Robert A. Heinlein Survival Quotations

Since survival is the sine qua non, I now define the "moral behavior" as "behavior that tends toward survival".

Morals — all correct moral laws — derive from the instinct to survive. Moral behavior is survival behavior above the individual level.

Pain is the basic mechanism built into us by millions of years of evolution which safeguards us by warning when something threatens our survival.

Women seem to have almost unlimited capacity for forgiveness. (Since it is usually a man who needs forgiveness, this must be a racial survival trait.

What we think of as 'Physical beauty' is almost certainly a tag for a complex of useful survival characteristics. Smartness intelligence among them.

In ascending order the qualities of Patriotism are: 1. To work, fight, or die for your own survival. 2. To work, fight, or die for your immediate family. 3. To work, fight, or die for a group, extended family, tribe, or clan. 4. To work, fight, or die for a group too large for all the individuals to know each other. 5. To work, fight, or die for a way of life.