The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best, he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear his shoes, bathe, and not make messes in the house.
Interpretation
Mathematics is essential for fully developing human intellect and capabilities.
This quote by Robert A. Heinlein emphasizes the importance of mathematics in human life and intellect. It suggests that the ability to cope with mathematical concepts is a fundamental aspect of being fully human, indicating that those who struggle with it are lacking in a vital dimension of understanding and reasoning, akin to merely existing without truly engaging with one's potential.
In practice
In a speech about the importance of STEM education, this quote can highlight the value of mathematics.
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.
You have no idea how unimportant is all that the teacher says or does not say on the surface, and how important what he himself is as teacher.
Mathematics consists in proving the most obvious thing in the least obvious way.
No teaching could be more direct than just to sit down.
Read a lot. Read broadly... Tell stories to your friends, and pay attention to when they get bored... Write a lot.
Children are not the people of tomorrow, but people today. They are entitled to be taken seriously. They have a right to be treated by adults with tenderness and respect, as equals. They should be allowed to grow into whoever they were meant to be - The unknown person inside each of them is the hope for the future.
Reading to our children and our grandchildren is something we can all try to do every day of the year. Not only does it give us pleasure but it leads them on a voyage of discovery and enrichment that only books can bring.
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