110+ Robert A. Heinlein Quotes On Democracy, Innovative And Futuristic

Robert A. Heinlein was an American writer of science fiction novels and short stories. He was one of the most influential and controversial authors of the genre, and was one of the first to write stories that explored philosophical, social, and political themes. He wrote works such as Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and Starship Troopers. Following is our collection on famous quotes by Robert A. Heinlein on democracy, innovative, futuristic.

Top 10 Robert A. Heinlein Quotes

1. No matter where or what, there are makers, takers, and fakers.
2. Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.
3. You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic.
4. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.
5. Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
6. I never learned from a man who agreed with me.
7. Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.
8. May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live.
9. One man's theology is another man's belly laugh.
10. It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so.

Robert A. Heinlein Image Quotes

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. — Robert A. Heinlein

I never learned from a man who agreed with me. — Robert A. Heinlein

May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live. — Robert A. Heinlein

One man's theology is another man's belly laugh. — Robert A. Heinlein

The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive. — Robert A. Heinlein

One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast. — Robert A. Heinlein

Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat. — Robert A. Heinlein

Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner. — Robert A. Heinlein

Men are more sentimental than women. It blurs their thinking. — Robert A. Heinlein

Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills. — Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein Short Quotes

• The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.
• One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast.
• Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat.
• Men are more sentimental than women. It blurs their thinking.
• Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills.
• Once you get to earth orbit, you're halfway to anywhere in the solar system.
• You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.
• Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy.
• There are no dangerous weapons; there are only dangerous men.
• Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors... and miss.

Robert A. Heinlein Quotes About Democracy

Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner. — Robert A. Heinlein

What is supposed to happen in a democracy is that each sovereign citizen will always vote in the public interest for the safety and welfare of all. But what does happen is that he votes his own self-interest as he sees it... which for the majority translates as 'Bread and Circuses'. — Robert A. Heinlein

The greatest fallacy of democracy is that everyone's opinion is worth the same. — Robert A. Heinlein

A managed democracy is a wonderful thing... for the managers... and its greatest strength is a 'free press' when 'free' is defined as 'responsible' and the managers define what is 'irresponsible'. — Robert A. Heinlein

Democracy can't work. Mathematicians, peasants, and animals, that's all there is - so democracy, a theory based on the assumption that mathematicians and peasants are equal, can never work. Wisdom is not additive; its maximum is that of the wisest man in a given group. — Robert A. Heinlein

Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried. — Robert A. Heinlein

Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents. — Robert A. Heinlein

Democracy is based on the assumption that a million men are wiser than one man. How's that again? I missed something. — Robert A. Heinlein

Democracy can survive anything except Democrats — Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein Quotes About People

Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, 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. — Robert A. Heinlein

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. - Second Amendment to the Constitution An armed society is a polite society. — Robert A. Heinlein

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! — Robert A. Heinlein

The United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance. — Robert A. Heinlein

A critic is a man who creates nothing and thereby feels qualified to judge the work of creative men. There is logic in this; he is unbiased, he hates all creative people equally. — Robert A. Heinlein

The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. — Robert A. Heinlein

I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much . . . because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting. — Robert A. Heinlein

Most people who sneer at technology would starve to death if the engineering infrastructure were removed. — Robert A. Heinlein

...more than six people cannot agree on anything, three is better and one is perfect for a job that one can do. This is why parliamentary bodies all through history, when they accomplished anything, owed it to a few strong men who dominated the rest. — Robert A. Heinlein

People simplify 'Apollonian' into 'mild', and 'calm', and 'cool'. But 'Apollonian' and 'Dionysian' are two sides of one coin--a nun kneeling in her cell, holding perfectly still, can be in ecstacy more frenzied than any priestess of Pan Priapus celebrating the vernal equinox. — Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein Quotes About Matter

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. — Robert A. Heinlein

I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. — Robert A. Heinlein

I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. — Robert A. Heinlein

When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know, the end result is tyranny and oppression no matter how holy the motives. — Robert A. Heinlein

