Robert Heinlein at 100

http://www.reason.com/news/printer/120766.html ^

[devane617]

May not be an exact quote, but close...

"— Humans are not defined by the gifts they posses, but by the virtues they lack."

[ontap]

Well DUH! I need more coffee!!

[sauropod]

review

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

I’d rather have a ‘specialist’ operating on my brain than someone who ‘has studied neuro surgery’ and splits his time between studying computer programming and manure composting.

There’s a difference between being a ‘specialist’ because you are of such a low order of insect that you are incapable of any advanced reasoning and only do what you are pre-programmed by instinct to do and specializing because you have such incredible powers of learning, reasoning, and retention that you remove a tumor from someone’s brain and save their life.

[bill1952]

I can’t believe that he is a 100. - Well, actually, I do believe it, but I had never thought about his age before. Amazing!

I would ask him his secret to attain such a lifespan or how he managed to live to so long, but I’m sure he conversation would go something like this:

“To what do you attribute your long life?”

“To the fact that I haven’t died yet.”

[Eric in the Ozarks]

“The justification for free enterprise is not that its more efficient, but that its free.”

[Pablo64]

Yeah, I suspect that there are several little inside jokes, or homages scattered throughout the book that the general public was maybe not necessarily supposed to be in on, but that friends (or critics) might pick up on.

[Pablo64]

You do know he is dead, don't you?

This is just a commentary on the 100th anniversary of his birth.

[bill1952]

There is also an absurdity in having a medical doctor not being able to, or allowed to, set a broken bone in your hand because he is not an “upper extremity orthopedic specialist.”

And yes, that did, and does happen every day.
But don’t worry. - It may not take any longer than a week or two to wait with a broken hand after you find one.

[bill1952]

Ahhhh! He is dead? No, I didn’t know that. - Thanks!

[Pablo64]

Yup. Departed this dimension in 1988.

His work is still timeless in many ways, though.

[Young Werther]

I was/am an avid fan. I remember when he developed an anurism in the brain and a "new" surgical technique was performed on him. He testified before a Congressional committee and waxed eloquent about the need to fund further research.

One of my friends in the National Space Society attended many SciFi conventions and asked for and received Heinlein's permission to tape the presentations. After Heinlein's death he contacted his wife Virginia and mentioned the taped sessions. Virginia said that Robert had not provided for the sessions being taped and thanked him profusely when he offered copies of the presentations.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

Count me as someone who didn’t know until recently that “An armed society is a polite society,” was Heinlein’s quote...

[KarlInOhio]

Hopefully with a lot of hand washing between those steps.

[Bear_in_RoseBear]

Heinlein ping...

[Proud_texan]

"I can’t find it anywhere"

Sure enough it's out of print but there are used copies on eBay "buy it now" for pretty cheap. Suspect it's available at other used book places as well.

[Proud_texan]

"I can’t find it anywhere"

Sure enough it's out of print but there are used copies on eBay "buy it now" for pretty cheap. Suspect it's available at other used book places as well.

[Pablo64]

That is undoubtably one of his most quoted sayings. If I remember correctly, it shows up in a section of his book "Time Enough for Love" as being written in the notebook of the main character, Lazarus Long. Lots of other great quotes and such in that part of the book.

[dljordan]

I’m re-reading “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” right now. Great stuff.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

And most often quoted by others without crediting Heinlein.