13 Robert A. Heinlein Quotes on Truth

Robert A. Heinlein quotes on truth

1. How can I possibly put a new idea into your heads, if I do not first remove your delusions?

46. A fake fortuneteller can be tolerated. But an authentic soothsayer should be shot on sight. Cassandra did not get half the kicking around she deserved.

66. Beware of altruism. It is based on self-deception, the root of all evil.

77. Does history record any case in which the majority was right?

81. Everybody lies about sex.

87. History has the relation to truth that theology has to religion - i.e., none to speak of.

90. If it can't be expressed in figures, it is not science; it is opinion. It has long been known that one horse can run faster than another - but which one? Differences are crucial.

92. If tempted by something that feels 'altruistic,' examine your motives and root out that self-deception. Then, if you still want to do it, wallow in it!

100. It's amazing how much 'mature wisdom' resembles being too tired.

131. The phrase 'we (I) (you) simply must -' designates some thing that need not be done. 'That goes without saying' is a red warning. 'Of course' means you had best check it yourself. These small-change cliches and others like them, when read correctly, are reliable channel markers.

135. The truth of a proposition has nothing to do with its credibility. And vice versa.

166. A religion is sometime a source of happiness, and I would not deprive anyone of happiness. But it is a comfort appropriate for the weak, not for the strong. The great trouble with religion - any religion - is that a religionist, having accepted certain propositions by faith, cannot thereafter judge those propositions by evidence. One may bask at the warm fire of faith or choose to live in the bleak certainty of reason- but one cannot have both.

175. The hardest part about gaining any new idea is sweeping out the false idea occupying that niche. As long as that niche is occupied, evidence and proof and logical demonstration get nowhere. But once the niche is emptied of the wrong idea that has been filling it - once you can honestly say, 'I don't know', then it becomes possible to get at the truth.