--- title: "21 Force Quotes By Robert A. Heinlein" description: "21 Force quotes by Robert A. Heinlein. Plus more from Robert A. Heinlein and more Force sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/robert-a-heinlein-209_force_violence-naked-force-has-settled-more-is_2080354.jpg" --- > [Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/violence-naked-force-has-settled-more-issues-in-history-than-has-any/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/efe/robert-a-heinlein-209_force_violence-naked-force-has-settled-more-is_2080354.jpg) > [The greatest productive force is human selfishness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-greatest-productive-force-is-human-selfishness/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c3f/robert-a-heinlein-209_economics_the-greatest-productive-force-is-human-s_749226.jpg) > [The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-purpose-of-war-is-to-support-your-government-s-decisions-by-force/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca9/robert-a-heinlein-209_decision_the-purpose-of-war-is-to-support-your-go_3082501.jpg) > [Circumstances can force your hand. So think ahead!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/circumstances-can-force-your-hand-so-think-ahead/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/acc/robert-a-heinlein-209_circumstances_circumstances-can-force-your-hand-so-thi_3160188.jpg) > [Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but it is a force stronger than crime.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/decency-is-not-news-it-is-buried-in-the-obituaries-but-it-is-a-force/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c2c/robert-a-heinlein-209_aging_decency-is-not-news-it-is-buried-in-the_1327368.jpg) > [Never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-force-an-idea-you-ll-abort-it-if-you-do/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a4b/robert-a-heinlein-209_force_never-force-an-idea-you-ll-abort-it-if-y_1502302.jpg) > [You're in bad shape when your emotions force you into acts which you know are foolish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/you-re-in-bad-shape-when-your-emotions-force-you-into-acts-which-you/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/robert-a-heinlein-209_emotion_you-re-in-bad-shape-when-your-emotions-f_1896332.jpg) > [There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/there-is-no-worse-tyranny-than-to-force-a-man-to-pay-for-what-he-does/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/robert-a-heinlein-209_be-good_there-is-no-worse-tyranny-than-to-force_1119409.jpg) > [When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/when-you-vote-you-are-exercising-political-authority-you-re-using/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/robert-a-heinlein-209_authority_when-you-vote-you-are-exercising-politic_836922.jpg) > [If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-you-happen-to-be-one-of-the-fretful-minority-who-can-do-creative/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a9/robert-a-heinlein-209_be-patient_if-you-happen-to-be-one-of-the-fretful-m_1511496.jpg) > [A great artist can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is ... and force the viewer to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/a-great-artist-can-look-at-an-old-woman-portray-her-exactly-as-she-is-2/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bc0/robert-a-heinlein-209_alive_a-great-artist-can-look-at-an-old-woman_3012689.jpg) > [The correct way to punctuate a sentence that states: "Of course it is none of my business, but -- " is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-correct-way-to-punctuate-a-sentence-that-states-of-course-it-is/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/228/robert-a-heinlein-209_business_the-correct-way-to-punctuate-a-sentence_1948383.jpg) > [I would say that my position is not too far from that of Ayn Rand's; that I would like to see government…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-would-say-that-my-position-is-not-too-far-from-that-of-ayn-rand-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0c0/robert-a-heinlein-209_armed-forces_i-would-say-that-my-position-is-not-too_1736745.jpg) > [I was no fool; I was aware that when another man is too anxious to force money on one, it is time…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-was-no-fool-i-was-aware-that-when-another-man-is-too-anxious-to/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3e8/robert-a-heinlein-209_another-man_i-was-no-fool-i-was-aware-that-when-anot_3084665.jpg) > [Take sex away from people. Make it forbidden, evil. Limit it to ritualistic breeding. Force it to back up into suppressed sadism.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbidden-evil-limit-it-to/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg) > [Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/mighty-little-force-is-needed-to-control-a-man-whose-mind-has-been/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dbd/robert-a-heinlein-209_amount_mighty-little-force-is-needed-to-control_2641532.jpg) > [“War is not violence and killing, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose. The purpose of war is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/war-is-not-violence-and-killing-pure-and-simple-war-is-controlled/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/413/robert-a-heinlein-209_decision_war-is-not-violence-and-killing-pure-and_63727.jpg) > [Anyone who clings to the historically untrue-and thoroughly immoral-doctrine that, 'violence never settles anything' I would advise to conjure the ghosts of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/anyone-who-clings-to-the-historically-untrue-and-thoroughly-immoral/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3ed/robert-a-heinlein-209_advise_anyone-who-clings-to-the-historically-un_1006159.jpg) > [Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government or church for that matter, undertakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/secrecy-is-the-keystone-to-all-tyranny-not-force-but-secrecy-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/robert-a-heinlein-209_atheist_secrecy-is-the-keystone-to-all-tyranny-n_975905.jpg) > [“If we can use an H-bomb--and as you said it's no checker game; it's real, it's war and nobody is fooling around--isn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-can-use-an-h-bomb-and-as-you-said-it-s-no-checker-game-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4ca/robert-a-heinlein-209_force_if-we-can-use-an-h-bomb-and-as-you-said_213225.jpg) > [It may take endless wars and unbearable population pressure to force-feed a technology to the point where it can cope with space.