Robert A. Heinlein

A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyse a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.

Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense.

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

One man's "magic" is another man's engineering. "Supernatural" is a null word.

Does history record any case in which the majority was right?

What are the facts? Again and again and again — what are the facts? Shun wishful thinking, ignore divine revelation, forget what "the stars foretell," avoid opinion, care not what the neighbors think, never mind the unguessable "verdict of history" — what are the facts, and to how many decimal places? You pilot always into an unknown future; facts are your single clue. Get the facts!

Minimize your therbligs until it becomes automatic; this doubles your effective lifetime — and thereby gives time to enjoy butterflies and kittens and rainbows.

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.

Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort.

Love is what still goes on when you are not horny.

God split himself into a myriad parts that he might have friends. This may not be true, but it sounds good — and is no sillier than any other theology.

Autocracy is based on the assumption that one man is wiser than a million men. Let's play that over again, too. Who decides?