Robert A. Heinlein Quotes

485 quotes in 4987 categories

• Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.
• Death is the lot of us all, and the only way that the human race has ever conquered death is by treating it with contempt.…
• Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.
• Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, and the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well.
• When he kisses you he isn't doing anything else. You're his whole universe, and the moment is eternal because he doesn't have any plans and…
• A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not…
• A zest for living must include a willingness to die.
• The shamans are forever yacking about their snake oil miracles. I prefer the real McCoy, a pregnant woman.
• My old man taught me two things: 'Mind own business' and 'Always cut cards.'
• A prude is a person who thinks that his own rules of propriety are natural laws.
• Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.
• In a mature society, 'civil servant' is semantically equal to 'civil master.'
• The police of a state should never be stronger or better armed than the citizenry. An armed citizenry, willing to fight, is the foundation of…
• A religion is a source of happiness and I would not deprive anyone of happiness. But it is a comfort appropriate for the weak, not…
• Sin is cruelty and injustice, all else is peccadillo. Oh, a sense of sin comes from violating the customs of your tribe. But breaking custom…
• There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk ‘his life, his fortune and his sacred…
• My folks tried to make a preacher of me and missed by a narrow margin… I would have made a good one if I hadn’t…
• 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…
• Remember this: once the human race is established on more than one planet and especially, in more than one solar system, there is no way…
• Once you get to earth orbit, you're halfway to anywhere in the solar system.

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