The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
A community where everyone is a ruthless murderer, with handy access to death-dealing devices, is a very polite community.
Interpretation
What this quote means
A society that collectively adopts extreme behaviors may have a facade of politeness to maintain order.
This quote by Robert A. Heinlein suggests that in a community where everyone possesses the capability and tendency to commit extreme violence, there arises a peculiar form of politeness that serves as an unwritten social contract to ensure mutual survival among individuals. The irony lies in the notion that when everyone has access to lethal means, civil behavior becomes a strategy for coexistence, masking the underlying brutality of their actions.
Themes
CommunityViolencePolitenessIronySociety
In practice
Example use cases
During a debate on societal norms and morality, this quote can illustrate how extreme behaviors shape community dynamics.
More from Robert A. Heinlein
All quotes βAn armed society is a polite society.
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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.
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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.
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Progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.
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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.
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