Skip to content

Quotes from The Pragmatics of Patriotism — Robert A. Heinlein

1907–1988 United States

← All quotes by Robert A. Heinlein

9 quotes

Evolution is a process that never stops. Baboons who fail to exhibit moral behavior do not survive; they wind up as meat for leopards.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

One small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

Men are expendable; women and children are not.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

Many short-sighted fools think that going to the Moon was just a stunt.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

Selfishness is the bedrock on which all moral behavior starts and it can be immoral only when it conflicts with a higher moral imperative.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

I do not think anyone can define "behavior that tends toward extinction" as being "moral" without stretching the word "moral" all out of shape.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

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)

If we blow ourselves up we will do it by misapplication of science; if we manage to keep from blowing ourselves up, it will be through intelligent application of science.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

Patriotism is not sentimental nonsense. Nor something dreamed up by demagogues. Patriotism is as necessary a part of man's evolutionary equipment as are his eyes, as useful to the race as eyes are to the individual.

The Pragmatics of Patriotism (1973)

Attribution

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