Quote #55

All societies are based on rules to protect pregnant women and young children. All else is surplusage, excrescence, adornment, luxury, or folly, which can - and must - be dumped in emergency to preserve this prime function. As racial survival is the only universal morality, no other basic is possible. Attempts to formulate a 'perfect society' on any foundation other than 'Women and children first!' is not only witless, it is automatically genocidal. Nevertheless, starry-eyed idealists (all of them male) have tried endlessly - and no doubt will keep on trying.

More from Robert A. Heinlein

  1. All men are created unequal.
  2. A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill.
  3. A zygote is a gamete's way of producing more gametes. This may be the purpose of the universe.
  4. Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it.
  5. A woman is not property, and husbands who think otherwise are living in a dreamworld.
  6. Always store beer in a dark place,
  7. A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an 'intellectual' - find out how he feels about astrology.
  8. An elephant. A mouse built to government specifications.

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