The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Heroism' often consists in keeping your head in an emergency and doing the best you can with what you have instead of panicking and being shot in the tail. People who fight this way win more battles than do intentional heroes; a glory hound often throws away the lives of his mates as well as his own.
Interpretation
Heroism is about maintaining composure in crises and doing your best with available resources.
In this quote, Heinlein emphasizes that true heroism is characterized by calmness and resourcefulness during emergencies rather than reckless bravery. He criticizes those who seek glory over the welfare of their companions, implying that genuine heroes are those who prioritize practical action and teamwork over personal accolades.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational speech about leadership in crisis situations.
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.
Never be ashamed! There's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth bothering with.
It's better to die laughing than to live each moment in fear.
If I still had my legs, I would be in line for a battalion command, and instead, I'm flying a desk.
For years and years, I convinced myself that I was unbreakable, an animal with an animal strength or something not human at all. Me, I told people, I take damage like a wall, a brick wall that never falls down, never feels anything, never flinches or remembers. I am one woman but I carry in my body all the stories I have ever been told, women I have known, women who have taken damage until they tell themselves they can feel no pain at all.
It isn't for the moment you are struck that you need courage, but for that long uphill climb back to sanity and faith and security.
To me, David Astor was a freedom fighter. To me, he wasn't just a journalist; he was a freedom fighter.
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