The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
A committee is the only known form of life with a hundred bellies and no brain.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote humorously critiques committees as ineffective and lacking intelligence despite having many members.
Robert A. Heinlein's quote satirically depicts committees as organizations that, despite their large numbers and collective resources ('a hundred bellies'), fail to demonstrate coherent thought or effective decision-making ('no brain'). This illustrates the common frustration with bureaucratic systems where collaboration does not equate to efficiency or wisdom.
Themes
CommitteeBureaucracyHumorInefficiencyLeadership
In practice
Example use cases
A lighthearted comment during a team meeting about decision-making processes.
More from Robert A. Heinlein
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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.
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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.
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Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
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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.
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