Robert A. Heinlein Quotes

It's human nature to want to help and soothe and save with your love, but it's also arrogant.

People are nicer than economists give us credit for. The economists cannot understand why people would work long and hard to clean up a community after a hurricane. … Most economists don’t have any interest in or understanding of psychology.

It is these undeniable qualities of human love and compassion and self-sacrifice that give me hope for the future. We are, indeed, often cruel and evil. Nobody can deny this. We gang up on each one another, we torture each other, with words as well as deeds, we fight, we kill. But we are also capable of the most noble, generous, and heroic behavior.

Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.

I'm fascinated how often and with what whole-heartedness people will risk their lives to perform acts of courage, sacrifice, and compassion for total strangers.

My girls and I regularly go through their rooms to find clothes and toys to donate to charities. I firmly believe that children who have been given so much need to experience the joy that comes from giving.

The great majority of people are calm, resourceful, altruistic or even beyond altruistic, as they risk themselves for others. We improvise the conditions of survival beautifully.

The simple act of caring is heroic.

What is a hero without love for mankind.

Humankind would improve if we concentrated less on being human and more on being kind.

If you stop to be kind, you must swerve often from your path.

The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.

Certainly, hunger can bring out the worst in us. But it can also bring out the best.

When you remove just some of the barriers, people do what people do: help their families.

Day, the champion of the people, the one who can't bear to see those around him suffer on his behalf, who would gladly give his life for those he loves.

Happiness lies in making others happy, in forsaking self-interest to bring joy to others.

Mr. Harinton was real. There were adults in the world who would actually make sacrifices for others - not just for their own families but for anyone who needed help. Nicholas had always had the impression that families looked after one another, and he had come to understand that, on rare ocassions, children would do the same... But this was different. What Mr. Harinton was doing certainly helped Nicolas - but it also simply felt right to Nicholas. It made him want to be exactly like Mr. Harinton himself.

Once, there was a girl who vowed she would save everyone in the world, but forgot herself.

Whenever I see a homeless guy, I always run back and give him money, because I think, 'Oh my God, what if that was Jesus?'

Generosity is stronger and wiser than cruelty and indifference… The real secret of life is good will.

I believe people are wonderful. The vast majority of people have never hurt anybody in their lives.

I like the people … who stand around and say so little but who are always ready to do something if it needs to be done.

The major forces in human nature: self interest and caring for others

We must challenge a culture that is based on too much meanness and not enough meaning.