---
title: "39 Politics Quotes By Robert A. Heinlein"
description: "Robert A. Heinlein political quotes examine war, loyalty, and critiques of democracy."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/robert-a-heinlein-209_benefits_taxes-are-not-levied-for-the-benefit-of_2986086.jpg"
---

> [Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/taxes-are-not-levied-for-the-benefit-of-the-taxed/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ee4/robert-a-heinlein-209_benefits_taxes-are-not-levied-for-the-benefit-of_2986086.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)

> [“An honest politician is one that stays bought.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/an-honest-politician-is-one-that-stays-bought/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/780/robert-a-heinlein-209_honest_an-honest-politician-is-one-that-stays-b_2793557.jpg)

> [Love your country, but never trust its government.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/love-your-country-but-never-trust-its-government/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/573/robert-a-heinlein-209_country_love-your-country-but-never-trust-its-go_2196992.jpg)

> [The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-universe-never-did-make-sense-i-suspect-it-was-built-on/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4fb/robert-a-heinlein-209_government_the-universe-never-did-make-sense-i-susp_1363080.jpg)

> [Government! Three fourths parasitic and the other fourth Stupid fumbling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/government-three-fourths-parasitic-and-the-other-fourth-stupid/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b45/robert-a-heinlein-209_bureaucracy_government-three-fourths-parasitic-and-t_2487748.jpg)

> [He's an honest politician--he stays bought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/he-s-an-honest-politician-he-stays-bought/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/robert-a-heinlein-209_honest_he-s-an-honest-politician-he-stays-bough_2465889.jpg)

> [Democracy can survive anything except Democrats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/democracy-can-survive-anything-except-democrats/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eeb/robert-a-heinlein-209_democracy_democracy-can-survive-anything-except-de_2517513.jpg)

> [“Support for the arts -- merde! A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/support-for-the-arts-merde-a-government-supported-artist-is-an/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6e/robert-a-heinlein-209_art_support-for-the-arts-merde-a-government_281362.jpg)

> [“I don't pay much attention to politics." "You should. It's barely less important than your own heart beat.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-don-t-pay-much-attention-to-politics-you-should-it-s-barely-less/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7c/robert-a-heinlein-209_heart-beat_i-don-t-pay-much-attention-to-politics-y_2670884.jpg)

> [Peace is an extension of war by political means. Plenty of elbow-room is pleasanter -- and much safer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/peace-is-an-extension-of-war-by-political-means-plenty-of-elbow-room/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/32e/robert-a-heinlein-209_elbows_peace-is-an-extension-of-war-by-politica_1263174.jpg)

> [An invention is something that was "impossible" up to then that's why governments grant patents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/an-invention-is-something-that-was-impossible-up-to-then-that-s-why/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3a5/robert-a-heinlein-209_government_an-invention-is-something-that-was-impos_2243010.jpg)

> [In past history popularly elected governments have been no better and sometimes far worse than overt tyrannies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/in-past-history-popularly-elected-governments-have-been-no-better-and/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/834/robert-a-heinlein-209_government_in-past-history-popularly-elected-govern_1486511.jpg)

> [The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-human-race-divides-politically-into-those-who-want-people-to-be/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5dc/robert-a-heinlein-209_desire_the-human-race-divides-politically-into_1427803.jpg)

> [Violence never settles anything should be debated by the ghosts of Hitler and Stalin, with the city fathers of Carthage as referees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/violence-never-settles-anything-should-be-debated-by-the-ghosts-of/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d85/robert-a-heinlein-209_carthage_violence-never-settles-anything-should-b_293242.jpg)

> [Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/democracy-is-a-poor-system-of-government-at-best-the-only-thing-that-2/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4bd/robert-a-heinlein-209_democracy_democracy-is-a-poor-system-of-government_1928605.jpg)

> [The moral difference between a soldier and a civilian is that the soldier accepts personal responsibility for the safety of the body…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-moral-difference-between-a-soldier-and-a-civilian-is-that-the/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/993/robert-a-heinlein-209_accepting_the-moral-difference-between-a-soldier-a_1197448.jpg)

> [Any government will work if authority and responsibility are equal and coordinate. This does not insure “good” government, it simply insures that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/any-government-will-work-if-authority-and-responsibility-are-equal/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a02/robert-a-heinlein-209_authority_any-government-will-work-if-authority-an_2510382.jpg)

> [“Remind me," Jubal said to her, "to write a popular article on the compulsive reading of news. The theme will be that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/remind-me-jubal-said-to-her-to-write-a-popular-article-on-the/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e22/robert-a-heinlein-209_current-events_remind-me-jubal-said-to-her-to-write-a-p_298724.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)

> [I believe that almost all politicians are honest. For every bribed alderman there are hundreds of politicians, low paid or not paid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/i-believe-that-almost-all-politicians-are-honest-for-every-bribed/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/078/robert-a-heinlein-209_believe_i-believe-that-almost-all-politicians-ar_2344163.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)