I would say that my position is not too far from that of Ayn Rand's; that I would like to see government reduced to no more than internal police and courts, external armed forces - with the other matters handled otherwise. I'm sick of the way government sticks its nose in everything, now. — Robert A. Heinlein

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. — Robert A. Heinlein

I had taken a partner once before—but, damnation, no matter how many times you get your fingers burned, you have to trust people. Otherwise you are a hermit in a cave, sleeping with one eye open. — Robert A. Heinlein

I am not going to talk about religious beliefs, but about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. — Robert A. Heinlein

I was no fool; I was aware that when another man is too anxious to force money on one, it is time to examine the cards, for there is almost certainly something illegal, or dangerous, or both, involved in the matter. — Robert A. Heinlein

Most women are damn fools and children. But they've got more range than we've got. The brave ones are braver, the good ones are better - and the vile ones are viler, for that matter. — Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein Quotes About Love

Love is that 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. — Robert A. Heinlein

Sex without love is merely healthy exercise. — Robert A. Heinlein

Being a mother is an attitude, not a biological relation. — Robert A. Heinlein

First you must learn to control your self. The rest follows. Blessed is he who knows himself and commands himself, for the world is his and love and happiness and peace walk with him wherever he goes. — Robert A. Heinlein

The most noble fate a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and the war's desolation. — Robert A. Heinlein

Fulfillment in life is loving a good woman and killing a bad man. — Robert A. Heinlein

When he kisses you he isn't doing anything else. You're his whole universe, and the moment is eternal because he doesn't have any plans and isn't going anywhere. Just kissing you ... it's overwhelming. — Robert A. Heinlein

Love is what still goes on when you're not horny. — Robert A. Heinlein

A great artist can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is ... and force the viewer to see the pretty girl she used to be ... more than that, he can make anyone with the sensitivity of an armadillo see that this lovely young girl is still alive — Robert A. Heinlein

Almost everything about a human creature is ridiculous, except its ability to suffer bravely and die gallantly for whatever it loves and believes in. The validity of that belief, the appropriateness of that love, is irrelevant; it is the bravery and the gallantry that count. — Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein Quotes About Free

Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything - you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. — Robert A. Heinlein

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. — Robert A. Heinlein

You can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him. — Robert A. Heinlein

Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost. — Robert A. Heinlein

Anything free is worth what you pay for it. — Robert A. Heinlein

Anything free costs twice as much in the long run or turns out worthless. — Robert A. Heinlein

A slave cannot be freed, save he do it himself. Nor can you enslave a free man; the very most you can do is kill him! — Robert A. Heinlein

My vocal cords lived their own life, wild and free. — Robert A. Heinlein

There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." A Libertarian Movement slogan - The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, 1907. — Robert A. Heinlein

Free will is a golden thread running through the frozen matrix of fixed events. — Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein Quotes About Force

There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. — Robert A. Heinlein

If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait. — Robert A. Heinlein

The greatest productive force is human selfishness. — Robert A. Heinlein

Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor. — Robert A. Heinlein

Circumstances can force your hand. So think ahead! — Robert A. Heinlein

Social responsibility above the level of family, or at most of tribe, requires imagination-- devotion, loyalty, all the higher virtues -- which a man must develop himself; if he has them forced down him, he will vomit them out. — Robert A. Heinlein

The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force. — Robert A. Heinlein

Decency is not news; it is buried in the obituaries - but it is a force stronger than crime. — Robert A. Heinlein

The correct way to punctuate a sentence that states: "Of course it is none of my business, but -- " is to place a period after the word "but." Don't use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about. — Robert A. Heinlein

When you vote, you are exercising political authority, you're using force. And force, my friends, is violence. The supreme authority from which all other authorities are derived. — Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein Famous Quotes And Sayings

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. — Robert A. Heinlein

I never learned from a man who agreed with me. — Robert A. Heinlein

May you live as long as you wish and love as long as you live. — Robert A. Heinlein

