Top 500 Robert A. Heinlein Quotes (2026 Update)
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251. “When railroading time comes you can railroad – but not before.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

252. “Waking a person unnecessarily should not be considered a capital crime. For a first offense, that is.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

253. “Pessimist by policy, optimist by temperament- it is possible to be both. How? By never taking an unnecessary chance and by minimizing the risks you can’t avoid. This permits you to play out the game untroubled by the certainty of the outcome.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

254. “Cast me into a dungeon;, burn me at the state, crown me king of kings, I can ‘pursue happiness’ as long as my brain lives – but neither gods nor saints, wise men nor subtle drugs, can insure that I will catch it.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

255. “A friend who offers help without asking for explanations is a treasure beyond price.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

256. “When it don’t rain, the roof don’t leak; when it rains, I can’t fix it nohow.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

257. “Remember though, your best weapon is between your ears and under your scalp -provided it’s loaded.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

258. “A woman is not property, and husbands who think otherwise are living in a dreamworld.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

259. “Wisdom includes not getting angry unnecessarily. The Law ignores trifles and the wise man does, too.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

260. “It was better to live with disappointment and frustration than to live without hope.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

261. “Magic is not science, it is a collection of ways to do things ways that work but often we don’t know why.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

262. “Budget the luxuries first.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

Featured in: Firsts Quotes

263. “I don’t see why human people make such a heavy trip out of sex. It isn’t anything complex, it is simply the best thing in life, even better than food.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

264. “The 3-legged stool of understanding is held up by history, languages, and mathematics. Equipped with those three you can learn anything you want to learn. But if you lack any one of them you are just another ignorant peasant with dung on your boots.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

265. “Money is truthful. If a man speaks of honor, make him pay cash.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

266. “To stay young requires unceasing cultivation of the ability to unlearn old falsehoods.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

267. “Why do some people act as if making money offended their delicate minds? I am out for a legitimate profit, and not ashamed of it; the fact that people will pay money for my goods and services shows that my work is useful.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

268. “A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

269. “People who go broke in a big way never miss any meals. It is the poor jerk who is shy a half slug who must tighten his belt.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

270. “Nowhere on Earth was sex so vigorously suppressed as in America – and nowhere else was there such a deep interest in it.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

271. “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed. – Second Amendment to the Constitution An armed society is a polite society.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

272. “Peace is an extension of war by political means. Plenty of elbow-room is pleasanter – and much safer.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

273. “Some things, the more you understand the more you loathe them.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

274. “Abstract knowledge is always useful, sooner or later.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

275. “I wanted the feeling of romance and the sense of wonder I had known as a kid. I wanted the world to be what they had promised me it was going to be – instead of the tawdry, lousy fouled-up mess it is.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

Featured in: Romance Quotes

276. “The power to tax, once conceded, has no limits; it continues until it destroys.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

277. “Religion is a solace to many people and it is even conceivable that some religion, somewhere, really is Ultimate Truth. But in many cases, being religious is merely a form of conceit.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

278. “Humoring them costs nothing and adds to happiness in a world in which happiness is always in short supply.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

279. “Responsibility cannot be shared.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

280. “Writing is not necessarily something to be ashamed of, but do it in private and wash your hands afterwards.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

281. “The way to find justice is to deal fairly with other people and not worry about how they deal with you.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

282. “We came here for a small, informal meeting. We find you’ve turned it into a circus. Well, if you’re going to have a circus, you’ve got to have elephants.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

283. “All men are created unequal.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

284. “Love is what still goes on when you’re not horny.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

285. “I’ve never understood how God could expect His creatures to pick the one true religion by faith-it strikes me as a sloppy way to run a universe.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

286. “God split himself into a myriad parts that he might have friends. This may not be true, but it sounds good, and is no sillier than any other theology.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

287. “All cats are not gray after midnight.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

288. “All my enemies are self-appointed.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

289. “Most neuroses and some psychoses can be traced to the unnecessary and unhealthy habit of daily wallowing in the troubles and sins of five billion strangers.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

290. “To get anywhere, or even to live a long time, a man has to guess, and guess right, over and over again, without enough data for a logical answer.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

291. “I did the only really brave thing I have ever done in my life: I inched forward.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

292. “You have to give an editor something to change, or he gets fretful. After he pees in it, he likes the flavor better, so he buys it.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

293. “Belief gets in the way of learning.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

294. “You have attributed conditions to villainy that simply result from stupidity.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

295. “The commonest weakness of our race is our ability to rationalize our most selfish purposes.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

296. “Happiness consists in getting enough sleep.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

297. “The more you love, the more you can love – and the more intensely you love. Nor is there any limit on how many you can love. If a person had time enough, he could love all of that majority who are decent and just.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

298. “Was there ever a time when the majority was right?”

— Robert A. Heinlein

299. “Butterflies are self propelled flowers.”

— Robert A. Heinlein

300. “History is never surprising after it happens.”

— Robert A. Heinlein