The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Under our system every voter and officeholder is a man who has demonstrated through voluntary and difficult service that he places the welfare of the group ahead of personal advantage.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the importance of selflessness and service to the community in both voters and leaders.
Heinlein articulates a vision for a political system where leadership is earned through a demonstrated commitment to the collective good. By valuing individuals who prioritize community welfare over personal gain, he suggests that true democracy thrives when its participants possess a sense of duty and sacrifice, thus creating a more just and equitable society.
Themes
ServiceCommunityLeadershipSelflessnessWelfarePolitics
In practice
Example use cases
During a campaign speech emphasizing civic responsibility.
More from Robert A. Heinlein
All quotes βAn 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
If we make sacrifices in doing good or in doing ill, it does not alter the ultimate value of our actions; even if we stake our life in the cause, as martyrs do for the sake of our church : it is a sacrifice to our longing for power, or for the purpose of conserving our sense of power.
Friedrich NietzscheRead
When a white man in Africa by accident looks into the eyes of a native and sees the human being (which it is the chief preoccupation to avoid), his sense of guilt, which he denies, fumes up in resentment and he brings down the whip.
Doris LessingRead
What cannot be talked about cannot be put to rest. And if it is not, the wounds will fester from generation to generation.
Bruno BettelheimRead
If the hearts are pure, they will never have enough from reciting Allah's words (the Qur'an).
Uthman Ibn AffanRead
For my part, when I enter most intimately into what I call myself, I always stumble on some particular perception or other, of heat or cold, light or shade, love or hatred, pain or pleasure. I never can catch myself at any time without a perception, and never can observe anything but the perception.
David HumeRead
I am a man, and whatever concerns humanity is of interest to me.
TerenceRead