Robert A. Heinlein quotes - page 21

Going to dance at my wake?” "I don't dance,” the lawyer answered, "but you tempt me to learn. (Robert A. Heinlein)
Sharpie, you've got a one-track mind.” "It's the main track. Reproduction is the main track; the methods and mores of sexual copulation are the central feature of all higher developments of life.” "You're ignoring money and television.” "Piffle! All human activities including scientific research are either mating dances and care of the young, or the dismal sublimations of born losers in the only game in town. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
It is the most indecent outfit I've ever seen, with no other purpose than to excite lewd, libidinous, lascivious, licentious, lecherous, lustful longings in the loins of Lotharios.” "Isn't that the purpose of clothing? View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Brainpower is the scarcest commodity and the only one of real value. Any human organization can be rendered useless, impotent, a danger to itself, by selectively removing its best minds while carefully leaving the stupid ones in place. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
"No man is an island - " Much as we may feel and act as Individuals, our race is -a single organism, always growing and branching -which must be pruned regularly to be healthy. This necessity need not be argued; anyone with eyes can see that any organism which grows without limit always dies in its own poisons. The only rational question is whether pruning is best done before or after birth. Being an incurable sentimentalist I favor the former of these methods -killing makes me queasy, even when it's a case of "He's dead and I'm alive and that's the way I wanted it to be." But this may be a matter of taste. Some shamans think that it is better to be killed in a war, or to die in childbirth, or to starve in misery, than never to have lived at all. They may be right. But I don't have to like it -and I don't. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Of course the intellectual class did not notice this for many decades, as an intellectual is a highly educated man who can't do arithmetic with his shoes on, and is proud of the lack. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. [He is also a fool. ]. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Do this. Don't do that. Stay back in line. Where's tax receipt? Fill out form. Let's see license. Submit six copies. Exit only. No left turn. No right turn. Queue up and pay fine. Take back and get stamped. Drop dead- but first get permit. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
The whole principle is wrong; it's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't eat steak. (Robert A. Heinlein)
It's a man's business to be what he is, and to be it in style. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
My old man says when it's time to be counted, the important thing is to be man enough to stand up. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
I don't see how an article of clothing can be indecent. A person, yes. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Sex should be friendly. Otherwise stick to mechanical toys; it's more sanitary. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Cast me into a dungeon;, burn me at the state, crown me king of kings, I can 'pursue happiness' as long as my brain lives -- but neither gods nor saints, wise men nor subtle drugs, can insure that I will catch it. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
Limiting the freedom of news 'just a little bit' is in the same category with the classic example 'a little bit pregnant. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
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! View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
If a thing's worth doing, it's worth overdoing. (Lazarus Long) View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
It's an indulgence to sit in a room and discuss your beliefs as if they were a juicy piece of gossip. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
The husband's behavior was heroic ... but what we expect of a husband toward his wife: his right, and his proud privilege, to die for his woman. But what of this nameless stranger? Up to the very last second he could have jumped clear. He did not. He was still trying to save this woman he had never seen before in his life, right up to the very instant the train killed him. And that's all we'll ever know about him. This is how a man dies. This is how a man ... lives! (Robert A. Heinlein)
A desire not to butt into other people's business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
A desire not to butt into other people's business is at least eighty percent of all human 'wisdom'... and the other twenty percent isn't very important. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein
And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow, white, black, red, brown - in the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability ... and goodness ... .of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. View quote
Robert A. Heinlein