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Place Your Clothes And Weapons Where You Can Find Them In The Dark.
-Robert A. Heinlein
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Place Your Clothes And

Robert A. Heinlein
...
Place Your Clothes And Weapons Where You Can Find Them In The Dark.

Understanding the Quote: "place your clothes and weapons where you can find them in the..."

This quote by Robert A. Heinlein reflects deeply on the theme of dark. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Dark, Gun, Clothes, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Robert A. Heinlein interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Robert A. Heinlein

Robert A. Heinlein is celebrated for insightful thoughts on dark and gun. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Dark
Gun
Clothes
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Logic Is A Feeble Reed, Friend. "logic" Proved That Airplanes Can't Fly And That H-bombs Won't Work And That Stones Don't Fall Out Of The Sky. Logic Is A Way Of Saying That Anything Which Didn't Happen Yesterday Won't Happen Tomorrow.
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If God Existed (a Question Concerning Which Jubal Maintained A Meticulous Intellectual Neutrality) And If He Desired To Be Worshiped (a Proposition Which Jubal Found Inherently Improbable But Conceivably Possible In The Dim Light Of His Own Ignorance), Then (stipulating Affirmatively Both The Above) It Nevertheless Seemed Wildly Unlikely To Jubal To The Point Of Reductio Ad Absurdum That A God Potent To Shape Galaxies Would Be Titillated And Swayed By The Whoop-te-do Nonsense The Fosterites Offered Him As "worship.
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The Police Of A State Should Never Be Stronger Or Better Armed Than The Citizenry. An Armed Citizenry, Willing To Fight, Is The Foundation Of Civil Freedom. That's A Personal Evaluation, Of Course.
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How You Behave Toward Cats Here Below Determines Your Status In Heaven.
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The Way To Find Justice Is To Deal Fairly With Other People And Not Worry About How They Deal With You.
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Talking With A Martian Is Like Talking With An Echo. You Don't Get Argument But You Don't Get Results.
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Have You Ever Known Me To Be Rude To A Lady?" "i Have Seen You Be Intentionally Rude To A Woman. I Have Never Seen You Be Rude To A Lady.
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To Assess The Intelligence Of A Committee, Divide The Iq Of Its Stupidest Member By The Number Of Members.
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The Country And Culture Commonly Known As "america" Had Had A Badly Split Personality All Through Its History. Its Overt Laws Were Almost Always Puritanical For A People Whose Covert Behavior Tended To Be Rabelaisian; Its Major Religions Were All Apollonian In Varying Degrees---its Religious Revivals Were Often Hysterical In A Fashion Almost Dionysian.
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You Have Attributed Conditions To Villainy That Simply Result From Stupidity.
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I've Found Out Why People Laugh. They Laugh Because It Hurts So Much . . . Because It's The Only Thing That'll Make It Stop Hurting.
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In Terms Of Morals There Is No Such Thing As ‘state.’ Just Men. Individuals. Each Responsible For His Own Acts.
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But Does Man Have Any 'right' To Spread Through The Universe? Man Is What He Is, A Wild Animal With The Will To Survive, And (so Far) The Ability, Against All Competition. Unless One Accepts That, Anything One Says About Morals, War, Politics, You Name It, Is Nonsense. Correct Morals Arise From Knowing What Man Is, Not What Do-gooders And Well-meaning Old Aunt Nellies Would Like Him To Be. The Universe Will Let Us Know - Later - Whether Or Not Man Has Any "right" To Expand Through It.
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When You're Rich, You Don't Have Friends; You Just Have Endless Acquaintances.
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The Hardest Part About Gaining Any New Idea Is Sweeping Out The False Idea Occupying That Niche. As Long As That Niche Is Occupied, Evidence And Proof And Logical Demonstration Get Nowhere. But Once The Niche Is Emptied Of The Wrong Idea That Has Been Filling It:; Once You Can Honestly Say, "i Don't Know", Then It Becomes Possible To Get At The Truth.
