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121 " Each sunrise is a precious jewel . . . for it may never be followed by its sunset. "
― Robert A. Heinlein , Stranger in a Strange Land
122 " obscurity is usually the refuge of incompetence "
123 " Age does not bring wisdom, Ben, but it does give perspective . . . and the saddest sight of all is to see, far behind you, temptations you’ve resisted. "
124 " That’s a subject as safe as being in favor of Christmas. "
125 " Call it that if you like. Calling a tail a leg doesn’t make it one. "
126 " I came by my decrepitude the hard way and I propose to enjoy it. "
127 " Mmm, one does have to learn to look at art. But it’s up to the artist to use language that can be understood. Most of these jokers don’t want to use language you and I can learn; they would rather sneer because we ‘fail’ to see what they are driving at. If anything. Obscurity is the refuge of incompetence. "
128 " The fact that he had broken his oath more times than there were years intervening did not trouble him; his was not a small mind bothered by logic and consistency. "
129 " [He] stopped long enough to remind himself that this baby innocent was neither babyish nor innocent — was in fact sophisticated in a culture which he was beginning to realize, however dimly, was far in advance of human culture in some very mysterious ways… and that these naive remarks came from a superman — or what would do in place of a ‘superman’ for the time being. "
130 " Sit back down—and for God’s sake quit trying to be as nasty as I am; you don’t have my years of practice. "
131 " A poisonous snake is not dangerous, not any more than a loaded gun is dangerous—in each case, if you handle it properly. The thing that made that coral snake dangerous was that I hadn’t known what it was, what it could do. If, in my ignorance, I had handled it carelessly, it would have killed me as casually and as innocently as a kitten scratches. "
132 " Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is about eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried. Democracy's worst faults is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents - a depressingly low level, but what else can you expect? "
133 " Allie, what do the Stars tell me to do? You know I don't understand the scientific part. "
134 " Congratulations! A desire not to butt into other people’s business is eighty percent of all human wisdom. "
135 " most neuroses can be traced to the unhealthy habit of wallowing in the troubles of five billion strangers. "
136 " What the self-styled modern artists are doing is a sort of unemotional pseudo-intellectual masturbation . . . whereas creative art is more like intercourse, in which the artist must seduce—render emotional-his audience, each time. "
137 " There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk "his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor" on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else. Jill Boardman encountered her personal challenge - and accepted it - at 3:47. "
138 " Faith strikes me as intellectual laziness, but I don’t argue with it—especially as I am rarely in a position to prove that it is mistaken. "
139 " There comes a time in the life of every human when he or she must decide to risk “his life, his fortune, and his sacred honor” on an outcome dubious. Those who fail the challenge are merely overgrown children, can never be anything else. "
140 " All three of us are prisoners of our early indoctrinations, for it is hard, very nearly impossible, to shake off one’s earliest training. "