TANSTAAFL

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'm a born rule breaker....and it's not free!... But it's empowering to the soul if my spirit screams no more!)

"You can have peace. Or you can have freedom. Don't ever count on having both at once."

Peace without Freedom is Misery!

The quotes are great and bring back many a wistful afternoon or evening spent pondering the imponderable with one or another of Robert Heinleins books.
Although he lost me with the extreme licentiousness tack he took in "Stranger in.."

But that said, his quotes are some I still have on my walls at work because they are still very true.

Thanks for stopping by, I like what you added in Parenthesis.

Along of course with Edward Bulwer Lytton. “When the world has got hold of a lie, it is astonishing how hard it is to kill it. You beat it over the head, till it seems to have given up the ghost, and behold! the next day it is as healthy as ever.”

Puts me in mind of ALGore

Great minds think alike! I'm happy to see you appreciate Mr. Heinlein's works also.

I agree that Heinlein was a bit licentious (especially in "Stranger"), he was also a borderline agnostic when it came to religion. I dont know if he ever made up his mind before he passed away.

BUT, his ideas on democracy and freedom are precious jewels of wisdom no matter what your feelings might be on his other views.

Here is a link to a website created with the blessing of his wife Virgina Heinlein:

http://www.heinleinsociety.org/

It has a lot of info on the great man and his work.

Classic. I will have to check out Lord Lytton's (aint google wonderful?) work, I have never read any of him before. Thanks for turning me on to it!

And yes, it does seem suited to the Goracle. Now there is a piece of work that needs beat over the head if there ever was one!

1. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress

2. Glory Road

3. Starship Troopers

Merry Christmas! I will see everyone when I get back from Monroe, LA and my grandkids.

These are great sayings.

Keep them coming.

I would give a few of my own but I'm cooking right now.

Merry Christmas.

Good taste sir!

Enjoy your time with family, see you when you get back.

Merry Christmas!

Heinlein had a million of them. I'm glad you liked the ones I posted.

Merry Christmas!

You have most certainly convinced me that I need to read his books!

The quotes are incredible!

Thank you very much for this post! Merry Christmas my dear!

The last time the USA was really united was in WWII and even then, actors like Lew Ayers led some Hollywood pacifists but they were few and far between. The fact is , schools do not teach the value of competition, free enterprise, innovative inventions that need hard work and capital to expand. They want kids to be equal without striving for the best. The teach that only Govt. and the 'community' should set the standards for achievement. I know, I have tried to stop such in my 47 years of teaching in college. To my colleagues, I am from the 18th Century. LOL. I too love Science Fiction and very little looks to conservative traditions or heritage: usually ruling out the Biblical God and showing the glory of an outreaching humanity. Reminds me of how the elites in the USA loved The New Soviet Man. The masses today hope for revenge against the unfairness of those who have been productive. Perhaps there will be Resisters as Grassfire proposes and a regeneration of the old values will make a comeback. We shall see as soon as the New Year. So Happy New Year too.

...I never read any of his books. Whats your recommendation on a good one to start out with? DD

I'm happy I was able to introduce you to one of my literary heros. I would suggest the book mentioned in this post, "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress". Also, I particularly enjoyed his "Lazurus Long" serious which started with "Methusela's Children". You can google his book list for more options.

If you are religious minded I would avoid "Stranger in a Strange Land" as my first exposure to Heinlein. He tends to spoof organized/commercialized religion heavily in this book. Mr. Heinlein was raised a Methodist but he never discussed his personal religious views in his writing or conversations as an adult.

I hope you enjoy his work as much as I have.

Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

I applaud your intestinal fortitude for holding fast to your principles while you were teaching. The peer pressure from the leftists must have been incredible.

I know what you are saying and agree with your assessment about the dumbing down of our schools. The PC crowd has gutted our chance to remain competitive in the world by eliminating the competitive spirit that brought us where we are today. Sadly I see a slow decline in our country because if this.

