Robert Heinlein

Quotes

Anyone who clings to the historically untrue -- and thoroughly immoral -- doctrine that `violence never settles anything' I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms.
A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.
Specialization is for insects.
I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me.
Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.... Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love the greater the jealousy.
The Office does not sanctify the holder of it.
One might define adulthood as the age at which a person learns he must die and accepts his sentence undismayed.
Violence has settled more issues in history than any other factor; and contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms.
Money is a powerful aphrodisiac. But flowers work almost as well.
Thou art God, and I am God and all that groks is God.
There is no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe.
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another is essential to your own.
A motion to adjourn is always in order.
Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it.
In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.
To be matter of fact about the world is to blunder into fantasy -- and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful.
A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.
That old saw about the early bird just proves that the worm should have stayed in bed.
History does not record anywhere at any time a religion that has any rational basis. Religion is a crutch for people not strong enough to stand up to the unknown without help. But, like dandruff, most people do have a religion and spend time and money on it and seem to derive considerable pleasure from fiddling with it.
People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy a half slug who must tighten his belt.
If a country can't save itself through the volunteer service of its own free people, then I say: Let the damned thing go down the drain!
Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.
The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.
Anyone who clings to the historically untrue - and thoroughly immoral - doctrine that violence never settles anything I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and the duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler would referee. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forgot this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and there freedoms.
Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything.
The most ridiculous concept ever perpetrated by Homo Sapiens is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of the Universes, wants the sacharrine adoration of his creations, that he can be persuaded by their prayers, and becomes petulant if he does not recieve this flattery. Yet this ridiculous notion, without one real shred of evidence to bolster it, has gone on to found one of the oldest, largest and least productive industries in history.
Sex without love is merely healthy exercise.
Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other 'sins' are invented nonsense.
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.