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Always Tell Her She Is Beautiful, Especially If She Is Not.
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People Who Go Broke In A Big Way Never Miss Any Meals. It Is The Poor Jerk Who Is Shy A Half Slug Who Must Tighten His Belt.
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If I Don’t Start Having Service I’m Going To Swap You All For A Dog And Shoot The Dog.
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Random Chance Is Not Sufficient To Explain Random Chance. ~jubal Harshaw
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The More You Love, The More You Can Love--and The More Intensely You Love. Nor Is There Any Limit On How Many You Can Love. If A Person Had Time Enough, He Could Love All Of That Majority Who Are Decent And Just.
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Anything Free Is Worth What You Pay For It.
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When The Need Arises - And It Does - You Must Be Able To Shoot Your Own Dog. Don't Farm It Out — That Doesn't Make It Nicer, It Makes It Worse.
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You Can't Conquer A Free Man; The Most You Can Do Is Kill Him.
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There Are Two Ways Of Forming An Opinion. One Is The Scientific Method; The Other, The Scholastic. To The Scientific Mind, Experimental Proof Is All-important, And Theory Is Merely A Convenience In Description, To Be Junked When It No Longer Fits. To The Academic Mind, Authority Is Everything, And Facts Are Junked When They Do Not Fit Theory.
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Revolution Is An Art That I Pursue Rather Than A Goal I Expect To Achieve. Nor Is This A Source Of Dismay; A Lost Cause Can Be As Spiritually Satisfying As A Victory.
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Like Every Living Thing Its Prime Characteristic Is A Blind, Unreasoned Instinct To Survive.
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Whoring Is Like Military Service...okay In The Upper Brackets, Not So Good Lower Down.
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Gentlemen, Let's Go Row!
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I Have Never Been Able To See Life As Anything But A Vast Complicated Practical Joke, And It's Better To Laugh Than Cry.
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It Is Possible That The Percentage Of Honest And Competent Whores Is Higher Than That Of Plumbers And Much Higher Than That Of Lawyers. And Enormously Higher Than That Of Professors.
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There Is No Way That Writers Can Be Tamed And Rendered Civilized Or Even Cured. The Only Solution Known To Science Is To Provide The Patient With An Isolation Room, Where He Can Endure The Acute Stages In Private And Where Food Can Be Poked In To Him With A Stick.
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Behind Every Mystery Lies Another Mystery.
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Every Congressman, Every Senator Knows Precisely What Causes Inflation... But Can't, [won't] Support The Drastic Reforms To Stop It [repeal Of The Federal Reserve Act] Because It Could Cost Him His Job.
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I Am Not Going To Talk About Religious Beliefs, But About Matters So Obvious That It Has Gone Out Of Style To Mention Them.
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Pacifism Is A Shifty Doctrine Under Which A Man Accepts The Benefits Of The Social Group Without Being Willing To Pay; And Claims A Halo For His Dishonesty.
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Certainly The Game Is Rigged. Don't Let That Stop You; If You Don't Bet You Can't Win.
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Life Is Short, But The Years Are Long.
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I Was Not Offended, My Love. An Insult Is Like A Drink; It Affects One Only If Accepted. And Pride Is Too Heavy Baggage For My Journey.
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'savage' Describes A Cultural Condition, Not A Degree Of Intelligence.
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Fighting
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A Committee Is The Only Known Form Of Life With A Hundred Bellies And No Brain.
Brain
Hundred
Form
Anything Which Is Physically Possible Can Always Be Made Financially Possible; Money Is A Bugaboo Of Small Minds.
Inspirational
Engineering
Mind
Autobiography Is Usually Honest But It Is Never Truthful.
Honest
Truthful
Autobiography
The Best Thing About Space Travel Is That It Made It Possible To Go Elsewhere.
Space
Made
Crowded Places
What A Wonderful World It Is That Has Girls In It!
