Our behavior is different. How often have you seen a headline like this? — TWO DIE ATTEMPTING RESCUE OF DROWNING CHILD. If a man gets lost in the mou… - Robert A. Heinlein

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Engraved portrait of Robert A. Heinlein, facing right

Our behavior is different. How often have you seen a headline like this? — TWO DIE ATTEMPTING RESCUE OF DROWNING CHILD. If a man gets lost in the mountains, hundreds will search and often two or three searchers are killed. But the next time somebody gets lost just as many volunteers turn out.
Poor arithmetic, but very human. It runs through all our folklore, all human religions, all our literature — a racial conviction that when one human needs rescue, others should not count the price.

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About Robert A. Heinlein

Robert Anson Heinlein (7 July 1907 – 8 May 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of science fiction of the 20th Century.

Biography information from Wikiquote · Portrait adapted from Wikimedia Commons, Dd-b (CC BY-SA)

Also Known As

Pen Names: Anson MacDonald Lyle Monroe John Riverside Caleb Saunders Simon York
Birth Name: Robert Anson Heinlein
Alternative Names: Robert Heinlein

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Additional quotes by Robert A. Heinlein

“Do you seriously expect to start a rebellion with picayune stuff like that?”
“It’s not picayune stuff, because it acts directly on their emotions, below the logical level. You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic. It doesn’t have to be a prejudice about an important matter either.

“It is impossible for anyone to be responsible for another person’s behavior. I spoke of myself as ‘responsible’ for this group, that was verbal shorthand. The most I can do—or you, or any leader—is to encourage each one to be responsible for himself.”

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