The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Customs tell a man who he is, where he belongs, what he must do. Better illogical customs than none; men cannot live together without them.
Interpretation
Customs and traditions shape individuals' identities and social belonging, making life more structured.
In this quote, Robert A. Heinlein emphasizes the importance of customs and traditions in providing individuals with a sense of identity, belonging, and guidance in their actions. While customs may sometimes seem illogical, their existence is crucial for social cohesion, as they create a framework within which people can interact and coexist harmoniously.
In practice
When discussing the importance of cultural heritage at a community event.
The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
An armed society is a polite society.
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.
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.
Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
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.
Swlmmlng After swallowing some water at Changsha I taste a Wuchang fish in the surf and swim across the Yangtze River that winds ten thousand li. I see the entire Chu sky. Wind batters me, waves hit me-I don't care. Better than walking lazily in the patio. Today I have a lot of time. Here on the river the Master said "Dying-dying into the past-is like a river flowing."
To be truly Catholic is not merely to be correct according to an abstractly universal standard of truth, but also and above all to be able to enter into the problems and the joys of all, to understand all, to be all things to all.
A bad review is even less important than whether it is raining in Patagonia.
Do not be afraid to go and to bring Christ into every area of life, to the fringes of society, even to those who seem farthest away, most indifferent.
The perfection of yoga is to become detached. And the perfection of detachment is to become completely attached, attached to God.
Spirituality is not some external goal that one must seek, but a part of the divine core of each of us, which we must reveal.
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