I hope you are right about us seeing a reversal towards conservative values. God help us if the trend continues as it has been.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

See my reply to American Sweetheart. Also, you might try "Starship Troopers" which was made into a movie recently. There are so many great works to choose from it is hard to name just one. The Heinlein Society page that I linked to Boaz also has a lot of information.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

They've been avid readers of Sci-fi ever since they were 12 or 13 years old. they are now 51 and still have their Heinlein books and will reread one every now and then.

Good post Dean.........especially for Heinlein fans.

Merry Christmas. (:-

So simple, yet so on the money. Thanks Dean, good post

So simple, yet so on the money. Thanks Dean, good post.

You must have done a fine job raising those boys if they became Heinlein fans!

Thank you for the kind words and have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Thanks for stopping by and for the kind words.

Some of Mr. Heinlein's words just seem to resonate at this time so I thought I would share them with those who may not have been familiar with them.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Love the added quotes. I'm not a sci-fi reader but I may actually have to read a Heinlein book.

Heinlein wrote alot of Juvenile oriented books early in his career. He later wrote more mature books post 1960. There are many wiki/google type sites that list his books and you can get an idea of the type/subject from them.

Mr. Heinlein had the unique ability to mix humor and common sense philosophy with his sci-fi.

I hope you enjoy his work if you do decide to take one of his books on a test spin!

Hey the Clintonites, the gift that keeps on giving.

I thought "hope" and "change" secretly made, free for all? :) Okay kidding here!

Thanks for the post. I am not a big sci fi person, but this post is telling me that I need to get there and read some.

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

dead on. Keep it up, you're hitting the mark.

I too love Heinlein. Haven't read him in a long time, but was one of my absolute favorites. Great collection of quotes, and good blog. I remember Starship Troopers as having suffrage only available to citizens who had served in the military. That would be okay with me.

Probably my favorite Heinlein novel is "Job:A Comedy of Justice." I'm not sure why, though. I've read it a few times, and invariably find it amusing.

A possibly apocryphal story about Heinlein: There was a supposed bar bet between Heinlein and L Ron Hubbard to see who could create the better religion. Heinlein wrote "Stranger," and Hubbard created Scientology. If you read a biography of Hubbard, like "Bare-Faced Messiah," then reread "Stranger," the parallels are eerie.

Taking into account the 1961 publication date of "Stranger," it appears that Heinlein wrote a twisted take on Hubbard and Scientology up to that point. However, after 1961, Scientology takes some really strange turns that suggest Hubbard was trying to live out Heinlein's novel, that in some way he regarded himself as a Smith-like character. It's almost like one is a parody of the other, but both are so intertwined that you can't tell which is the original.

I have tried for years to create a Heinlein-esque society, but have yet to convince even one woman to run around naked.

Alas.

Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping by and commenting!

Not everyone enjoys Sci-fi, it may not be your cup of tea. Heinlein is considered one of the early legends in the genre though and he wrote a lot of books. As I said before, I love his humor and wit.

Thanks for stopping in and thank you for the kind words. I can see blogging is like time spent on the range, it takes lots of boxes of ammo to stay proficient on the range and words typed here are like rounds of ammo. I'll just keep plinking away.

Thanks for stopping in and commenting.

I do agree with you, I feel that citizenship should be earned, not a right. I have felt this way for many years. Whether you volunteer for community, state or federal service matters little, giving back to your country is what earns you a stake in it. Those who have not given anything back to their country have no stake in it and their voice holds little merit IMO.

Thanks for the kind words, I'll keep trying to improve as I learn how to do this blogging thing.

I hope you had a Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year!

I too enjoyed Job, but there have been few books of Mr. Heinlein's that I did NOT enjoy.

As for Mr. Hubbard, I never liked his writing and I have no use for his religion. Having read "Stranger" I can sure see where that story might have some merit.

I enjoyed "Stranger", anyone reading it for the first time has to take some of his 'pokes at religion' with a grain of salt. One of the scenes in that book that was instilled in my mind from the time I read it was when Mike goes to the zoo and laughs for the very first time watching the monkeys. Who but Heinlein would connect laughter as humans way of relieving pain. All jokes are at the pain of someone else.

On your P.S. I feel your pain Bro. =)

Thanks for stopping by and joining the discussion. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!