The most important lesson in the writing trade is that any manuscript is improved if you cut away the fat.
Robert A. HeinleinRead
Men rarely if ever dream up a god superior to themselves. Most gods have the manners and morals of a spoiled child.
Interpretation
People often create gods in their own image, reflecting human flaws and immaturities.
This quote suggests that humans tend to envision gods that mirror their own traits, particularly the less admirable aspects of human nature. It implies that the attributes assigned to deities are often reflections of our own weaknesses and failings, rather than ideals of wisdom and virtue.
In practice
Use this quote in a discussion about the nature of religion and its impact on human behavior.
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.
Make sure that your religion is a matter between you and God only.
Water, stories, the body, all the things we do, are mediums that hid and show what's hidden.
Through prayer we can carry in our heart all human pain and sorrow, all conflicts and agonies, all torture and war, all hunger, loneliness and misery, not because of some great psychological or emotional capacity, but because God's heart has become one with ours.
Agency, or the power to choose, was ours as spirit children of our Creator before the world was. It is a gift from God, nearly as precious as life itself. Often, however, agency is misunderstood. While we are free to choose, once we have made those choices, we are tied to the consequence of those choices. We are free to take drugs or not. But once we choose to use a habit-forming drug, we are bound to the consequences of that choice. Addiction surrenders later freedom to choose.
The Nihilistic Troll might pretend to be acting in the service of some cause or leader, but don't be fooled. The cause and their supposedly strong convictions are simply a way to justify and provide cover for their abusive behavior.
Liberty cannot be guaranteed by law. Nor by any thing else except the resolution of free citizens to defend their liberties.
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