The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
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.
Interpretation
Democracy has its flaws, but it is still better than any other governance system tried by humanity.
In this quote, Heinlein expresses a critical yet realistic perspective on democracy. While he acknowledges the imperfections and shortcomings of democratic systems, he emphasizes that, compared to all other forms of governance throughout history, democracy stands out as the least flawed option, highlighting its relative superiority in promoting human freedom and choice.
In practice
In a political speech emphasizing the value of democratic institutions.
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.
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.
A competent and self-confident person is incapable of jealousy in anything. Jealousy is invariably a symptom of neurotic insecurity.
Christianity means community through Jesus Christ and in Jesus Christ. No Christian community is more or less than this.
What restrains us from killing is partly fear of punishment, partly moral scruple, and partly what may be described as a sense of humor
You are sitting on the earth and you realize that this earth deserves you and you deserve this earth. You are there - fully, personally, genuinely.
Every old man complains of the growing depravity of the world, of the petulance and insolence of the rising generation. He recounts the decency and regularity of former times, and celebrates the discipline and sobriety of the age in which his youth was passed; a happy age which is now no more to be expected, since confusion has broken in upon the world, and thrown down all the boundaries of civility and reverence.
I get drawn in when I feel there is something deep and mysterious going on beneath the surface of something.
If the opponent offers keen play I don't object; but in such cases I get less satisfaction, even if I win, than from a game conducted according to all the rules of strategy with its ruthless logic.
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