The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Come Judgment Day, we may find that Mumbo Jumbo the God of the Congo was the Big Boss all along.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote suggests that our beliefs about power and authority may be challenged at the end of times.
Heinlein's quote prompts a reflection on the nature of authority and divinity, suggesting that what humanity often perceives as significant power or truth might be misguided. It raises questions about faith, belief systems, and the possibility that what we assume to be trivial or chaotic (like 'Mumbo Jumbo') might hold a greater truth than we acknowledge.
Themes
BeliefAuthorityTruthPerceptionFaith
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a philosophical discussion about the nature of belief systems.
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
A theologian is born by living, nay dying and being damned, not by thinking, reading, or speculating.
Martin LutherRead
Such is of the course of deeds that move the wheels of the world: small hands do them because they must, while the eyes of the great are elsewhere.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
It was too much. The comfortable people made comfortable jokes about weather and things but I sat mostly silent saying a word or so when necessary a word or so trying to hide from them the fact that I was a fool and feeling terrible And I was numb, numb again, numb again again and again, numbness and pain swelling in me.
Charles BukowskiRead
The central purpose of the Work that Reconnects is to help people uncover and experience their innate connections with each other and with the systemic, self-healing powers of the web of life, so that they may be enlivened and motivated to play their part in creating a sustainable civilization.
Joanna MacyRead
The instant formal government is abolished, society begins to act. A general association takes place, and common interest produces common security.
Thomas PaineRead
When people get taken over by the ego to such an extent, there is nothing else in their mind except the ego. They can no longer feel or sense their humanity - what they share with other human beings, or even with other life forms on the planet. They are so identified with concepts in their minds that other human beings become concepts as well.
Eckhart TolleRead