The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
The supreme irony of life is that hardly anyone gets out of it alive.
Interpretation
Life is ultimately fleeting, and death is inevitable for everyone.
This quote suggests that the most profound truth about life is its finiteness; despite our efforts to live fully, we all meet the same end, which can be seen as ironic considering the various pursuits we undertake. The irony lies in the fact that amidst our struggles, achievements, and experiences, we forget that the ultimate conclusion is universal: death, making all our endeavors seem ephemeral.
In practice
During a graduation speech to emphasize the importance of making the most of life.
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.
In all things there is a law of cycles.
I went to medical school because I wanted to ask the big questions. Do we have a soul? Does God exist? What happens after death?
As far as I'm concerned, I prefer silent vice to ostentatious virtue.
I helped in the raping of half a dozen Central American republics for the benefit of Wall Street. The record of racketeering is long... Looking back on it, I feel I might have given Al Capone a few hints. The best he could do was to operate his racket in three city districts. We Marines operated on three continents.
This is a war universe. War all the time. That is its nature. There may be other universes based on all sorts of other principles, but ours seems to be based on war and games.
It was the masterful and incommunicable wisdom of eternity laughing at the futility of life and the effort of life. It was the Wild, the savage, frozen-hearted Northland Wild. (Ch.1)
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