# Quote — Robert A. Heinlein, Stranger in a Strange Land

> Johnson should not have slapped her. He had not hit her hard, not even as hard as he used to hit his wife before she went home to her parents, and not nearly as hard as he had often hit prisoners who were reluctant to talk. Up to this time Smith had shown no expression at all and had said nothing; he had simply let himself be forced into the room with the passive, futile resistance of a puppy who does not want to be walked on a leash. But he had understood nothing of what was happening and had tried to do nothing at all.
>
> When he saw his water brother struck by this other, he twisted and ducked, got free — and reached in an odd fashion for Johnson.
>
> Johnson was not there any longer.
>
> He was not anywhere. The room did not contain him. Only blades of grass, straightening up where his big feet had been, showed that he had ever been there. Jill stared through the space he had occupied and felt that she might faint.

- Author: [Robert A. Heinlein](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein.md)
- Book: [Stranger in a Strange Land](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Stranger_in_a_Strange_Land#Part_One_:_His_Maculate_Origin) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/johnson-should-not

## More from this book

> "The golden sunshine of Italy congealed into tears. Here's to the alcoholic brotherhood... much more suited to the frail human soul, if any, than any other sort."

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/the-golden-sunshine.md)

> Kiss girls all you want to — it beats the hell out of card games.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/kiss-girls-all.md)

> Share water. Never thirst.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/robert-a-heinlein/stranger-in-a-strange-land/share-water-never.md)