Quotes from Robert A. Heinlein

Customs tell a man who he is, where he belongs, what he must do. Better illogical customs than none; men cannot live together without them.

I'll give you an exact definition. When the happiness of another person becomes as essential to yourself as your own, then the state of love exists.

There is no way that writers can be tamed and rendered civilized or even cured. The only solution known to science is to provide the patient with an isolation room, where he can endure the acute stages in private and where food can be poked in to him with a stick.

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.

Self awareness is NOT just a bunch of amino acids bumping together.

If I had a Boy Scout I could make a fire by rubbing his hind legs together.

His older self had taught his younger self a language which the older self knew because the younger self, after being taught, grew up to be the older self and was, therefore, capable of teaching.

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.

Love your country, but never trust its government.

You can go wrong by being too skeptical as readily as by being too trusting.

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.

Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner.

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

I was not offended, my love. An insult is like a drink; it affects one only if accepted. And pride is too heavy baggage for my journey.

Never insult anyone by accident.

The truth of a proposition has nothing to do with its credibility. And vice versa.

A zygote is a gamete's way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe.

The saddest thing about ephemerals was that their little lives rarely held time enough for love.

I don't see how an article of clothing can be indecent. A person, yes.

Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again.

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.

The more you love, the more you can love - and the more intensely you love.

Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.

Sovereign," like "love," means anything you want it to mean; it's a word in dictionary between "sober" and "sozzled.