Patriotism is not 'my country right or wrong'; patriotism means loving the ideals for which America stands and having the courage to speak up when these ideals are distorted for personal or political gain. The American government was instituted to be the servant of the people, not our master.
Robert A. HeinleinBut if you didn't have more urgent things to do after supper [in boot camp], you could write a letter, loaf, gossip, discuss the myriad mental shortcomings of sergeants and, dearest of all, talk about the female of the species (we became convinced that there was no such creatures, just mythology created by inflamed imaginations - one boy in our company claimed to have seen a girl, over at regimental headquarters; he was unanimously judged a liar and a braggart).
Robert A. HeinleinBeing sorry won't get you into heaven. Get happy, son. Get that old spring into your step and stay on your toes.
Robert A. HeinleinI'll give you an exact definition. When the happiness of another person becomes as essential to yourself as your own, then the state of love exists.
Robert A. HeinleinThe United States has become a place where entertainers and professional athletes are mistaken for people of importance.
Robert A. HeinleinThe bugs are not like us. The Pseudo-Arachnids arenโt even like spiders. They are arthropods who happen to look like a madmanโs conception of a giant intelligent spider, but their organization, psychological and economic, is more like that of ants or termites; they are communal entities, the ultimate dictatorship of the hive.
Robert A. Heinlein