Books: Heinlein, and Lazarus Long

[American Patriot]

Of all the books I have read, in all my life, my absolute two favorite authors were Asimov and Heinlein. My favorite character was Lazarus Long.

Below are some things that I have remembered, and copied most from elsewhere. But, most of all, many of these things are part and parcel of how I've tried to live my life, following these "rules".

The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

• An armed society is a polite society.

• In a society in which it is a moral offense to be different from your neighbor your only escape is never to let them find out.

• Natural laws have no pity.

• Never frighten a little man. He'll kill you.

• Never insult anyone by accident.

• Never try to teach a pig to sing; it wastes your time and it annoys the pig.

• Rules serve best when broken.

• The greatest productive force is human selfishness.

• The meek shall inherit the earth, a 6 foot plot above them.

• The plural of spouse is spice.

• There are perhaps 5% of the population that simply can't think. There are another 5% who can, and do. The remaining 90% can think, but don't.

• To get anywhere, or even live a long time, a man has to guess, and guess right, over and over again, without enough data for a logical answer.

• When any government, or church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, this you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motive.

• Yield to temptation — it may not pass your way again.

• When one teaches, two learn.

• Anything that is moral for a group to do is moral for one person to do.

• Beauty is not diminished by being shared.

• Being right too soon is socially unacceptable.

• Belief gets in the way of learning.

• Age is not an accomplishment, and youth is not a sin.

• Death is the lot of all of us and the only way the human race has ever conquered death is by treating it with contempt.

• I don't see how an article of clothing can be indecent. A person, yes.

• If you would know a man, observe how he treats a cat.

• In the absence of clearly-defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily trivia until ultimately we become enslaved by it.

• Learning isn't a means to an end; it is an end in itself.

• No matter where or what, there are makers, takers, and fakers.

[American Patriot]

Arthur Clarke, for all his "liberalness" was a good writer as well. Is a good writer. He's still alive.

One of his most famous statements goes, "Any sufficiently advanced science will be indistinguishable from magic".

That's one other thing I strongly believe.

[American Patriot]

And today...

it was announced Kurt Vonnegut died yesterday.