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Democracy is a poor system of government at best the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.

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
Good
Poor
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Times
Honestly
Government
Eight
Best
Method
Ever
Tried
Human
Democracy
Humans
System
Thing
Race
Favor

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Under what circumstances is it moral for a group to do that which is not moral for a member of that group to do alone?
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Whores perform the same function as priests, but far more thoroughly.
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Democracy can't work. Mathematicians, peasants, and animals, that's all there is - so democracy, a theory based on the assumption that mathematicians and peasants are equal, can never work. Wisdom is not additive its maximum is that of the wisest man in a given group.
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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.
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Never pick up a stray kitten . . . unless you've already made up your mind to be owned by it.
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It's amazing how much 'mature wisdom' resembles being too tired.
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Never try to outstubborn a cat.
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In handling a stinging insect, move very slowly.
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My old man taught me two things: 'Mind own business' and 'Always cut cards.'
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A prude is a person who thinks that his own rules of propriety are natural laws.
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A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.
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Heroism' often consists in keeping your head in an emergency and doing the best you can with what you have instead of panicking and being shot in the tail. People who fight this way win more battles than do intentional heroes a glory hound often throws away the lives of his mates as well as his own.
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Only a sadistic scoundrel-or a fool-tells the bald truth on social occasions.
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Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few.
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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.
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But, do you know, once you get used to it's rather cute. I mean, if a girl looks alright to start with, she still looks alright with her head smooth.
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Spacemen die if they stay in one place.
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I came, I saw, she conquered. The original Latin seems to have been garbled.
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The killer looked up as the bullet hit him. He looked as if he were puzzled by some strange occurence, being too freshly dead to be aware of it.
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- I'm so busy doing what I must do that I don't have time for what I ought to do... and I never get a chance to do what I want to do! - Son, that's universal. The way to keep that recipe from killing you is occasionally to do what you want to do anyhow.
Robert A. Heinlein