The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Political tags - such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth - are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote distinguishes between two fundamental political mindsets: those who seek control over others and those who do not.
Robert A. Heinlein's quote highlights a crucial perspective on political ideology, asserting that the true division in society isn't along conventional party lines but rather between those who desire to exert control over others and those who advocate for freedom and autonomy. It suggests that political tags and labels are secondary to this more significant fundamental human motivation, emphasizing a deeper understanding of human nature and governance.
Themes
PoliticsControlFreedomHuman NatureIdeology
In practice
Example use cases
In a discussion about political ideologies at a conference, this quote can provide a deeper lens to view the differences.
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
As we speak, Iran has rolled back its nuclear program, shipped out its uranium stockpile, and the world has avoided another war.
Barack ObamaRead
There are war-torn countries, people full of poverty, who still voted, 60, 70 percent. If here in the United States of America, we voted at 60 percent, 70 percent, it would transform our politics.
Barack ObamaRead
It is of the nature of war to increase the executive at the expense of the legislative authority.
Alexander HamiltonRead
In Washington, task forces work like Tylenol: they reduce the symptoms of scandal while leaving the substance untouched.
Jonathan TurleyRead
In this relation, then, the proposed government cannot be deemed a national one; since its jurisdiction extends to certain enumerated objects only, and leaves to the several states, a residuary and inviolable sovereignty over all other objects.
James MadisonRead
To avoid the necessity of a permanent debt and its inevitable consequences, I have advocated and endeavored to carry into effect the policy of confining the appropriations for the public service to such objects only as are clearly with the constitutional authority of the Federal Government.
Martin Van BurenRead