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World
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A Prude Is A Person Who Thinks That His Own Rules Of Propriety Are Natural Laws.
Thinking
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Prudes
From Somewhere, Back In My Youth, Heard Prof Say, 'manuel, When Faced With A Problem You Do Not Understand, Do Any Part Of It You Do Understand, Then Look At It Again.' He Had Been Teaching Me Something He Himself Did Not Understand Very Well—something In Math—but Had Taught Me Something Far More Important, A Basic Principle.
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Important
The Saddest Thing About Ephemerals Was That Their Little Lives Rarely Held Time Enough For Love.
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Life
Littles
No Matter Where Or What, There Are Makers, Takers, And Fakers.
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Psychology
Matter
Die Trying" Is The Proudest Human Thing.
Trying
Humans
Dies
His Was Not A Small Mind Bothered By Logic And Consistency.
Consistency
Mind
Logic
Anyone Who Can Worship A Trinity And Insist That His Religion Is A Monotheism Can Believe Anything.
Believe
Religion
Worship
Don't Handicap Your Children By Making Their Lives Easy.
Life
Education
Children
I Would Say That My Position Is Not Too Far From That Of Ayn Rand's; That I Would Like To See Government Reduced To No More Than Internal Police And Courts, External Armed Forces - With The Other Matters Handled Otherwise. I'm Sick Of The Way Government Sticks Its Nose In Everything, Now.
Government
Sick
Police
If Satan Should Ever Replace God He Would Find It Necessary To Assume The Attributes Of Divinity.
Divinity
Assuming
Satan
I Scrolled On Down To The Obituaries. I Usually Read The Obituaries First As There Is Always The Happy Chance That One Of Them Will Make My Day.
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Chance
Obituary
It Was Equally Imperative That This Chain Of Reactions Should Always Tend To Dampen, To Die Out. It Must Not Build Up, Or The Uranium Mass Would Explode Within A Time Interval Too Short To Be Measured By Any Means Whatsoever. Nor Would There Be Anyone Left To Measure It.
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Too Short
Mass
Some People Insist That "mediocre" Is Better Than "best." They Delight In Clipping Wings Because They Themselves Can't Fly. They Despise Brains Because They Have None.
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People
Brain
Stupidity Cannot Be Cured With Money, Or Through Education, Or By Legislation.
Stupidity
Legislation
The Ordinary Bloke Will Not Voluntarily Pay For "art" That Leaves Him Unmoved--if He Does Pay For It, The Money Has To Be Conned Out Of Him, By Taxes And Such.
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Ordinary
Doe
A Fool Cannot Be Protected From His Folly. If You Attempt To Do So, You Will Not Only Arouse His Animosity But Also You Will Be Attempting To Deprive Him Of Whatever Benefit He Is Capable Of Deriving From Experience. Never Attempt To Teach A Pig To Sing; It Wastes Your Time And Annoys The Pig.
Pigs
Benefits
Waste
The More You Love, The More You Can Love - And The More Intensely You Love.
Democracy Is Based On The Assumption That A Million Men Are Wiser Than One Man. How's That Again? I Missed Something.
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Democracy
Assumption
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Intelligent
Men
Law
Then I Glanced At The Ring On My Finger. The Snake That Eats Its Own Tail, Forever And Ever. I Know Where I Came From—but Where Did All You Zombies Come From? I Felt A Headache Coming On, But A Headache Powder Is One Thing I Do Not Take. I Did Once—and You All Went Away. So I Crawled Into Bed And Whistled Out The Light. You Aren’t Really There At All. There Isn’t Anybody But Me—jane—here Alone In The Dark. I Miss You Dreadfully!
Dark
Snakes
Light
Stinky Says Women Should Be Obscene But Not Heard.
Should
Heard
Obscene
It's A Long Story. Want A Refill?" "no, Let's Start The Steak. Where's The Button?" "right Here." "well, Push It." "me? You Offered To Cook." "ben Caxton, I Will Lie Here And Starve Before I Will Get Up To Push A Button Six Inches From Your Finger" "as You Wish." He Pressed The Button. "but Don't Forget Who Cooked Dinner.
