1,085 Quotes by Robert A. Heinlein

Nothing could go wrong because nothing had...I meant "nothing would." No - Then I quit trying to phrase it, realizing that if time travel ever became widespread, English grammar was going to have to add a whole new set of tenses to describe reflexive situations - conjugations that would make the French literary tenses and the Latin historical tenses look simple.

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.

Take sides! Always take sides! You will sometimes be wrong - but the man who refuses to take sides must always be wrong.

Nothing uses up alcohol faster than political argument.

Be wary of strong drink, it can make you shoot at the tax collector...and miss.

A desire not to butt into other people's business is at least eighty percent of all human wisdom.

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 do not believe that a man will commit murder for one can of tomatoes, then you have never been hungry.

He never once repeated himself and he never used either profanity or obscenity. (I learned later that he saved those for very special occasions, which this wasn’t.) But he described our shortcomings, physical, mental, moral, and genetic, in great and insulting detail.But somehow I was not insulted; I became greatly interested in studying his command of language. I wished that we had had him on our debate team.