Robert A. Heinlein (1907 – 1988)
One of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of science fiction of the 20th Century.
The shamans are forever yacking about their snake-oil "miracles." I prefer the Real McCoy — a pregnant woman.
A generation which ignores history has no past — and no future.
A religion is sometime a source of happiness, and I would not deprive anyone of happiness. But it is a comfort appropriate for the weak, not for the strong. The great trouble with religion — any religion — is that a religionist, having accepted certain propositions by faith, cannot thereafter judge those propositions by evidence. One may bask at the warm fire of faith or choose to live in the bleak uncertainty of reason — but one cannot have both.
The truth of a proposition has nothing to do with its credibility. And vice versa.
"The Almighty-God idea came under attack because it explained nothing; it simply pushed all explanations one stage farther away. In the nineteenth century atheistic positivism started displacing the Almighty-God notion in that minority of the population that bathed regularly. Atheism had a limited run, as it, too, explains nothing, being merely Godism turned upside down."
Free will is a golden thread running through the frozen matrix of fixed events.
Always store beer in a dark place.
Get a shot off fast. This upsets him long enough to let you make your second shot perfect.
I will accept the rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
Logic is a feeble reed, friend. "Logic" proved that airplanes can't fly and that H-bombs won't work and that stones don't fall out of the sky. Logic is a way of saying that anything which didn't happen yesterday won't happen tomorrow.
His bow to me must have been calculated on a slide rule; it suggested that I was about to be Supreme Minister but was not quite there yet, that I was his senior but nevertheless a civilian — then subtract five degrees for the fact that he wore the Emperor’s aiguillette on his right shoulder.
The less respect an older person deserves the more certain he is to demand it from anyone younger.
"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."
Being intelligent is not a felony. But most societies evaluate it as at least a misdemeanor.
I had taken a partner once before—but, damnation, no matter how many times you get your fingers burned, you have to trust people. Otherwise you are a hermit in a cave, sleeping with one eye open.
If men were the automatons that behaviorists claim they are, the behaviorist psychologists could not have invented the amazing nonsense called "behaviorist psychology."
Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.
Every law that was ever written opened up a new way to graft.
I’m not trying to frighten you, but only a fool makes predictions based on ignorance; I am not that sort of fool.
Nursing does not diminish the beauty of a woman's breasts; it enhances their charm by making them look lived in and happy.