Among his many job titles, Robert A. Heinlein was a groundbreaking science fiction writer and creative pioneer. He published over 100 written works during his lifetime (including 32 novels), beginning in the 1930s.
Heinlein was considered ahead of his time because his books presented themes of racial equality, space travel, sexual liberation, religious freedom, global governance, and individual liberty.
Some of his most celebrated books include Stranger in a Strange Land, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, Time Enough for Love, Between Planets, and Starship Troopers. As a former aeronautical engineer and navy officer, Heinlein predicted technological advancements like mobile phones, screensavers, voice recognition technologies, automatic light switches, computer-aided design, waterbeds, and electric hand dryers.
Through his writing, he also invented words and popularized phrases like “pay it forward.”
Take in our five favorite Heinlein quotes below.
1.
“A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill.”
2.
“No statement should be believed because it is made by an authority.”
3.
“Our headlines are splashed with crime… decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but it is a force stronger than crime.”
4.
“Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own… Jealousy is a disease, love is a healthy condition.”
5.
“I believe in my whole race—yellow, white, black, red, brown—in the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability, and goodness of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being.”