Robert A. Heinlein
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"Robert Anson Heinlein"

/ date=21 September 2006

/ accessdate=2007-01-23

}} July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was an American people/American science fiction writer. Often called the "dean of science fiction writers", he was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre in his time. He set a standard for scientific and engineering plausibility, and helped to raise the genre's standards of literary quality.

He was one of the first science fiction writers to break into mainstream magazines such as The Saturday Evening Post in the late 1940s. He was one of the best-selling science fiction novelists for many decades, and he, Isaac Asimov, and Arthur C. Clarke are often considered to be the "Big Three" of science fiction authors.

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Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done and why. Then do it.

There is no such thing as luck. There is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe.

Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win.

Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.... Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition. The immature mind often mistakes one for the other, or assumes that the greater the love the greater the jealousy.

A poet who reads his verse in public may have other nasty habits.

That old saw about the early bird just proves that the worm should have stayed in bed.

Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.

Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.

A motion to adjourn is always in order.

When one teaches, two learn.

But goodness alone is never enough. A hard cold wisdom is required, too, for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom invariably accomplishes evil.

If you would know a man, observe how he treats a cat.

The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.

A generation which ignores history has no past and no future.

One might define adulthood as the age at which a person learns he must die and accepts his sentence undismayed.

If a country can't save itself through the volunteer service of its own free people, then I say: Let the damned thing go down the drain!

Money is a powerful aphrodisiac. But flowers work almost as well.

I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts... because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting.

No matter where or what, there are makers, takers, and fakers.

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.

Thou art God, and I am God and all that groks is God.

I've got a twisted sense of humor, and everything amuses me.

Learning isn't a means to an end; it is an end in itself.

Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not sinful - just stupid).

Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something.

The Office does not sanctify the holder of it.

People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy a half slug who must tighten his belt.

Violence has settled more issues in history than any other factor; and contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms.

Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.

Women will forgive anything. Otherwise, the race would have died out long ago.

The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.

I never learned from a man who agreed with me.

Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.

The more you love, the more you can love--and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just.