Wayne Chonicki > Wayne's Quotes

“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, Time Enough for Love

“Never attempt to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and annoys the pig.”
― Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Do not confuse "duty" with what other people expect of you; they are utterly different. Duty is a debt you owe to yourself to fulfill obligations you have assumed voluntarily. Paying that debt can entail anything from years of patient work to instant willingness to die. Difficult it may be, but the reward is self-respect.
But there is no reward at all for doing what other people expect of you, and to do so is not merely difficult, but impossible. It is easier to deal with a footpad than it is with the leech who wants "just a few minutes of your time, please—this won't take long." Time is your total capital, and the minutes of your life are painfully few. If you allow yourself to fall into the vice of agreeing to such requests, they quickly snowball to the point where these parasites will use up 100 percent of your time—and squawk for more!
So learn to say No—and to be rude about it when necessary. Otherwise you will not have time to carry out your duty, or to do your own work, and certainly no time for love and happiness. The termites will nibble away your life and leave none of it for you.
(This rule does not mean that you must not do a favor for a friend, or even a stranger. But let the choice be yours. Don't do it because it is "expected" of you.)”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“The most preposterous notion that Homo sapiens has ever dreamed up is that the Lord God of Creation, Shaper and Ruler of all the Universes, wants the saccharine adoration of His creatures, can be swayed by their prayers, and becomes petulant if He does not receive this flattery. Yet this absurd fantasy, without a shred of evidence to bolster it, pays all the expenses of the oldest, largest, and least productive industry in all history.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions about her children's beauty, intelligence, goodness, et cetera ad nauseam, keep her from drowning them at birth.”
― Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Be wary of strong drink, it can make you shoot at the tax collector...and miss.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“A generation which ignores history has no past — and no future.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Live and learn, or you don't live long.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“I came, I saw, she conquered."
The original Latin seems to have been garbled.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“A woman is not property, and husbands who think otherwise are living in a dreamworld.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Cheops' Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Take big bites. Anything worth doing is worth overdoing.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Certainly the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you; if you don't bet you can't win.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Courage is the complement of fear. A man who is fearless cannot be courageous. [He is also a fool.]”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Sense is never common.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Everybody lies about sex.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Sin lies only in hurting other people unnecessarily. All other "sins" are invented nonsense. (Hurting yourself is not sinful -- just stupid.)”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“The correct way to punctuate a sentence that states: "Of course it is none of my business, but -- " is to place a period after the word "but." Don't use excessive force in supplying such a moron with a period. Cutting his throat is only a momentary pleasure and is bound to get you talked about.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Heroism' often consists in keeping your head in an emergency and doing the best you can with what you have instead of panicking and being shot in the tail. People who fight this way win more battles than do intentional heroes; a glory hound often throws away the lives of his mates as well as his own.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“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, Time Enough for Love

“A motion to adjourn is always in order.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“A community where everyone is a ruthless murderer, with handy access to death-dealing devices, is a very polite community.”
― Robert Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Every general prohibition creates its bootleggers.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion — ie., none to speak of”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Men rarely (if ever) manage to dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“If the universe has any purpose more important than topping a woman you love and making a baby with her hearty help, I've never heard of it.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love

“Do not handicap your children by making their lives easy.”
― Robert A. Heinlein, Time Enough for Love