"Pacifism is a shifty doctrine under which a man accepts the benefits of the social group without being willing to pay - and claims a halo for his dishonesty"

Robert A. Heinlein Literature See all quotes by Robert A. Heinlein →

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More by Robert A. Heinlein

“Matt, you are suffering from a disease of youth—you expect moral problems to have nice, neat, black-and-white answers.”

“Clark just looked bored and contemptuous and said nothing, because Clark would not bother to interfere with Armageddon unless there was ten percent in it for him.”

“Learning isn’t a means to an end; it is an end in itself.”

“He seeks order, not truth. Suppose truth defies order, will he accept it? Will you? I think not.”

“I used to wonder what it was like to be rich. Now I am and it turns out to be mostly headaches.”

“Is it not better to be in ignorance than to believe falsely?”

Resonant Thoughts

"How do I treat this character, given my sensitivity toward being a woman and then my ire being a black person — trying to balance those two?...And as an artist, really wanting to be generous of spirit…"

— Ifa Bayeza

Literature1958

#Human Nature

"A man who has a mere factual nature; a man who perceives without much power of reflection; a man who sees only facts, cannot come to any such judgment of truths as the man, higher than he, who not onl…"

— Henry Ward Beecher

Social Activism1813–1887

#justice

"Next comes the consideration of stone quarries from which dimension stone and supplies of rubble to be used in building are taken and brought together."

— Vitruvius

Technology-79–-14

#truth

"“If charity and philanthropy is not connected with any ulterior motive, they are beneficial. But charity and conversions cannot go together. Religion prospers only when charity and philanthropy are un…"

— Morarji Desai

Politics1896–1995

#freedom