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21 " Nor would anybody suspect. If was one thing all people took for granted, was conviction that if you feed honest figures into a computer, honest figures come out. Never doubted it myself till I met a computer with a sense of humor. "
― Robert A. Heinlein , The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress
22 " The trouble with conspiracies is that they rot internally. "
23 " Must be yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. "
24 " Drop dead-but first get permit "
25 " That we were slaves I had known all my life--and nothing could be done about it. True, we weren't bought and sold--but as long as Authority held monopoly over what we had to have and what we could sell to buy it, we were slaves. "
26 " Children seldom are able to realize that death will come to them personally. One might define adulthood as the age at which a person learns that he must die ... and accepts his sentence undismayed. "
27 " I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do. "
28 " My point is that one person is responsible, Always. If H-bombs exist--and they do--some man controls them. In terms of morals there is no such thing as 'state'. Just men. Individuals. Each responsible for his own acts. "
29 " Prof is right; more than three people can’t decide anything. "
30 " Must be a yearning deep in the human heart to stop the people from doing as they please. Rules, laws--always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up. Because not one of those people said: "Please pass this so that I won't be able to do something I know I should stop." Nyet, tovarishchee, was always something they hated to see neighbors doing. Stop them "for their own good"--not because speaker claimed to be harmed by it. "
31 " Some logics get nervous breakdowns. Overloaded phone system behaves like frightened child. Mike did not have upsets, acquired sense of humor instead. Low one. If he were a man, you wouldn't dare stoop over. His idea of thigh-slapper would be to dump you out of bed — or put itch powder in pressure suit. "
32 " I don't know Who is cranking; I'm pleased He doesn't stop. "
33 " The power to tax, once conceded, has no limits; it continues until it destroys. I was not joking when I told them to dig into their own pouches. It may not be possible to do away with government – sometimes I think that government is an inescapable disease of human beings. But it may be possible to keep it small and starved and inoffensive – and can you think of a better way than by requiring the governors themselves to pay the costs of their antisocial hobby? "
34 " We organized First and Second Volunteer Defense Gunners of Free Luna-two regiments so that First could snub lowly Second and Second could be jealous of First. "
35 " Is a virus self-aware? Nyet. How about oyster? I doubt it. A cat? Almost certainly. A human? Don’t know about you, tovarishch, but I am. "
36 " When did you ever worry about offending me?’ ‘Always, Man, once I understood that you could be offended. "
37 " Nobody paid attention; they walked around or stepped over – except one woman carrying a baby, who stopped, kicked him carefully in face, then went down ramp. "
38 " Being kissed by Wyoming Knott is more definite than being married to most women. "
39 " A man can face known danger. But the unknown frightens him. We "
40 " Must be a yearning deep in human heart to stop other people from doing as they please. Rules, laws – always for other fellow. A murky part of us, something we had before we came down out of trees, and failed to shuck when we stood up. Because not one of those people said: ‘Please pass this so that I won’t be able to do something I know I should stop.’ Nyet, tovarisschee, was always something they hated to see neighbors doing. Stop them ‘for their own good’ – not because speaker claimed to be harmed by it. "