Some Heinlein quotes part 3

As previously mentioned (here), I have been searching for a Robert Heinlein (RAH) quote around the idea ‘make it idiot-proof and the world/universe will build a better idiot’. In undertaking this search I have been more or less doing a Heinlein retrospective. I have discovered a new collection of short stories - three of which I had not read for years - and one entirely new book ("The Pursuit of the Pankera"). I have - as I have already mentioned - been noting other quotes that I have rediscovered in the process. 

Having already posted two sets of favourite quotes (here and here), this is part 3 of RAH's notable and quotable phrases:

• Some great socialising advice: "a[nyone...] can get a reputation as a sparkling conversationalist simply by letting the other [... person] do all the talking" (Heinlein, 1956, p. 94)
  
  
• Some sound advice about going to court: "nobody ever wins a lawsuit but the lawyers" (Heinlein, 1957, p. 18). And ain't that the truth...
  
  
• A trouble-shooting strategy: "When faced with a problem you do not understand, do any part of it you do understand and then look at it again" (Heinlein, 1969, p. 368)
  
  
• Caution on mentees learning from our experience: "Son, one of the few things I’ve learned is that humans hardly ever learn from the experience of others. They learn — when they do, which isn’t often — on their own, the hard way" (Heinlein, 1981a, p. 38)
  
  
• On being realistic: "Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get" (Heinlein, 1973, p. 370)
  
  
• On being responsible: "Heredity isn't everything [...]. You aren't your parents. You're not your father, you are not your mother. [...] So be yourself, Knothead, and have the courage to make your own mess of your life. Don't imitate somebody else's mess" (Heinlein, 1953, p. 189)
  
  
• He was great with framing what the adventurous reader longs for:
  "What did I want?"
  "I wanted a Roc’s egg. I wanted a harem loaded with lovely odalisques less than the dust beneath my chariot wheels, the rust that never stained my sword. I wanted raw red gold in nuggets the size of your fist and feed that lousy claim jumper to the huskies! I wanted to get up feeling brisk and go out and break some lances, then pick a likely wench for my droit du seigneur—I wanted to stand up to the Baron and dare him to touch my wench! I wanted to hear the purple water chuckling against the skin of the 'Nancy Lee in the cool of the morning watch and not another sound, nor any movement save the slow tilting of the wings of the albatross that had been pacing us the last thousand miles.
  "I wanted the hurtling moons of Barsoom. I wanted Storisende and Poictesme, and Holmes shaking me awake to tell me, 'The game’s afoot!' I wanted to float down the Mississippi on a raft and elude a mob in company with the Duke of Bilgewater and the Lost Dauphin.
  "I wanted Prester John, and Excalibur held by a moon-white arm out of a silent lake. I wanted to sail with Ulysses and with Tros of Samothrace and eat the lotus in a land that seemed always afternoon. 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." (Heinlein, 1981b, p. 28)
  
  
• On the special status of religious organisations: "My dear, religion is a null area in the law. A church can do anything any organization can do — and has no restrictions. It pays no taxes, need not publish records, is effectively immune to search, inspection, or control — and a church is anything that calls itself a church. Attempts have been made to distinguish between ‘real’ religions entitled to immunities, and ‘cults.’ It can’t be done, short of establishing a state religion... a cure worse than the disease" (Heinlein, 1961, p. 230)

Heinlein had 19th century ideals in a 20th century world, so he could be overly militaristic, sometimes had very silly ideas about women, was overly obsessed with sex, and was somewhat blind to his own privilege. But he was also a prolifically imaginative writer who created new horizons for humanity just by being alive. If you haven't read him yet, give his works a try, and see what you think.

Sam

References:

Heinlein, R. A. (1954). The Star Beast. C. P. Scribner's Sons.

Heinlein, R. A. (1956). Double Star. Signet Books (New American Library).

Heinlein, R. A. (1957). The Door Into Summer. Signet Books (New American Library).

Heinlein, R. A. (1961). Stranger in a Strange Land (third printing 1966). Berkley Books.

Heinlein, R. A. (1966). The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. G. P. Putnam's Sons.

Heinlein, R. A. (1981a). Time Enough for Love: The lives of Lazarus Long (first edition 1974). Berkley Books.

Heinlein, R. A. (1981b). Glory Road (first edition 1963). New English Library.