One man's theology is another man's belly laugh. — Robert A. Heinlein

One should not attend even the end of the world without a good breakfast. — Robert A. Heinlein

Anyone who considers protocol unimportant has never dealt with a cat. — Robert A. Heinlein

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

There is no such thing as luck; there is only adequate or inadequate preparation to cope with a statistical universe. — Robert A. Heinlein

Democracy is four wolves and a sheep voting on dinner. — Robert A. Heinlein

Men are more sentimental than women. It blurs their thinking. — Robert A. Heinlein

Tilting at windmills hurts you more than the windmills. — Robert A. Heinlein

It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creeds into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics. — Robert A. Heinlein

Ability is a wonderful thing, but its value is greatly enhanced by dependability. Ability implies repeatability and accountability. — Robert A. Heinlein

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

A fool cannot be protected from his folly. If you attempt to do so, you will not only arouse his animosity but also you will be attempting to deprive him of whatever benefit he is capable of deriving from experience. Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig. — Robert A. Heinlein

Butterflies are self propelled flowers. — Robert A. Heinlein

I don't see how an article of clothing can be indecent. A person, yes. — Robert A. Heinlein

An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. — Robert A. Heinlein

Ninety percent of all human wisdom is the ability to mind your own business. — Robert A. Heinlein

Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity. Never underestimate the power of human stupidity. — Robert A. Heinlein

Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay; and claims a halo for his dishonesty. — Robert A. Heinlein

Reason is poor propaganda when opposed by the yammering, unceasing lies of shrewd and evil and self-serving men. — Robert A. Heinlein

A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill. — Robert A. Heinlein

As it says in Bible, God fights on side of heaviest artillery. — Robert A. Heinlein

Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done. — Robert A. Heinlein

Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil. — Robert A. Heinlein

Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. [He is also a fool.] — Robert A. Heinlein

A child's life is like a piece of paper on which every person leaves a mark. — Robert A. Heinlein

Never try to outstubborn a cat. — Robert A. Heinlein

The universe never did make sense. I suspect that it was built on a government contract. — Robert A. Heinlein

Anyone who can worship a trinity and insist that his religion is a monotheism can believe anything. — Robert A. Heinlein

The future is better than the past. Despite the crepe hangers, romanticists, and anti-intellectuals, the world steadily grows better because the human mind, applying itself to environment, makes it better. With hands ... with tools ... with horse sense and science and engineering. — Robert A. Heinlein

Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense. — Robert A. Heinlein

Each generation thinks it invented sex; each generation is totally mistaken. Anything along that line today was commonplace both in Pompeii and in Victorian England; the differences lie only in the degree of coverup - if any. — Robert A. Heinlein

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

- I'm so busy doing what I must do that I don't have time for what I ought to do... and I never get a chance to do what I want to do! - Son, that's universal. The way to keep that recipe from killing you is occasionally to do what you want to do anyhow. — Robert A. Heinlein

Happiness consists in getting enough sleep. Just that, nothing more. — Robert A. Heinlein

Nursing does not diminish the beauty of a woman's breasts; it enhances their charm by making them look lived in and happy. — Robert A. Heinlein

There are hidden contradictions in the minds of people who "love Nature" while deploring the "artificialities" with which "Man has spoiled Nature.'" The obvious contradiction lies in their choice of words, which imply that Man and his artifacts are not part of "Nature" : but beavers and their dams are. — Robert A. Heinlein

A generation which ignores history has no past and no future. — Robert A. Heinlein

How anybody expects a man to stay in business with every two-bit wowser in the country claiming a veto over what we can say and can't say and what we can show and what we can't show - it's enough to make you throw up. The whole principle is wrong; it's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't eat steak. — Robert A. Heinlein

It may be better to be a live jackal than a dead lion, but it is better still to be a live lion. And usually easier. — Robert A. Heinlein

