I have never been impressed by the formal schools of ethics. I had sampled them — public libraries are a ready source of recreation for an actor shor… - Robert A. Heinlein

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Engraved portrait of Robert A. Heinlein, facing right

I have never been impressed by the formal schools of ethics. I had sampled them — public libraries are a ready source of recreation for an actor short of cash — but I had found them as poor in vitamins as a mother-in-law’s kiss. Given time and plenty of paper, a philosopher can prove anything. I had the same contempt for the moral instruction handed to most children. Much of it is prattle and the parts they really seem to mean are dedicated to the sacred proposition that a “good” child is one who does not disturb mother’s nap and a “good” man is one who achieves a muscular bank account without getting caught. No, thanks!

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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

And all over the country the antagonists of human liberty, of human dignity—the racketeers, the crooked political figures, the shysters, the dealers in phony religions, the sweat-shoppers, the petty authoritarians, all of the key figures among the traffickers in human misery and human oppression, themselves somewhat adept in the arts of the mind and acutely aware of the danger of free knowledge—all of this unholy breed stirred uneasily and wondered what was taking place.

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