1,085 Quotes by Robert A. Heinlein

Almost everything about a human creature is ridiculous, except its ability to suffer bravely and die gallantly for whatever it loves and believes in. The validity of that belief, the appropriateness of that love, is irrelevant; it is the bravery and the gallantry that count.

Contemplation must bring forth right action in order to permit further growth.

Formal courtesy between husband and wife is even more important than it is between strangers.

To be matter of fact about the world is to blunder into fantasy -- and dull fantasy at that, as the real world is strange and wonderful.

But space travel can't ease the pressure on a planet grown too crowded not even with today's ships and probably not with any future ships-because stupid people won't leave the slopes of their home volcano even when it starts to smoke and rumble. What space travel does do is drain off the best brains: those smart enough to see a catastrophe before it happens, and with the guts to pay the price-abandon home, wealth, friends, relatives, everything-and go. That's a tiny fraction of one percent. But that's enough.

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.

A family reunion is an effective form of birth control.

I think the major problem in growing up is to become sophisticated without becoming cynical.

All cats are not gray after midnight.