Those who refuse to support and defend the state have no claim to protection by that state. Killing an anarchist or a pacifist should not be considered "murder" in a legalistic sense. The offense against the state, if any, should be "Using deadly weapons within city limits," or "Creating a traffic hazard," or other misdemeanor. — Robert A. Heinlein

No intelligent man has any respect for an unjust law. — Robert A. Heinlein

There are two ways of forming an opinion. One is the scientific method; the other, the scholastic. To the scientific mind, experimental proof is all-important, and theory is merely a convenience in description, to be junked when it no longer fits. To the academic mind, authority is everything, and facts are junked when they do not fit theory. — Robert A. Heinlein

Faith strikes me as intellectual laziness. — Robert A. Heinlein

Theology is never any help; it is searching in a dark cellar at midnight for a black cat that isn't there. Theologians can persuade themselves of anything. — Robert A. Heinlein

Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best, he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear his shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house. — Robert A. Heinlein

Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. There is no appeal, and execution is carried out automatically and without pity. — Robert A. Heinlein

Of all the strange 'crimes' that human beings have legislated out of nothing, 'blasphemy' is the most amazing -- with 'obscenity' and 'indecent exposure' fighting it out for second and third place. — Robert A. Heinlein

The Ten Commandments are for lame brains. The first five are solely for the benefit of the priests and the powers that be; the second five are half truths, neither complete nor adequate. — Robert A. Heinlein

Consider the black widow spider. It's a timid little beastie, useful and, for my taste, the prettiest of the arachnids, with its shiny, patent-leather finish and its red hourglass trademark. But the poor thing has the fatal misfortune of possessing enormously too much power for its size. So everybody kills it on sight. — Robert A. Heinlein

The right to figure things out for yourself is the only true freedom everyone shares. Go use it. — Robert A. Heinlein

Men rarely if ever dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child. — Robert A. Heinlein

Money problems can always be solved by a man not frightened by them. — Robert A. Heinlein

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

A long and wicked life followed by five minutes of perfect grace gets you into Heaven. An equally long life of decent living and good works followed by one outburst of taking the name of the lord in vain- then have a heart attack at that moment and be damned for eternity. Is that the system? — Robert A. Heinlein

Never tease an old dog; he might have one bite left. — Robert A. Heinlein

There is no safety this side of the grave — Robert A. Heinlein

A friend who offers help without asking for explanations is a treasure beyond price — Robert A. Heinlein

Never pick up a stray kitten . . . unless you've already made up your mind to be owned by it. — Robert A. Heinlein

For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization. — Robert A. Heinlein

Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate — and quickly. — Robert A. Heinlein

I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts- because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting... I had been told that a 'funny' thing is a thing of goodness. It isn't... The goodness is in the laughing. I grok it is a bravery- and a sharing- against pain and sorrow and defeat. — Robert A. Heinlein

Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. — Robert A. Heinlein

Belief gets in the way of learning. — Robert A. Heinlein

The most expensive thing in the world is a second-best military establishment, good but not good enough to win. — Robert A. Heinlein

The power to tax, once conceded, has no limits; it continues until it destroys. — Robert A. Heinlein

A community where everyone is a ruthless murderer, with handy access to death-dealing devices, is a very polite community. — Robert A. Heinlein

A family reunion is an effective form of birth control. — Robert A. Heinlein

He's as weird as snake's suspenders but sweet as a stolen kiss, too. — Robert A. Heinlein

Cats have no sense of humor, they have terribly inflated egos, and they are very touchy. — Robert A. Heinlein

Life Lessons by Robert A. Heinlein

1. Robert A. Heinlein taught that life is an adventure and should be embraced with enthusiasm and optimism. He believed that the only way to truly live is to take risks and challenge the status quo.
2. He also emphasized the importance of personal responsibility and self-reliance, encouraging individuals to take charge of their own lives and make their own decisions.
3. Finally, he believed in the power of knowledge and education, stressing the importance of constantly learning and growing.