> [Patriotism is not 'my country right or wrong'; patriotism means loving the ideals for which America stands and having the courage to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/patriotism-is-not-my-country-right-or-wrong-patriotism-means-loving/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5a6/robert-a-heinlein-209_america_patriotism-is-not-my-country-right-or-wr_921493.jpg)

> [“Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/democracy-is-a-poor-system-of-government-at-best-the-only-thing-that/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/58c/robert-a-heinlein-209_democracy_democracy-is-a-poor-system-of-government_698750.jpg)

> [But does Man have any 'right' to spread through the universe? Man is what he is, a wild animal with the will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/but-does-man-have-any-right-to-spread-through-the-universe-man-is/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5d7/robert-a-heinlein-209_ability_but-does-man-have-any-right-to-spread-th_109271.jpg)

> [“Think about it. Politics is just a name for the way we get things done ... without fighting. We dicker and compromise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/think-about-it-politics-is-just-a-name-for-the-way-we-get-things-done/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3e/robert-a-heinlein-209_communication_think-about-it-politics-is-just-a-name-f_361931.jpg)

> [“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/political-tags-such-as-royalist-communist-democrat-populist-fascist/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/750/robert-a-heinlein-209_communist_political-tags-such-as-royalist-communis_194141.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)

> [“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-3/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/11b/robert-a-heinlein-209_heinlein_war-is-not-violence-and-killing-pure-and_3023820.jpg)

> [Government! Three-fourths parasitic and the rest stupid fumbling - oh, Harshaw concluded that man, a social animal, could not avoid government, any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/government-three-fourths-parasitic-and-the-rest-stupid-fumbling-oh/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/76a/robert-a-heinlein-209_animal_government-three-fourths-parasitic-and-t_2536942.jpg)

> [ \[T\]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/t-here-seems-to-have-been-an-actual-decline-in-rational-thinking-the/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/555/robert-a-heinlein-209_affair_t-here-seems-to-have-been-an-actual-decl_1568190.jpg)

> [“A rational anarchist believes that concepts such as ‘state’ and ‘society’ and ‘government’ have no existence save as physically exemplified in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/a-rational-anarchist-believes-that-concepts-such-as-state-and-society/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/57b/robert-a-heinlein-209_anarchist_a-rational-anarchist-believes-that-conce_2272951.jpg)

> [“The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has eventually happened to all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-america-of-my-time-line-is-a-laboratory-example-of-what-can/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9d8/robert-a-heinlein-209_democracy_the-america-of-my-time-line-is-a-laborat_3172602.jpg)

> [“Both for practical reasons and for mathematically verifiable moral reasons, authority and responsibility must be equal - else a balancing takes place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/both-for-practical-reasons-and-for-mathematically-verifiable-moral/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f3/robert-a-heinlein-209_democracy_both-for-practical-reasons-and-for-mathe_2208156.jpg)

> [“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/it-is-a-truism-that-almost-any-sect-cult-or-religion-will-legislate/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/519/robert-a-heinlein-209_censorship_it-is-a-truism-that-almost-any-sect-cult_369279.jpg)

> [Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/political-tags-such-as-royalist-communist-democrat-populist-fascist-2/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/195/robert-a-heinlein-209_communist_political-tags-such-as-royalist-communis_2451190.jpg)

> [When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/when-any-government-or-any-church-for-that-matter-undertakes-to-say/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/17f/robert-a-heinlein-209_church_when-any-government-or-any-church-for-th_2305378.jpg)

> [The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of "loyalty" and "duty". Whenever these twin concepts fall into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-heinlein/the-two-highest-achievements-of-the-human-mind-are-the-twin-concepts/)

[Robert A. Heinlein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-heinlein/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3f8/robert-a-heinlein-209_achievement_the-two-highest-achievements-of-the-huma_557300.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)

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## 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/)

