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March 3 - March 24, 2021
“In an exceptional geometry class. Don’t faint, Zebbie, but I was grouped with what they called ‘overachievers’ after it became ‘undemocratic’ to call them ‘gifted children.’ ”
Lack of data never justifies a conclusion.
We always marry strangers.
degrees, per se, are worthless. Often they are honorifics of true scientists or learned scholars or inspired teachers. Much more frequently they are false faces for overeducated jackasses.”
“I knew that the stupidest students, the silliest professors, and the worst bull courses are concentrated in schools of education.
cops and courts no longer protect citizens, so citizens must protect themselves.”
no born leader seeks command; the mantle descends on him, he wears the burden because he must.
A “sophisticate” is a person who knows where the light switch is. In Helium we rarely knew “where the light switch is”—or anything
Occam’s Razor was not always sharp.
We fought to get rid of kings; we insist that our presidents kiss babies and mingle with the peepul … then slobber over the worn-out royalty of Europe.
staring is the most harmless of recreations and should be encouraged.
‘Magic’ is the classic—and correct—word—symbol—for any phenomenon totally unfamiliar to a culture.
if you don’t worry ahead of time, you’ll regret it later.
he’s a mathematician and I’m not. I just skip over the hard parts and look up the answer in the back of the book.”
Did Heinlein get his name in the hat?” “Four votes, but split. Two for his Future History, two for Stranger in a Strange Land. So he didn’t make it.” “Well I didn’t vote for Stranger and I’ll refrain from embarrassing anyone by asking who did. My god, the things some writers will do for money.” “Samuel Johnson said that anyone who wrote for any other reason was a fool.”
once a scientist thinks he understands a process, his mind begins to ossify.”
Each of us is very different from the other three—equals only in each being dependent on the others,
I hadn’t been surprised when he kicked over his career to stand up for what he felt was right. Real officers did that.
Freedom can never be given; it must be won.
