Robert A. Heinlein Quotes

1907–1988 United States

Robert Anson Heinlein (7 July 1907 – 8 May 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of science fiction of the 20th Century.

United States
Agnostics
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Also known as: Heinlein, Heinlein, Robert A., Robert A Heinlein, Robert Anson Heinlein, Robert Heinlein, Friday (novel)

Random Robert A. Heinlein quote

491 quotes

I said, “What do you think about it, Paul?”
The boss smiled gently. “I don’t. I haven’t enough data.”

Farmer in the Sky (1950)

Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors — and miss.

Time Enough for Love (1973)

“Harry, I need advice.”
“You do? Well, I’ve got it in all sizes. All of it free and all of it worth what it costs, I’m afraid.”

Time for the Stars (1956)

The purpose of war is to support your government's decisions by force.

Since when did a mathematician need any tools but his own head? Pythagoras had done well enough with a stick and a stretch of sand.

Beyond This Horizon (1948)

He was beginning definitely to dislike Mrs. Van Vogel, despite his automatic tendency to genuflect in the presence of a high credit rating.

Off the Main Sequence (2005)

Father had told me, “Widows are far better than brides. They don’t tell, they won’t yell, they don’t swell, they rarely smell, and they’re grateful as hell.

To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987)

“You have us going faster than light.”
“I thought the figures were a bit large.”

The Rolling Stones (1952)

He gave up and went back to loafing, found that he could sleep all right in the afternoons but that the practice kept him awake at night.

Between Planets (1951)

And for the first time both of us were bare all over and it was wonderful and I knew that all my life had just been preparation for this moment.

To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987)

Babies are fun. And they’re not much trouble. Feed ‘em occasionally, help them when they need it, and love them a lot. That’s all there is to it.

Beyond This Horizon (1948)

Bob Wilson admitted to himself that a Ph.D. and an appointment as an instructor was not his idea of existence. Still, it beat working for a living.

Off the Main Sequence (2005)

Attend me. How do you prove that there are eggs in a bird’s nest? Don’t strain your gray matter: go climb the tree and find out. There is no other way.

Time for the Stars (1956)

We take just one vow, to safeguard the welfare and happiness of all our children.
That’s our total marriage contract. The rest is just poetic ritual.

To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987)

I said that "Patriotism" is a way of saying "Women and children first." And that no one can force a man to feel this way. Instead he must embrace it freely.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

Women should be obscene but not heard.

Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

Sex is rearing its interesting head.

Sixth Column (1949)

I had hit him in his male pride.
Unless you intend to kill him immediately thereafter, never kick a man in the balls. Not even symbolically. Or perhaps especially not symbolically.

Friday (1982)

It is very difficult to tuck a bugle call back into a bugle. Pandora’s Box is a one-way proposition. You can turn a pig into sausage, but not sausage into pig. Broken eggs stay broken.

Off the Main Sequence (2005)

I trust that I am honest with myself. I know that I am not very sociable and I expect to go on being so; a man capable of creative work has no time to spare for fools who would like to visit.

The Number of the Beast (1980)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Robert A. Heinlein (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.