Robert Heinlein (1907-1988)

Robert Anson Heinlein was an American science fiction author, engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction. His published works, both fiction and non-fiction, express admiration for competence and emphasize the value of critical thinking. His plots often presented provocative situations which challenged conventional social mores. His work continues to have an influence on the science fiction genre and on modern culture more generally.

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.

Poetry
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.

Flowers
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.

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

Goals
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.
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!