The Notebooks of Lazarus Long

"A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects."

"Never appeal to a man's better nature. He may not have one. Invoking his self-interest gives you more leverage."

"There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch (TANSTAAFL). Anything free costs twice as much in the long run or turns out worthless."

"I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do."

"A generation which ignores history has no past and no future."

"Always listen to experts. They'll tell you what can't be done, and why. Then do it."

"When a place gets crowded enough to require ID cards, social security numbers, and permits to take a walk, I leave."

"Taxes are not levied for the benefit of the taxed."

"Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own."

"Yield to temptation. It may not pass your way again."

"Moving parts in rubbing contact require lubrication to avoid excessive wear. Honorifics and formal politeness are the oil that reduces friction in human interactions."

"What are the necessary preconditions for an enduring democracy? One, that the citizens be intelligent enough to understand public questions. Two, that they be honest enough to resist buying votes. Three, that they have courage enough to fight for their rights. Did you ever know such a nation? Neither did I."

"If a man cannot enjoy the return of spring, why should he be happy in a labor-saving heaven?"

"Does history record any case in which the majority was right?"

"Don't handicap your children by making their lives easy."

"Delusions are often functional. A mother's opinions with respect to her children's beauty, intelligence, and good behavior assists her in rearing them."

"The greatest of all the arts is the art of living with people, and the most difficult."

"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity, but don't rule out malice."

"A weapon is an adult tool. To deny it to a responsible person is to classify them as property."

"It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so."

"The universe never promised to make sense to us. It merely exists. It is up to us to make sense of it."

"Man is not a rational animal; he is a rationalizing animal."

"The Moon is a harsh mistress. She forgives no errors, respects no excuses, and gives no second chances."

"I have no use for people who say they want to die with their boots on. I want to die in bed, very old, surrounded by weeping young women."

"Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking persons."

"You have grokked in fullness when you understand so thoroughly that you merge with that which you observe."