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Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings . . . but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.
Robert A. Heinlein
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Robert A. Heinlein
Age: 80 †
Born: 1907
Born: July 7
Died: 1988
Died: May 8
Essayist
Literary Critic
Naval Officer
Novelist
Prosaist
Science Fiction Writer
Science Writer
Screenwriter
Stonemason
Writer
Butler
Missouri
Robert Anson Heinlein
Anson MacDonald
Lyle Monroe
John Riverside
Caleb Saunders
Simon York
Without
Short
Unmistakable
Long
Longer
Slippery
Changed
Meanings
Words
Unpredictable
Easy
Pattern
Better
Rarely
Human
Patterns
Humans
Changing
More quotes by Robert A. Heinlein
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.
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Specialization is for insects.
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You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.
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I have never been impressed by the formal schools of ethics.
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Butterflies are not insects,' Captain John Sterling said soberly. 'They are self-propelled flowers.
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I came, I saw, she conquered. The original Latin seems to have been garbled.
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Daughters can spend ten percent more than a man can make in any usual occupation. That’s a law of nature, to be known henceforth as ‘Harshaw’s Law.
Robert A. Heinlein
Sovereign, like love, means anything you want it to mean it's a word in dictionary between sober and sozzled.
Robert A. Heinlein
Figure out for yourself what you want to be really good at, know that you'll never really satisfy yourself that you've made it, and accept that that's okay.
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When railroading time comes you can railroad—but not before.
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If you've got the truth you can demonstrate it. Talking doesn't prove it.
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But goodness alone is never enough. A hard, cold wisdom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.
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It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creeds into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.
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Never appeal to a man's 'better nature.' He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage.
Robert A. Heinlein
All cats are not gray after midnight.
Robert A. Heinlein
Never force an idea you'll abort it if you do.
Robert A. Heinlein
Widows are far better than brides. They don't tell, they won't yell, they don't swell, they rarely smell, and they're grateful as hell.
Robert A. Heinlein
A fool cannot be protected from his folly. If you attempt to do so, you will not only arouse his animosity but also you will be attempting to deprive him of whatever benefit he is capable of deriving from experience. Never attempt to teach a pig to sing it wastes your time and annoys the pig.
Robert A. Heinlein
Never pick up a stray kitten . . . unless you've already made up your mind to be owned by it.
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Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.
Robert A. Heinlein