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                        "text": "“Support for the arts -- merde! A government-supported artist is an incompetent whore!”",
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                        "text": "Violence never settles anything should be debated by the ghosts of Hitler and Stalin, with the city fathers of Carthage as referees.",
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                        "text": "Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.",
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                        "text": "The moral difference between a soldier and a civilian is that the soldier accepts personal responsibility for the safety of the body politic of which he is a member. The civilian does not.",
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                        "text": "Any government will work if authority and responsibility are equal and coordinate. This does not insure “good” government, it simply insures that it will work. But such governments are rare — most people want to run things, but want no part of the blame. This used to be called the “backseat driver” syndrome.",
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                        "text": "“Remind me,\" Jubal said to her, \"to write a popular article on the compulsive reading of news. The theme will be that most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to tthe unecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the toubles and sins of five billion strangers. The title is 'Gossip Unlimited' - no, make that 'Gossip Gone Wild.' ”",
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                        "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.",
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                        "text": "I believe that almost all politicians are honest. For every bribed alderman there are hundreds of politicians, low paid or not paid at all, doing their level best without thanks or glory to make our system work. If this were not true, we would never have gotten past the thirteen colonies.",
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                        "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.",
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                        "text": "Patriotism is not 'my country right or wrong'; patriotism means loving the ideals for which America stands and having the courage to speak up when these ideals are distorted for personal or political gain. The American government was instituted to be the servant of the people, not our master.",
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                        "text": "“Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is about eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried. Democracy's worst faults is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents - a depressingly low level, but what else can you expect?”",
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                        "text": "But does Man have any 'right' to spread through the universe? Man is what he is, a wild animal with the will to survive, and (so far) the ability, against all competition. Unless one accepts that, anything one says about morals, war, politics, you name it, is nonsense. Correct morals arise from knowing what man is, not what do-gooders and well-meaning old Aunt Nellies would like him to be. The Universe will let us know - later - whether or not Man has any \"right\" to expand through it.",
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                        "text": "“Think about it. Politics is just a name for the way we get things done ... without fighting. We dicker and compromise and everybody thinks he has received a raw deal, but somehow after a tedious amount of talk we come up with some jury-rigged way to do it without getting anybody's head bashed in. That's politics. The only other way to settle a dispute is by bashing a few heads in ... and that is what happens when one or both sides is no longer willing to dicker. That's why I say politics is good even when it is bad because the only alternative is force-and somebody gets hurt. -- Senator Tom Fries”",
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                        "text": "“Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.”",
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                        "text": "Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. 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.",
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                        "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. Robert A. Heinlein - Starship Troopers”",
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                        "text": "Government! Three-fourths parasitic and the rest stupid fumbling - oh, Harshaw concluded that man, a social animal, could not avoid government, any more than an individual could escape bondage to his bowels. But simply because an evil was inescapable was no reason to term it \"good.\" He wished that government would wander off and get lost! (96)",
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                        "text": "[T]here seems to have been an actual decline in rational thinking. The United States had become a place where entertainers and professional athletes were mistaken for people of importance. They were idolized and treated as leaders; their opinions were sought on everything and they took themselves just as seriously-after all, if an athlete is paid a million or more a year, he knows he is important ... so his opinions of foreign affairs and domestic policies must be important, too, even though he proves himself to be ignorant and subliterate every time he opens his mouth.",
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                        "text": "“A rational anarchist believes that concepts such as ‘state’ and ‘society’ and ‘government’ have no existence save as physically exemplified in the acts of self-responsible individuals. He believes that it is impossible to shift blame, share blame, distribute blame… as blame, guilt, responsibility are matters taking place inside human beings singly and nowhere else. But being rational, he knows that not all individuals hold his evaluations, so he tries to live perfectly in an imperfect world…aware that his effort will be less than perfect yet undismayed by self-knowledge of self-failure. [...] “My point is that one person is responsible. Always. [...] In terms of morals there is no such thing as ‘state.’ Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts.”",
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                        "text": "“The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has eventually happened to all perfect democracies throughout all histories. A perfect democracy, a ‘warm body’ democracy in which every adult may vote and all votes count equally, has no internal feedback for self-correction. It depends solely on the wisdom and self-restraint of citizens… which is opposed by the folly and lack of self-restraint of other citizens. What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it… which for the majority translates as ‘Bread and Circuses.’ ‘Bread and Circuses’ is the cancer of democracy, the fatal disease for which there is no cure. Democracy often works beautifully at first. But once a state extends the franchise to every warm body, be he producer or parasite, that day marks the beginning of the end of the state. For when the plebs discover that they can vote themselves bread and circuses without limit and that the productive members of the body politic cannot stop them, they will do so, until the state bleeds to death, or in its weakened condition the state succumbs to an invader—the barbarians enter Rome.”",
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                        "text": "“Both for practical reasons and for mathematically verifiable moral reasons, authority and responsibility must be equal - else a balancing takes place as surely as current flows between points of unequal potential. To permit irresponsible authority is to sow disaster; to hold a man responsible for anything he does not control is to behave with blind idiocy. The unlimited democracies were unstable because their citizens were not responsible for the fashion in which they exerted their sovereign authority... other than through the tragic logic of history... No attempt was made to determine whether a voter was socially responsible to the extent of his literally unlimited authority. If he voted the impossible, the disastrous possible happened instead - and responsibility was then forced on him willy-nilly and destroyed both him and his foundationless temple.”",
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                        "text": "“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.”",
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                        "text": "Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.",
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                        "text": "When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives.",
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                        "text": "The two highest achievements of the human mind are the twin concepts of \"loyalty\" and \"duty\". Whenever these twin concepts fall into disrepute, get out of there fast! You may possibly save yourself, but it is too late to save that society. It is doomed.",
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                        "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”",
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