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“Heredity isn’t everything; I’m myself, an individual. You aren’t your parents. You’re not your father, you are not your mother. But you are a little late realizing it.” She sat up straight. “So be yourself, Knothead, and have the courage to make your own mess of your life. Don’t imitate somebody else’s mess.”

— Robert A. Heinlein The Star Beast (1954)

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More quotes by Robert A. Heinlein

Love is the condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.

Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

“My uncle used to say, ‘Never pick up a stray kitten…unless you’ve already made up your mind to be owned by it.’”

The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (1985)

I have never been able to see life as anything but a vast complicated practical joke, and it’s better to laugh than cry.

I Will Fear No Evil (1970)

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

Time Enough for Love (1973)

If you would know a man, observe how he treats a cat.

The Door Into Summer (1957)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Robert A. Heinlein (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.