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Robert A. Heinlein Quotes - Page 23

All Quotes Age Art Assumption Atheism Atheist Authority Beauty Birth Challenges Children Choices Church Country Crime Culture Democracy Duty Dying Earth Education Effort Eternity Ethics Evidence Evil Evolution Experience Feelings Fighting Flattery Freedom Funny Genius Giving Goodness Gratitude Happiness Happiness And Love Hard Work Hate Heart Heaven History Home Humanity Hurt Ignorance Inspirational Jealousy Knowledge Language Laziness Learning Liars Liberty Life Logic Love Luck Lying Manners Math Military Money Moon Morality Motivational Pain Past Peace Pleasure Police Politics Pride Propaganda Psychology Purpose Religion Responsibility Risk Running Sacrifice Safety Science Selfishness Sin Sleep Society Son Space Travel Sports Stupidity Style Survival Teaching Technology Time Trust Truth Tyranny Understanding Victory Violence Virtue Volunteer War Wife Winning Wisdom Worry Writing
Nothing could go wrong because nothing had...I meant nothing would. No - Then I quit trying to phrase it, realizing that if time travel ever became widespread, English grammar was going to have to add a whole new set of

Nothing could go wrong because nothing had...I meant "nothing would." No - Then I quit trying to phrase it, realizing that if time travel ever became widespread, English grammar was going to have to add a whole new set of tenses to describe reflexive situations - conjugations that would make the French literary tenses and the Latin historical tenses look simple.

Robert A. Heinlein
Latin, Simple, English Grammar
Robert A. Heinlein (1959). “The Door Into Summer”, Roc

Hate always sells well, but for repeat trade and the long pull happiness is sounder merchandise.

Robert A. Heinlein
Hate, Long, Hatred

Thou art god, I am god. All that groks is god.

Robert A. Heinlein
Art

If you don't like yourself, you can't like other people. -- Lazarus Long.

Robert A. Heinlein
Love, Long, People

It may take endless wars and unbearable population pressure to force-feed a technology to the point where it can cope with space. In the universe, space travel may be the normal birth pangs of an otherwise dying race. A test. Some races pass, some fail.

Robert A. Heinlein
War, Technology, Space

When railroading time comes you can railroad—but not before.

Robert A. Heinlein
Railroads
Robert A. Heinlein (1959). “The Door Into Summer”, Roc

Yes, Boss?' Dorcas, the last twenty or thirty years I've been a worthless, no-good parasite.' She yawned again. 'Everybody knows that.' Nevermind the flattery. There comes a time in every man's life when he has to stop being sensible--a time to stand up and be counted--strike a blow for liberty--smite the wicked.' Ummm...' So quit yawning, the time has come.' She glanced down. 'Maybe I had better get dressed.

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Blow, Years
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.89, Penguin

Talking with a Martian is like talking with an echo. You don't get argument but you don't get results.

Robert A. Heinlein
Echoes, Talking, Argument
"Stranger in a Strange Land".

Since survival is the sine qua non, I now define the "moral behavior" as "behavior that tends toward survival".

Robert A. Heinlein
Moral Behavior, Survival, Fiction

But, do you know, once you get used to it's rather cute. I mean, if a girl looks alright to start with, she still looks alright with her head smooth.

Robert A. Heinlein
Cute, Girl, Mean

On the steps of the Federal Building we ran into Carmencita Ibanez, a classmate of ours and one of the nice things about being a member of a race with two sexes.

Robert A. Heinlein
Love, Sex, Nice
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Starship Troopers”, p.28, Penguin

Beauty is not diminished by being shared.

Robert A. Heinlein
Clothings

Jill: 'I don't pay attention to politics.' Ben: 'You should. It's barely less important than your own heart beat.' Jill: 'I don't pay attention to that, either.'

Robert A. Heinlein
Heart, Important, Attention
"Stranger in a Strange Land".

Autobiography is usually honest but it is never truthful.

Robert A. Heinlein
Honest, Truthful, Autobiography
Robert A. Heinlein (1982). “Friday”

Was there ever a time when the majority was right?

Robert A. Heinlein
Time, Majority, Right Time

Never try to have the last word. You might get it.

Robert A. Heinlein
Clever, Anger, Trying

Never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do.

Robert A. Heinlein
Ideas, Force, Ifs
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.237, Penguin

All cats are not gray after midnight.

Robert A. Heinlein
Sex, Cat, Midnight

He had learned that close-held secrets could often be cracked by going all the way to the top and there making himself unbearably unpleasant. He knew that such twisting of the tiger's tail was dangerous, for he understood the psychopathology of great power.

Robert A. Heinlein
Often Is, Secret, Tails

Contemplation must bring forth right action in order to permit further growth.

Robert A. Heinlein
Order, Growth, Action
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.71, Penguin

Seems to be a deep instinct in human beings for making everything compulsory that isn't forbidden.

Robert A. Heinlein
Mistress, Instinct, Forbidden
"The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress". Book by Robert A. Heinlein, 1966.

It's up to the artist to use language that can be understood, not hide it in some private code... obscurity is usually the refuge of incompetence.

Robert A. Heinlein
Artist, Obscurity, Use

The death rate is the same for us as for anybody ... one person, one death, sooner or later.

Robert A. Heinlein
Trust, Rate, Sooner Or Later
Robert A. Heinlein (2005). “Tunnel in the Sky”, p.33, Simon and Schuster

There is no safety this side of the grave

Robert A. Heinlein
Safety, Sides, Stranger In A Strange Land
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.228, Penguin

An armed man need not fight.

Robert A. Heinlein
Fighting, Gun, Men
Robert A. Heinlein (1960). “Beyond This Horizon”, Roc

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