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.
Leave the Irreparable Past in His hands, and step out into the Irresistible Future with Him.
It is not that we keep His commandments first and that then He loves but that He loves us and then we keep His commandments. This is that grace which is revealed to the humble but hidden from the proud.
If a conservative order is indeed to return, we ought to know the tradition which is attached to it, so that we may rebuild society; if it is not to be restored, still we ought to understand conservative ideas so that we may rake from the ashes what scorched fragments of civilizations escape the conflagration of unchecked will and appetite.
The character of every act depends upon the circumstances in which it is done.
It is unacceptable that more than 1 billion people are hungry every day while another billion are obese.
Your soul is a dark forest. But the trees are of a particular species, they are genealogical trees.
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