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Robert A. Heinlein Quotes - Page 26

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Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills.

Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills.

Robert A. Heinlein
Hurt, Windmills
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.326, Penguin

It's an indulgence to sit in a room and discuss your beliefs as if they were a juicy piece of gossip.

Robert A. Heinlein
Women, Gossip, Pieces

Nobody ever wins a lawsuit but the lawyers.

Robert A. Heinlein
Winning, Lawyer, Lawsuit
Robert A. Heinlein (1959). “The Door Into Summer”, Roc

I'm always suspicious of disinterested interest.

Robert A. Heinlein
Interest, Suspicious, Disinterested

Like every living thing its prime characteristic is a blind, unreasoned instinct to survive.

Robert A. Heinlein
Blind, Instinct, Stranger In A Strange Land
Robert A. Heinlein (2014). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.42, Hachette UK

Of all the creatures on this planet none is more dangerous than a human being.

Robert A. Heinlein
Humanity, Being Human, Danger

Under our system every voter and officeholder is a man who has demonstrated through voluntary and difficult service that he places the welfare of the group ahead of personal advantage.

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Groups, Voters
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Starship Troopers”, p.142, Penguin

Come Judgment Day, we may find that Mumbo Jumbo the God of the Congo was the Big Boss all along.

Robert A. Heinlein
Boss, May, Judgment
"Stranger in a Strange Land".

Men are not potatoes!

Robert A. Heinlein
Men, Potatoes
Robert A. Heinlein (2014). “Starship Troopers”, p.168, Hachette UK

...more than six people cannot agree on anything, three is better and one is perfect for a job that one can do. This is why parliamentary bodies all through history, when they accomplished anything, owed it to a few strong men who dominated the rest.

Robert A. Heinlein
Strong, Jobs, Men
Robert A Heinlein (1966). “Moon Is Harsh Mistres”, Berkley

Sovereign," like "love," means anything you want it to mean; it's a word in dictionary between "sober" and "sozzled.

Robert A. Heinlein
Mean, Like Love, Want
Robert A Heinlein (1966). “Moon Is Harsh Mistres”, Berkley

The brown monkey's instinct to kill is correct; such men are dangerous to all monkey customs.

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

Oh, you have to charge 'em, Jubal. The marks won't pay attention if it's free.

Robert A. Heinlein
Attention, Ems, Pay
Robert A. Heinlein (1983). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, Berkley

The only thing privacy laws accomplish is making the bugs smaller.

Robert A. Heinlein
Law, Bugs, Privacy

The stars incline, but do not impel.

Robert A. Heinlein
Stars, Destiny, Incline

Many short-sighted fools think that going to the Moon was just a stunt. But the astronauts knew the meaning of what they were doing, as is shown by Neil Armstrong's first words in stepping down onto the soil of Luna: "One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind."

Robert A. Heinlein
Moon, Men, Thinking
"The Pragmatics of Patriotism". Address at the U.S. Naval Academy, April 5, 1973.

The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.

Robert A. Heinlein
Space, Made, Crowded Places
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.228, Penguin

I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults.

Robert A. Heinlein
Believe, Faults, Virtue

If you wanted to teach a baby a lesson, would you cut its head off?

Robert A. Heinlein
Baby, Cutting, Lessons
Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Starship Troopers”, p.54, Penguin

But goodness alone is never enough. A hard, cold wisdom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.

Robert A. Heinlein
Life, Evil, Cold
Robert A. Heinlein (1983). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, Berkley

Logic is a feeble reed, friend.

Robert A. Heinlein
Reeds, Logic
Robert A. Heinlein (2007). “Glory Road”, p.63, Macmillan

There were many, many times thereafter that Don regretted having enlisted - but so has every man who ever volunteered for military service.

Robert A. Heinlein
Military, Men, Soldier

Random chance was not a sufficient explanation of the Universe---in fact, random chance was not sufficient to explain random chance; the pot could not hold itself.

Robert A. Heinlein
Random Chance, Facts, Pot
Robert A. Heinlein (2014). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, p.150, Hachette UK

But if you didn't have more urgent things to do after supper [in boot camp], you could write a letter, loaf, gossip, discuss the myriad mental shortcomings of sergeants and, dearest of all, talk about the female of the species (we became convinced that there was no such creatures, just mythology created by inflamed imaginations - one boy in our company claimed to have seen a girl, over at regimental headquarters; he was unanimously judged a liar and a braggart).

Robert A. Heinlein
Girl, Liars, Writing

It would take centuries and he must grow and grow and grow, but he was in no hurry--he grokked that Eternity and the ever-beautifully-changing Now were identical.

Robert A. Heinlein
Eternity, Century, Grows
Robert A. Heinlein (1977). “Stranger in a Strange Land”, Berkley Trade Pub

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