The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True freedom comes from understanding one's own moral responsibility.
This quote emphasizes the idea that true freedom is rooted in the awareness of personal moral responsibility. The individual recognizes that no external rules or societal norms can dictate their actions if they possess the understanding that they are accountable for their choices, allowing them to act in accordance with their own values, whether that means complying with or challenging existing norms.
Themes
FreedomResponsibilityMoralityChoicesIndividualism
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about personal autonomy and ethics, one might use this quote to underline the importance of personal accountability.
More from Robert A. Heinlein
All quotes →An 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
I felt no passion, no jealousy, no nostalgia. I was hollow, clear-headed, clean, and as emotionless as an aluminum pot.
Umberto EcoRead
By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists . . . Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Read
I don't know what happens when people die_x000D_ _x000D_ Can't seem to grasp it as hard as I try_x000D_ _x000D_ It's like a song I can hear playing right in my ear_x000D_ _x000D_ That I can't sing_x000D_ _x000D_ I can't help listening
Jackson BrowneRead
Death is more certain than the morrow, than night following day, than winter following summer. Why is it then that we prepare for the night and for the winter time, but do not prepare for death. We must prepare for death. But there is only one way to prepare for death - and that is to live well.
Leo TolstoyRead
If I agree to dispose of any part of our land to the white people I would feel guilty of taking food away from our children's mouths, and I do not wish to be that mean.
Sitting BullRead
The Secretary-General must be a determined advocate for the values of tolerance and solidarity - universal values that are shared by cultures and religions around the globe.
Antonio GuterresRead