Quotes from work

Time Enough for Love

“If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for… but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong.”

“Everybody lies about sex.”

“A motion to adjourn is always in order.”

“Cheops' Law: Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.”

“Every general prohibition creates its bootleggers.”

“There is no conclusive evidence of life after death. But there is no evidence of any sort against it. Soon enough you will know.”

“Sense is never common.”

“A woman is not property, and husbands who think otherwise are living in a dreamworld.”

“Everything in excess! To enjoy the flavor of life, take big bites. Moderation is for monks.”

“Animals can be driven crazy by placing too many in too small a pen. Homo sapiens is the only animal that voluntarily does this to himself.”

“Never try to outstubborn a cat.”

“I came, I saw, she conquered."
The original Latin seems to have been garbled.”

“A community where everyone is a ruthless murderer, with handy access to death-dealing devices, is a very polite community.”

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

“Never tease an old dog; he might have one bite left.”

“The difference between science and the fuzzy subjects is that science requires reasoning, while those other subjects merely require scholarship.”

“Masturbation is cheap, clean, convenient, and free of any possibility of wrongdoing —and you don't have to go home in the cold. But it's lonely.”

“If you happen to be one of the fretful minority who can do creative work, never force an idea; you'll abort it if you do. Be patient and you'll give birth to it when the time is ripe. Learn to wait.”

“"No man is an island — " Much as we may feel and act as Individuals, our race is —a single organism, always growing and branching —which must be pruned regularly to be healthy.
This necessity need not be argued; anyone with eyes can see that any organism which grows without limit always dies in its own poisons. The only rational question is whether pruning is best done before or after birth.
Being an incurable sentimentalist I favor the former of these methods —killing makes me queasy, even when it's a case of "He's dead and I'm alive and that's the way I wanted it to be."
But this may be a matter of taste. Some shamans think that it is better to be killed in a war, or to die in childbirth, or to starve in misery, than never to have lived at all. They may be right.
But I don't have to like it —and I don't.”