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
responsibility
Responsibility cannot be shared.
responsibility differences safety
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.
loyalty responsibility men
Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man must develop himself; if he has them forced down him, he will vomit them out.
running responsibility government
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.
dull fact fantasy matter strange
To be matter of fact about the world is to blunder into fantasy -- and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful.
authority highest history reverse science solemn until
Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done. One could write a history of science in reverse by assembling the solemn pronouncements of highest authority about what could not be done and could never happen.
girls notebooks robert wonderful
What a wonderful world it is that has girls in it! Notebooks of Lazarus Long, Robert A
cats dogs women
Women and Cats will do as they please. Men and dogs had better get used to it.
running should-have safety
At least once every human should have to run for his life, to teach him that milk does not come from supermarkets, that safety does not come from policemen, that 'news' is not something that happens to other people. He might learn how his ancestors lived and that he himself is no different--in the crunch his life depends on his agility, alertness, and personal resourcefulness.
men months
Once a month, some women act like men act all the time.
amazing beings fighting human second strange third
Of all the strange "crimes" that human beings have legislated of nothing, "blasphemy" is the most amazing - with "obscenity" and "indecent exposure" fighting it out for the second and third place.
annoys pig teach time
Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.
accomplish alone character cold goodness hard invariably wisdom
But goodness alone is never enough. A hard cold wisdom is required, too, for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom invariably accomplishes evil.
condition essential happiness love
Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.