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. 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

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The America of my time line is a laboratory example of what can happen to democracies, what has even...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Any government will work if authority and responsibility are equal and coordinate. This does not ins...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Secrecy is the keystone to all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy and censorship. When any government o...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Yield to temptation...it may not pass your way again!
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man b...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
That God is in truth the sort of bloodthirsty paranoid Who would rend to bits forty-two children for...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
To be matter of fact about the world is to blunder into fantasy -- and dull fantasy at that, as the ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Of all the strange "crimes" that human beings have legislated of nothing, "blasphemy" is the most am...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense. (Hurtin...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
A great artist can look at an old woman, portray her exactly as she is... and force the viewer to se...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Under what circumstances is it moral for a group to do that which is not moral for a member of that ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Stupidity cannot be cured. Stupidity is the only universal capital crime; the sentence is death. The...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Anything which is physically possible can always be made financially possible; money is a bugaboo of...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
One man’s “magic” is another man’s engineering. “Supernatural” is a null word.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
I woke up in bed with a man and a cat. The man was a stranger; the cat was not
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
A community where everyone is a ruthless murderer, with handy access to death-dealing devices, is a ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Every general prohibition creates its bootleggers.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Heroism' often consists in keeping your head in an emergency and doing the best you can with what yo...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense. (Hurtin...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Everybody lies about sex.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
The correct way to punctuate a sentence that states: "Of course it is none of my business, but -- " ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Work is not an end in itself; there must always be time enough for love.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Never tease an old dog; he might have one bite left.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Take big bites. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Cheops' Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Certainly the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you; if you don't bet you can't win.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
I came, I saw, she conquered."
The original Latin seems to have been garbled.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Live and learn, or you don't live long.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Be wary of strong drink, it can make you shoot at the tax collector...and miss.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
A generation which ignores history has no past — and no future.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodn...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
There is no such thing as "Just a cat.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Customs tell a man who he is, where he belongs, what he must do. Better illogical customs than none;...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Find out what you want to do, then do it. Never talk yourself into doing something you don’t want....
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Television leaves no external scars.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Some people insist that ‘mediocre’ is better than ‘best.’ They delight in clipping wings bec...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Dress yourself in heavy fishing waders, put on an overcoat and boxing gloves and a bucket over your ...
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Library science was the foundation of all sciences.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
You can't believe what a lovely planet we have until you see her from outside.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
The Mother Thing makes our world.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Everybody else specializes. Daddy knows everything, and he puts the pieces together.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
More depended on the student than on the school.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Mother had the social restraint of an ambassador.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
I needed a space suit the way a pig needs a pipe organ.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
Daddy says that, in a dilemma, it is helpful to change any variable, then reexamine the problem.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN