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 found out a long time ago that you have to take some chances in this life. Otherwise you are just a vegetable, headed for the soup pot.

Red Planet (1949)

I scrolled on down to the obituaries. I usually read the obituaries first as there is always the happy chance that one of them will make my day.

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (1985)

Most things are right or wrong only in their backgrounds; few things are good or evil in themselves. But things that are right or wrong according to their culture, really are so.

Citizen of the Galaxy (1957)

Son, people do odd things for money, but they’ll do still more drastic things for power over money. Anybody sittin’ close to a billion credits is in danger; it’s like keeping a pet rattlesnake.

Citizen of the Galaxy (1957)

Magic is not science, it is a collection of ways to do things — ways that work but often we don't know why.

Glory Road (1963)

The shamans are forever yacking about their snake-oil "miracles." I prefer the Real McCoy—a pregnant woman.

Time Enough for Love (1973)

The arrangement, classification, and accessibility of knowledge remains in all ages the most pressing problem.

Off the Main Sequence (2005)

“They’re crazy.”
“No, Meade. One such is crazy; a lot of them is a lemming death march.”

Off the Main Sequence (2005)

I learned before you were born that when someone wants to see me in a hurry, the urgency is almost never mutual.

The Number of the Beast (1980)

“The Great Egg must love human beings, he made a lot of them.”
“Same argument applies to oysters, only more so.”

Beyond This Horizon (1948)

The answer to any question starting, “Why don’t they—” is almost always, “Money.”

Requiem: New Collected Works by Robert A. Heinlein and Tributes to the Grand Master (1992)

Theobald ignored him. He could be deaf when he chose; he seemed to find it particularly difficult to hear the word “No.”

Beyond This Horizon (1948)

I don’t know; maybe Frank had good intentions, but I sometimes think “good intentions” should be declared a capital crime.

Time for the Stars (1956)

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

Time Enough for Love (1973)

Shaving, the common cold, and taxes...my old man says those are the three eternal problems the race is never going to lick.

Tunnel in the Sky (1955)

We may eliminate death someday but I doubt if we’ll ever eliminate taxes.

I Will Fear No Evil (1970)

“But that’s not possible!”
Frost looked more weary than ever. Don’t you think it is about time you stopped using that term, son?”

Off the Main Sequence (2005)

“Why don’t they modernize?”
I answered, “Money. Donald, any question that starts out ‘Why don’t they—’ the answer is always ‘Money.’”

To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987)

“Pay, are all paymasters dishonest?”
“Only the good ones.”

Citizen of the Galaxy (1957)

Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst.

Starship Troopers (1959)

Attribution

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