Lying
Long
Wish
Neither Individuals Nor Corporations Have Any Right To Come Into Court And Ask That The Clock Of History Be Stopped, Or Turned Back.
Corporations
Individual
Clock
The Shamans Are Forever Yacking About Their Snake Oil Miracles. I Prefer The Real Mccoy, A Pregnant Woman.
Real
Snakes
Oil
But Space Travel Can't Ease The Pressure On A Planet Grown Too Crowded Not Even With Today's Ships And Probably Not With Any Future Ships-because Stupid People Won't Leave The Slopes Of Their Home Volcano Even When It Starts To Smoke And Rumble. What Space Travel Does Do Is Drain Off The Best Brains: Those Smart Enough To See A Catastrophe Before It Happens, And With The Guts To Pay The Price-abandon Home, Wealth, Friends, Relatives, Everything-and Go. That's A Tiny Fraction Of One Percent. But That's Enough.
Smart
Stupid
Home
Wisdom Includes Not Getting Angry Unnecessarily. The Law Ignores Trifles And The Wise Man Does, Too.
Wise
Men
Law
Always Store Beer In A Dark Place.
Beer
Dark
Stores
The Average Bloke . . . Hates And Fears All Freedom, Not Only For Others But For Himself, And Stamps It Out Wherever Possible.
Hate
Average
Stamps
Social Responsibility Above The Level Of Family, Or At Most Of Tribe, Requires Imagination-- Devotion, Loyalty, All The Higher Virtues -- Which A Man Must Develop Himself; If He Has Them Forced Down Him, He Will Vomit Them Out.
Loyalty
Responsibility
Men
Audacity, Always Audacity - Soundest Principal Of Strategy.
Audacity
Strategy
Principal
The Most Important Lesson In The Writing Trade Is That Any Manuscript Is Improved If You Cut Away The Fat.
Writing
Cutting
Important
But When They Began Handing Out Doctorates For Comparative Folk Dancing And Advanced Fly-fishing, I Became Too Stink In’ Proud To Use The Title. I Won’t Touch Watered Whiskey And I Take No Pride In Watered-down Degrees.
Pride
Fishing
Dancing
Remember This: Once The Human Race Is Established On More Than One Planet And Especially, In More Than One Solar System, There Is No Way Now Imaginable To Kill Off The Human Race.
Race
Space
Way
People Who Are Busy And Happy Don't Write Diaries; They Are Too Busy Living.
Writing
People
Diaries
Obscurity Is The Refuge Of Incompetence.
Obscurity
Incompetence
Refuge
Take Sex Away From People. Make It Forbidden, Evil. Limit It To Ritualistic Breeding. Force It To Back Up Into Suppressed Sadism. Then Hand The People A Scapegoat To Hate. Let Them Kill A Scapegoat Occasionally For Cathartic Release. The Mechanism Is Ages Old. Tyrants Used It Centuries Before The Word "psychology" Was Ever Invented. It Works, Too.
Sex
Hate
Hands
Faith Is Intellectual Laziness.
Intellectual
Intellectual Laziness
Laziness
The 3-legged Stool Of Understanding Is Held Up By History, Languages, And Mathematics. Equipped With Those Three You Can Learn Anything You Want To Learn. But If You Lack Any One Of Them You Are Just Another Ignorant Peasant With Dung On Your Boots.
Understanding
Ignorant
Three
Geniuses And Supergeniuses Always Make Their Own Rules About Sex As On Everything Else; They Do Not Accept The Monkey Customs Of Their Lessers.
