What is this quote?

June 14, 2007 10:41 PM

Looking for quote about "the few who think well and often". Possibly from science fiction?

The closest I can get to the quote is "Most people cannot think; of those who can think, most do not; of those who can and do think, most do not think well. But those few who think well and often are the only ones who matter."

I want to say it's a Heinlein quote.

posted by Lady Li to Writing & Language (7 answers total)

Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. (Robert Anson Heinlein)

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posted by jjb at 10:59 PM on June 14, 2007

Best answer: Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion – in the long run, these are the only people who count.
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Yes, Heinlein
posted by b33j at 11:07 PM on June 14, 2007 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks! I knew it couldn't be as convoluted as my memory had it.
posted by Lady Li at 11:57 PM on June 14, 2007

But where did he write that? I looked at the links, and I'm puzzled that they only name the author. (I'd have guessed he'd say such a thing). Sounds like a Lazarus saying.
posted by Goofyy at 2:45 AM on June 15, 2007

I think it's in the Notebook of Lazarus Long (i.e. Time Enough for Love).
posted by Netzapper at 5:06 AM on June 15, 2007

Actually, it's in several places... that premise is one of the the cores of Heinlein's libertarianism's darwinistic bent. It's in Time Enough for Love in one of the shorts, and I want to say it's also in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress at the end when Long's explaining 'things' to Richard... but I don't have a good way to check that right now.
posted by SpecialK at 7:27 AM on June 15, 2007

I think I need to get back to reading Heinlein.
posted by indigo4963 at 9:26 AM on June 15, 2007