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/it-may-take-endless-wars-and-unbearable-population-pressure-to-force/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/619/robert-a-heinlein-209_birth_it-may-take-endless-wars-and-unbearable_3069874.jpg) ## Other authors on Force ## More by Robert A. Heinlein > [Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/social-responsibility-above-the-level-of-family-or-at-most-of-tribe/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/my-folks-tried-to-make-a-preacher-of-me-and-missed-by-a-narrow-margin/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ninety-percent-of-all-human-wisdom-is-the-ability-to-mind-your-own/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/if-we-blow-ourselves-up-we-will-do-it-by-misapplication-of-science-if/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/nor-would-anybody-suspect-if-was-one-thing-all-people-took-for/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/women-will-forgive-anything-otherwise-the-race-would-have-died-out/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/most-neuroses-and-some-psychoses-can-be-traced-to-the-unnecessary-and/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/no-statement-should-be-believed-because-it-is-made-by-an-authority/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“Some people are ants by nature; they have to work, even when it’s useless. Few people have a talent for constructive laziness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/some-people-are-ants-by-nature-they-have-to-work-even-when-it-s/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-instinct-to-survive-is-human-nature-itself-and-every-aspect-of/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“I tried to dig out of the computer a call directory for Luna. But it was still sulking. I could not get it to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-tried-to-dig-out-of-the-computer-a-call-directory-for-luna-but-it/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“this has more aspects than a cat has hair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/this-has-more-aspects-than-a-cat-has-hair/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/never-own-more-than-you-can-carry-in-both-hands-at-a-dead-run/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [“In Wilson's scale of evaluations breakfast rated just after life itself and ahead of the chance of immortality." ~ By His Bootstraps / Robert A. Heinlein”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-wilson-s-scale-of-evaluations-breakfast-rated-just-after-life/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) > [Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/ignorance-is-curable-stupid-is-forever/) [Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/robert-a-heinlein/#itemlist", "name": "21 Force Quotes By Robert A. Heinlein", "numberOfItems": 21, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Heinlein" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/you-re-in-bad-shape-when-your-emotions-force-you-into-acts-which-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/robert-a-heinlein-209_emotion_you-re-in-bad-shape-when-your-emotions-f_1896332.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/robert-a-heinlein-209_emotion_you-re-in-bad-shape-when-your-emotions-f_1896332.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/056/robert-a-heinlein-209_emotion_you-re-in-bad-shape-when-your-emotions-f_1896332.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“You're in bad shape when your emotions force you into acts which you know are foolish.” — Robert A. Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 8, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. Heinlein" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/there-is-no-worse-tyranny-than-to-force-a-man-to-pay-for-what-he-does/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/robert-a-heinlein-209_be-good_there-is-no-worse-tyranny-than-to-force_1119409.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/robert-a-heinlein-209_be-good_there-is-no-worse-tyranny-than-to-force_1119409.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b91/robert-a-heinlein-209_be-good_there-is-no-worse-tyranny-than-to-force_1119409.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it…” — Robert A. Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 9, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. Heinlein" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/when-you-vote-you-are-exercising-political-authority-you-re-using/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/robert-a-heinlein-209_authority_when-you-vote-you-are-exercising-politic_836922.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/robert-a-heinlein-209_authority_when-you-vote-you-are-exercising-politic_836922.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c0e/robert-a-heinlein-209_authority_when-you-vote-you-are-exercising-politic_836922.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is…” — Robert A. Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I would say that my position is not too far from that of Ayn Rand's; that I would like to see government reduced to no more than internal police and courts, external armed forces - with the other matters handled otherwise. I'm sick of the way government sticks its nose in everything, now.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I was no fool; I was aware that when another man is too anxious to force money on one, it is time to examine the cards, for there is almost certainly something illegal, or dangerous, or both, involved in the matter.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Limit it to ritualistic breeding. Force it to back up into suppressed sadism. Then hand the people a scapegoat to hate. Let them kill a scapegoat occasionally for cathartic release. The mechanism is ages old. Tyrants used it centuries before the word \"psychology\" was ever invented. It works, too.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. Heinlein" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbidden-evil-limit-it-to/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1ba/robert-a-heinlein-209_age_take-sex-away-from-people-make-it-forbid_592584.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Take sex away from people. Make it forbidden, evil. Limit it to ritualistic breeding. Force it to back up…” — Robert A. Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“War is not violence and killing, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose. The purpose of war is to support your government’s decisions by force. The purpose is never to kill the enemy just to be killing him . . . but to make him do what you want him to do. Not killing . . . but controlled and purposeful violence. But”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Anyone who clings to the historically untrue-and thoroughly immoral-doctrine that, 'violence never settles anything' I would advise to conjure the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and 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 freedom.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, \"This you may not read, this you must not know,\" the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man who has been hoodwinked in this fashion; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, whose mind is free. No, not the rack nor the atomic bomb, not anything. You can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. Heinlein" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/secrecy-is-the-keystone-to-all-tyranny-not-force-but-secrecy-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/robert-a-heinlein-209_atheist_secrecy-is-the-keystone-to-all-tyranny-n_975905.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/robert-a-heinlein-209_atheist_secrecy-is-the-keystone-to-all-tyranny-n_975905.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3b9/robert-a-heinlein-209_atheist_secrecy-is-the-keystone-to-all-tyranny-n_975905.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government or church…” — Robert A. Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If we can use an H-bomb--and as you said it's no checker game; it's real, it's war and nobody is fooling around--isn't it sort of ridiculous to go crawling around in the weeds, throwing knives and maybe getting yourself killed . . . and even losing the war . . . when you've got a real weapon you can use to win? What's the point in a whole lot of men risking their lives with obsolete weapons when one professor type can do so much more just by pushing a button?' Zim didn't answer at once, which wasn't like him at all. Then he said softly, 'Are you happy in the Infantry, Hendrick? You can resign, you know.' Hendrick muttered something; Zim said, 'Speak up!' I'm not itching to resign, sir. I'm going to sweat out my term.' I see. Well, the question you asked is one that a sergeant isn't really qualified to answer . . . and one that you shouldn't ask me. You're supposed to know the answer before you join up. Or you should. Did your school have a course in History and Moral Philosophy?' What? Sure--yes, sir.' Then you've heard the answer. But I'll give you my own--unofficial--views on it. If you wanted to teach a baby a lesson, would you cuts its head off?' Why . . . no, sir!' Of course not. You'd paddle it. There can be circumstances when it's just as foolish to hit an enemy with an H-Bomb as it would be to spank a baby with an ax. War is not violence and killing, pure and simple; war is controlled violence, for a purpose. The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force. The purpose is never to kill the enemy just to be killing him . . . but to make him do what you want him to do. Not killing . . . but controlled and purposeful violence. But it's not your business or mine to decide the purpose of the control. It's never a soldier's business to decide when or where or how--or why--he fights; that belongs to the statesmen and the generals. The statesmen decide why and how much; the generals take it from there and tell us where and when and how. We supply the violence; other people--\"older and wiser heads,\" as they say--supply the control. Which is as it should be. That's the best answer I can give you. If it doesn't satisfy you, I'll get you a chit to go talk to the regimental commander. If he can't convince you--then go home and be a civilian! Because in that case you will certainly never make a soldier.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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Heinlein", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 21, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "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.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Robert A. 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