Robert A. Heinlein
Robert A. Heinlein
Robert Anson Heinleinwas an American science-fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was an influential and controversial author of the genre in his time...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionWriter
Date of Birth7 July 1907
CountryUnited States of America
analogies logic
Analogy is even slipperier than logic.
moral-behavior selfishness conflict
Selfishness is the bedrock on which all moral behavior starts and it can be immoral only when it conflicts with a higher moral imperative.
accomplishment luck tag
Luck is a tag given by the mediocre to account for the accomplishments of genius.
moving people together
Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness provide lubrication where people rub together. Often the very young, the untravelled, the naive, the sophisticated deplore these formalities as 'empty,' 'meaningless,' or 'dishonest,' and scorn to use them. No matter how 'pure' their motives, they thereby throw sand into machinery that does not work too well at best.
learning math shoes
Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best, he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear his shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house.
sports war distance
The second best thing about space travel is that the distances involved make war very difficult, usually impractical, and almost always unnecessary. This is probably a loss for most people, since war is our race's most popular diversion, one which gives purpose and color to dull and stupid lives. But it is a great boon to the intelligent man who fights only when he must-never for sport.
children brave matter
Most women are damn fools and children. But they've got more range than we've got. The brave ones are braver, the good ones are better - and the vile ones are viler, for that matter.
war home fate
The most noble fate a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and the war's desolation.
life success inspire
The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.
ideas niche sweeping
The hardest part of gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche.
artist obscurity use
It's up to the artist to use language that can be understood, not hide it in some private code. Most of these jokers don't even want to use language you and I know or can learn . . . they would rather sneer at us and be smug, because we 'fail' to see what they are driving at. If indeed they are driving at anything--obscurity is usually the refuge of incompetence.
wisdom mind-your-own-business ninety
Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business.
sex crowds affair
Never crowd youngsters about their private affairs - sex especially.
son self common-sense
Son, the phrase is self-contradictory; "sense" is never "common".