The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Autobiography is usually honest but it is never truthful.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Autobiographies may present honest accounts of experiences but still lack complete truthfulness regarding emotions and perspectives.
This quote suggests that while autobiographies often claim to portray the author's true life story and experiences, they are filtered through personal biases and interpretations, which can distort the absolute truth. The statement invites readers to reflect on the nature of truth in storytelling and the subjective nature of individual experiences.
Themes
AutobiographyTruthHonestySubjectivityExperience
In practice
Example use cases
In a book discussion, one might use this quote to explore the reliability of memoirs.
More from Robert A. Heinlein
All quotes βAn armed society is a polite society.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Long human words (the longer the better) were easy, unmistakable, and rarely changed their meanings . . . but short words were slippery, unpredictable, changing their meanings without any pattern.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
When a place gets crowded enough to require ID's, social collapse is not far away. It is time to go elsewhere. The best thing about space travel is that it made it possible to go elsewhere.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Similar quotes
At times I feel myself overtaken by an immense tenderness for these people around me who live in the same century.
Albert CamusRead
Nothing weighs on us so heavily as a secret.
Jean De La FontaineRead
She likes to try everything, out of curiosity, but she'll be sorry if she isn't guided by her heart.
Gabriel Garcia MarquezRead
The prison industrial complex is perhaps, at least domestically, the most striking example of us putting profit before people. It all stems from one basic misunderstanding: that the public good can be shepherded by private interests.
Eugene JareckiRead
As it develops, then, the concept of social space becomes broader. It infiltrates, even invades, the concept of production, becoming part - perhaps the essential part - of its content.
Henri LefebvreRead
A man must ride alternately on the horses of his private and his public nature.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead