“Man needs freedom, but few men are so strong as to be happy with complete freedom. A man needs to be part of a group, with accepted and respected relationships. Some men join foreign legions for adventure; still more swear on a bit of paper in order to acquire a framework of duties and obligations, customs and taboos, a time to work and a time to loaf, a comrade to dispute with and a sergeant to hate—in short, to belong.”

— Robert A. Heinlein, book Between Planets

Source: Between Planets (1951), Chapter 7, “The Detour” (p. 83)

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Robert A. Heinlein557

American science fiction author 1907–1988

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