# Quote — Robert A. Heinlein, Starship Troopers

> To permit irresponsible authority is to sow disaster; to hold a man responsible for anything he does not control is to behave with blind idiocy. The unlimited democracies were unstable because their citizens were not responsible for the fashion in which they exerted their sovereign authority . . . other than through the tragic logic of history. The unique 'poll tax' that we must pay was unheard of. No attempt was made to determine whether a voter was socially responsible to the extent of his literally unlimited authority. If he voted the impossible, the disastrous possible happened instead—and responsibility was then forced on him willy-nilly and destroyed both him and his foundationless temple.

- Author: [Robert A. Heinlein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein.md)
- Book: [Starship Troopers](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/starship-troopers.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers#Chapter_12) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/starship-troopers/to-permit-irresponsible

## More from this book

> There was no god but the Lieutenant and SGT Jelal was his prophet.

p. 140 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/starship-troopers/there-was-no-god.md)

> Basic truths cannot change and once a man of insight expresses one of them it is never necessary, no matter how much the world changes, to reformulate them. This is immutable, true everywhere, throughout all time, for all men and all nations.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/starship-troopers/basic-truths-cannot.md)

> In a mixed ship, the last thing a trooper hears before a drop (maybe the last word he ever hears) is a woman's voice, wishing him luck. If you don't think this is important, you've probably resigned from the human race.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/starship-troopers/in-a-mixed.md)