Sex
Genius
Monkeys
"i've Found Out Why People Laugh. They Laugh Because It Hurts So Much... Because It's The Only Thing That'll Make It Stop Hurting" ... "but That's Not All People Laugh At." "isn't It? Perhaps I Don't Grok All Its Fullness Yet. But Find Me Something That Really Makes You Laugh Sweetheart... A Joke, Or Anything Else- But Something That Gave You A A Real Belly Laugh, Not A Smile. Then We'll See If There Isn't A Wrongness Wasn't There." He Thought. "i Grok When Apes Learn To Laugh, They'll Be People."
Hurt
Real
People
Make Money, Lose Money - Who Cares? The Idea Is To Enjoy It.
Money
Ideas
Care
The Meek Shall Inherit The Earth - A 6 Foot Plot Above Them.
Feet
Plot
Earth
There Is No Such Thing As 'social Gambling.' Either You Are There To Cut The Other Bloke's Heart Out And Eat It -- Or You're A Sucker. If You Don't Like This Choice -- Don't Gamble.
Heart
Cutting
Gambling
Faith Strikes Me As Intellectual Laziness.
Intellectual
Laziness
Strange
Never Force An Idea; You'll Abort It If You Do.
Ideas
Force
Ifs
The Greatest Fallacy Of Democracy Is That Everyone's Opinion Is Worth The Same.
Freedom
Democracy
Opinion
A Skunk Is Better Company Than A Person Who Prides Himself On Being 'frank'.
Clever
Pride
One Liner
There Comes A Time In The Life Of Every Human When He Or She Must Decide To Risk ‘his Life, His Fortune And His Sacred Honor’ On An Outcome Dubious. Those Who Fail The Challenge Are Merely Overgrown Children, Can Never Be Anything Else.
Children
Choices
Challenges
One Man's Theology Is Another Man's Belly Laugh.
Clever
Men
Laughing
An Armed Man Need Not Fight.
Fighting
Gun
Men
A Handy Short Definition Of Almost All Science Fiction Might Read: Realistic Speculation About Possible Future Events, Based Solidly On Adequate Knowledge Of The Real World, Past And Present, And On A Thorough Understanding Of The Nature And Significance Of The Scientific Method.
Real
Past
Thorough Understanding
Never Insult Anyone By Accident.
Comeback
Insult
Accidents
Yield To Temptation. It May Not Pass Your Way Again.
Wisdom
Philosophy
Yield
If You Are Part Of A Society That Votes, Then Do So. There May Be No Candidates And No Measures You Want To Vote For ... But There Are Certain To Be Ones You Want To Vote Against. In Case Of Doubt, Vote Against. By This Rule You Will Rarely Go Wrong.
Doubt
May
Want
It Would Take Centuries And He Must Grow And Grow And Grow, But He Was In No Hurry--he Grokked That Eternity And The Ever-beautifully-changing Now Were Identical.
Eternity
Century
Grows
He Should Have Known Better Because, Early In His Learnings Under His Brother Mahmoud, He Had Discovered That Long Human Words (the Longer The Better) Were Easy, Unmistakable, And Rarely Changed Their Meanings, But Short Words Were Slippery, Unpredictable Changing Their Meanings Without Any Pattern. Or So He Seemed To Grok. Short Human Words Were Never Like A Short Martian Word - Such As Grok Which Forever Meant Exactly The Same Thing. Short Human Words Were Like Trying To Lift Water With A Knife. And This Had Been A Very Short Word.
Brother
Should Have
Knives
A Critic Is A Man Who Creates Nothing And Thereby Feels Qualified To Judge The Work Of Creative Men. There Is Logic In This; He Is Unbiased, He Hates All Creative People Equally.
Hate
Science
Men
Heinlein's Rules For Writers Rule One: You Must Write Rule Two: Finish What Your Start Rule Three: You Must Refrain From Rewriting, Except To Editorial Order Rule Four: You Must Put Your Story On The Market Rule Five: You Must Keep It On The Market Until It Has Sold
Writing
Order
Two
There Is No Worse Tyranny Than To Force A Man To Pay For What He Does Not Want Merely Because You Think It Would Be Good For Him.
Men
Thinking
Political
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