Robert A. Heinlein - Time Enough for Love (1973)

127 Sourced Quotes

View all Robert A. Heinlein Quotes
Of all the strange "crimes" that human beings have legislated out of nothing, "blasphemy" is the most amazing, with "obscenity" and "indecent exposure" fighting it out for second and third place.

Robert A. Heinlein
Place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the dark.

Robert A. Heinlein
Being privileged to work hard for long hours at something you think is worth doing is the best kind of play.

Robert A. Heinlein
No matter where or what, there are makers, takers, and fakers.

Robert A. Heinlein
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Robert A. Heinlein
A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an "intellectual" - find out how he feels about astrology.

Robert A. Heinlein
If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for, but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against.

Robert A. Heinlein
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.

Robert A. Heinlein
By the data to date, there is only one animal in the Galaxy dangerous to man — man himself. So he must supply his own indispensable competition. He has no enemy to help him.

Robert A. Heinlein
The more you love, the more you can love—and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just.

Robert A. Heinlein
Pessimist by policy, optimist by temperament- it is possible to be both. How? By never taking an unnecessary chance and by minimizing the risks you can't avoid. This permits you to play out the game untroubled by the certainty of the outcome.

Robert A. Heinlein
Expertise in one field does not carry over into other fields. But experts often think so. The narrower their field of knowledge the more likely they are to think so.

Robert A. Heinlein
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.

Robert A. Heinlein
Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.

Robert A. Heinlein
God is omnipotent, omniscient, and omnibenevolent - it says so right here on the label. If you have a mind capable of believing all three of these attributes simultaneously, I have a wonderful bargain for you. No checks, please. Cash and in small bills.

Robert A. Heinlein
Whenever women have insisted on absolute equality with men, they have invariably wound up with the dirty end of the stick. What they are and what they can do makes them superior to men, and their proper tactic is to demand special privileges, all the traffic will bear. They should never settle merely for equality. For women, "equality" is a disaster.

Robert A. Heinlein
I came, I saw, she conquered." The original Latin seems to have been garbled.

Robert A. Heinlein
Certainly the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you; if you don't bet you can't win.

Robert A. Heinlein
Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind, it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate - and quickly.

Robert A. Heinlein
A generation which ignores history has no past —and no future.

Robert A. Heinlein
The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning, while those other subjects merely require scholarship.

Robert A. Heinlein
Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. (He is also a fool).

Robert A. Heinlein
Does history record any case in which the majority was right?

Robert A. Heinlein
Learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.

Robert A. Heinlein
Humans hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn - when they do, which isn't often - on their own, the hard way.

Robert A. Heinlein
A fake fortuneteller can be tolerated. But an authentic soothsayer should be shot on sight. Cassandra did not get half the kicking around she deserved.

Robert A. Heinlein
A brute kills for pleasure. A fool kills from hate.

Robert A. Heinlein
Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How's that again? I missed something. Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let's play that over again, too. Who decides?

Robert A. Heinlein
Another ingredient in a happy marriage: Budget the luxuries first!

Robert A. Heinlein
Money is the sincerest of all flattery. Women love to be flattered. So do men.

Robert A. Heinlein