking, Humanity, Doe
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.88, Penguin

A monarch's neck should always have a noose around it. It keeps him upright.

Robert A. Heinlein
Necks, Should, Monarchs
"The Cat Who Walks Through Walls" by Robert A. Heinlein, (p. 108), 1985.

Rarest of all is the man who can and does reason at all times, quickly, accurately, inclusively, despite hope or fear or bodily distress, without egocentric bias or thalmic disturbance, with correct memory, with clear distinction between fact, assumption, and non-fact.

Robert A. Heinlein
Motivational, Memories, Men
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Assignment in Eternity”, Pocket Books

I'm afraid of coaching, of writer's classes, of writer's magazines, of books on how to write. They give me centipede trouble - you know the yarn about the centipede who was asked how he managed all his feet? He tried to answer, stopped to think about it, and was never able to walk another step.

Robert A. Heinlein
Book, Writing, Thinking

Sex, whatever else it is, is an athletic skill. The more you practice, the more you can, the more you want to, the more you enjoy it, the less it tires you.

Robert A. Heinlein
Sex, Practice, Skills
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “I Will Fear No Evil”, p.236, Penguin

Gratitude: An imaginary emotion that rewards an imaginary behavior, altruism. Both imaginaries are false faces for selfishness, which is a real and honest emotion.

Robert A. Heinlein
Gratitude, Real, Selfishness
Robert A. Heinlein (1988). “To Sail Beyond the Sunset”

A slave cannot be freed, save he do it himself. Nor can you enslave a free man; the very most you can do is kill him!

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Slave, Can Do

Peace is an extension of war by political means. Plenty of elbow-room is pleasanter -- and much safer.

Robert A. Heinlein
Peace, War, Mean
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.236, Penguin

Do-gooding is like treating hemophilia - the real cure is to let hemophiliacs bleed to death...before they breed more hemophiliacs.

Robert A. Heinlein
Real, Cures
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.177, Penguin

Of all the strange 'crimes' that human beings have legislated out of nothing, 'blasphemy' is the most amazing -- with 'obscenity' and 'indecent exposure' fighting it out for second and third place.

Robert A. Heinlein
Fighting, Religion, Strange
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.225, Penguin

The correct way to punctuate a sentence that states: "Of course it is none of my business, but -- " is to place a period after the word "but." Don't use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.

Robert A. Heinlein
Cutting, Use, Way
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.327, Penguin

Once a month, some women act like men act all the time.

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Months

I took up writing because I needed money. And I continued to write because it's safer than stealing and easier than working.

Robert A. Heinlein
Writing, Stealing, Easier

People simplify 'Apollonian' into 'mild', and 'calm', and 'cool'. But 'Apollonian' and 'Dionysian' are two sides of one coin--a nun kneeling in her cell, holding perfectly still, can be in ecstacy more frenzied than any priestess of Pan Priapus celebrating the vernal equinox.

Robert A. Heinlein
Cells, Two Sides, People
Robert A. Heinlein (1983). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, Berkley

Obscurity is the refuge of incompetence.

Robert A. Heinlein
Obscurity, Incompetence, Refuge
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.305, Penguin

What a wonderful world it is that has girls in it!

Robert A. Heinlein
Girl, World, Wonderful
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.223, Penguin

Always store beer in a dark place.

Robert A. Heinlein
Beer, Dark, Stores
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.221, Penguin

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