"“So you say ‘Politics!’ as if it were a nasty word—and you think that settles it.” He sighed. “But you don’t understand. Politics is not evil; politics is the human race’s most magnificent achievement. When politics is good, it’s wonderful…and when politics is bad—well, it’s still pretty good.” “I guess I don’t understand,” I said slowly. “Think about it. Politics is just a name for the way we get things done...without fighting. We dicker and compromise and everybody thinks he has received a raw deal, but somehow after a tedious amount of talk we come up with some jury-rigged way to do it without getting anybody’s head bashed in. That’s politics. The only other way to settle a dispute is by bashing a few heads in...and that is what happens when one or both sides is no longer willing to dicker. That’s why I say politics is good even when it is bad…because the only alternative is force—and somebody gets hurt.”"
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Science fiction authors from the United StatesNovelists from the United StatesEssayists from the United StatesShort story writers from the United StatesScreenwriters from the United States
Original Language: English
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Chapter 4 (p. 33)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein
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Robert A. Heinlein
writer, screenwriter, literary critic
1907 – 1988 · United States
Robert Anson Heinlein (7 July 1907 – 8 May 1988) was one of the most popular, influential, and controversial authors of science fiction of the 20th Century.
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