Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) was an American science fiction author, aeronautical engineer, and naval officer. Sometimes called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was among the first to emphasize scientific accuracy in his fiction, and was thus a pioneer of the subgenre of hard science fiction.
Here is a collection of Robert A. Heinlein most inspiring quotes: Robert A. Heinlein quotes about life, happiness, love and sex. Robert Heinlein quotes on women & cats. Quotes and sayings on democracy, politics and freedom by Robert Heinlein.
Robert A. Heinlein Quotes and Sayings
Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.
Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more.
Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love, the greater the jealousy - in fact, they are almost incompatible; one emotion hardly leaves room for the other.
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.
A prude is a person who thinks that his own rules of propriety are natural laws.
Never try to out-stubborn a cat.
You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once.
Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation.
You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.
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.
There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.
Once a month, some women act like men act all the time.
I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much... because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting.
Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it.
Sex, whatever else it is, is an athletic skill. The more you practice, the more you can, the more you want to, the more you enjoy it, the less it tires you.
Almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.
Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.
May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live.
Butterflies are self propelled flowers.
There is no such thing as "Just a cat."
Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.
A desire not to butt into other people's business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom.
There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.
Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.
Sex should be friendly. Otherwise stick to mechanical toys; it's more sanitary.
A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill.
An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life.
When one teaches, two learn.
How you behave toward cats here below determines your status in Heaven.
Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.
In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.
Climate is what you expect, weather is what you get.
You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.
Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.
Secrecy begets tyranny.
Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost.
A generation which ignores history has no past - and no future.
One man's theology is another man's belly laugh.
But goodness alone is never enough. A hard, cold wisdom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.
If you've got the truth you can demonstrate it. Talking doesn't prove it.
Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.
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 Heinlein Quotes Specialization Is For Insects:
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.
Yield to temptation... it may not pass your way again!
Belief gets in the way of learning.
Some people insist that 'mediocre' is better than 'best.' They delight in clipping wings because they themselves can't fly. They despise brains because they have none.
I do know that the slickest way to lie is to tell the right amount of truth - then shut up.
I never do anything I don't want to do. Nor does anyone, but in my case I am always aware of it.
Thinking doesn't pay. Just makes you discontented with what you see around you.
Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity.
Be wary of strong drink, it can make you shoot at the tax collector... and miss.
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.
The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.
My dear, I used to think I was serving humanity... and I pleasured in the thought. Then I discovered that humanity does not want to be served; on the contrary it resents any attempt to serve it. So now I do what pleases myself.
No woman ever ages beyond eighteen in her heart.
Take sides! Always take sides! You will sometimes be wrong - but the man who refuses to take sides must always be wrong.
There is no safety this side of the grave.
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.
Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five billion strangers.
Geniuses and supergeniuses always make their own rules about sex as on everything else; they do not accept the monkey customs of their lessers.
Live and learn, or you don't live long.
It is impossible for anyone to be responsible for another person's behavior. The most you or any leader can do is to encourage each one to be responsible for himself.
Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.
The first principle of freedom is the right to go to hell in your own handbasket.
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. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.
Remember though, your best weapon is between your ears and under your scalp -provided it's loaded.
Does history record any case in which the majority was right?
One of the sanest, surest, and most generous joys of life comes from being happy over the good fortune of others.
If a grasshopper tries to fight a lawnmower, one may admire his courage but not his judgement.
Don't explain computers to laymen. Simpler to explain sex to a virgin.
I know why we laugh. We laugh because it hurts, and it's the only thing to make it stop hurting.
God created men to test the souls of women.
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.
Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
A woman is not property, and husbands who think otherwise are living in a dreamworld.
Certainly the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you; if you don't bet you can't win.
To permit irresponsible authority is to sell disaster.
Its very variety, subtlety, and utterly irrational, idiomatic complexity makes it possible to say things in English which simply cannot be said in any other language.
Cheops Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.
Faith strikes me as intellectual laziness.
He's an honest politician - he stays bought.
Any group is weaker than a man alone unless they are perfectly trained to work together.
When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived.
Take big bites. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
Never own more than you can carry in both hands at a dead run.
Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
I'm always suspicious of disinterested interest.
I don't see why human people make such a heavy trip out of sex. It isn't anything complex, it is simply the best thing in life, even better than food.
Never tease an old dog; he might have one bite left.
Ignorance is curable, stupid is forever.
Government! Three fourths parasitic and the other fourth Stupid fumbling.
My old man says when it's time to be counted, the important thing is to be man enough to stand up.
Work is not an end in itself; there must always be time enough for love.
Nothing uses up alcohol faster than political argument.
A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.
Women are amazing creatures-sweet, soft, gentle, and far more savage than we are.
Anything which is physically possible can always be made financially possible; money is a bugaboo of small minds.
An armed society is a polite society.
No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.
Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed.
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?
There is no conclusive evidence of life after death, but there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know, so why fret about it?
Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done.
Being sorry won't get you into heaven. Get happy, son. Get that old spring into your step and stay on your toes.
I never learned from a man who agreed with me.
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.
A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.
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