"Heinlein, Robert A - This I Believe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Heinlein Robert A)
Robert A. Heinlein
This I Believe by Robert A. Heinlein
"I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but
about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to
mention them. I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults,
and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults.
"Take Father Michael down our road a piece. I'm not of
his creed, but I know that goodness and charity and
lovingkindness shine in his daily actions. I believe in
Father Mike. If I'm in trouble, I'll go to him."
"My next-door neighbor is a veterinary doctor. Doc
will get out of bed after a hard day to help a stray cat. No
fee--no prospect of a fee--I believe in Doc.
"I believe in my townspeople. You can know on any
door in our town saying, 'I'm hungry,' and you will be fed.
Our town is no exception. I've found the same ready charity
everywhere. But for the one who says, 'To heck with you - I
got mine,' there are a hundred, a thousand who will say,
"Sure, pal, sit down."
"I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers
I can step up to the highway, thumb for a ride and in a few
minutes a car or a truck will stop and someone will say,
'Climb in Mac - how far you going?'
"I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are
splashed with crime yet for every criminal there are 10,000
honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so, no child would
live to grow up. Business could not go on from day to day.
Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but is a
force stronger than crime. I believe in the patient gallentry
of nurses and the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe
in the unseen and unending fight against desperate odds that
goes on quietly in almost every home in the land.
"I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a
look around you. There never were enough bosses to check up
on all that work. From Independence Hall to the Grand Coulee
Dam, these things were built level and square by craftsmen
who were honest in their bones.
"I believe that almost all politicians are honest. .
.there are hundreds of politicians, low paid or not paid at
all, doing their level best without thanks or glory to make
our system work. If this were not true we would never have
gotten past the 13 colonies.
"I believe in Rodger Young. You and I are free today
because of endless unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the
Yalu River. I believe in -- I am proud to belong to -- the
United States. Despite shortcomings from lynchings to bad
faith in high places, our nation has had the most decent and
kindly internal practices and foreign policies to be found
anywhere in history.
"And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow,
white, black, red, brown. In the honesty, courage,
intelligence, durability, and goodness of
the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters
everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. I
believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth.
That we always make it just by the skin of
our teeth, but that we will always make it. Survive. Endure.
I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize
brain case and the
opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure.
Will endure longer than his home planet --
will spread out to the stars and beyond, carrying with him
his honesty and his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited
courage and his noble essential decency.
"This I believe with all my heart."
Robert A. Heinlein wrote this item in 1952. His wife,
Virginia Heinlein, chose to read it when she accepted NASA's
Distinguished Public Service Medal on October 6, 1988, on the
Grand Master's behalf (it was a posthumous award).
Mrs. Heinlein received a standing ovation.
Robert A. Heinlein
This I Believe by Robert A. Heinlein
"I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but
about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to
mention them. I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults,
and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults.
"Take Father Michael down our road a piece. I'm not of
his creed, but I know that goodness and charity and
lovingkindness shine in his daily actions. I believe in
Father Mike. If I'm in trouble, I'll go to him."
"My next-door neighbor is a veterinary doctor. Doc
will get out of bed after a hard day to help a stray cat. No
fee--no prospect of a fee--I believe in Doc.
"I believe in my townspeople. You can know on any
door in our town saying, 'I'm hungry,' and you will be fed.
Our town is no exception. I've found the same ready charity
everywhere. But for the one who says, 'To heck with you - I
got mine,' there are a hundred, a thousand who will say,
"Sure, pal, sit down."
"I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers
I can step up to the highway, thumb for a ride and in a few
minutes a car or a truck will stop and someone will say,
'Climb in Mac - how far you going?'
"I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are
splashed with crime yet for every criminal there are 10,000
honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so, no child would
live to grow up. Business could not go on from day to day.
Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but is a
force stronger than crime. I believe in the patient gallentry
of nurses and the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe
in the unseen and unending fight against desperate odds that
goes on quietly in almost every home in the land.
"I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a
look around you. There never were enough bosses to check up
on all that work. From Independence Hall to the Grand Coulee
Dam, these things were built level and square by craftsmen
who were honest in their bones.
"I believe that almost all politicians are honest. .
.there are hundreds of politicians, low paid or not paid at
all, doing their level best without thanks or glory to make
our system work. If this were not true we would never have
gotten past the 13 colonies.
"I believe in Rodger Young. You and I are free today
because of endless unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the
Yalu River. I believe in -- I am proud to belong to -- the
United States. Despite shortcomings from lynchings to bad
faith in high places, our nation has had the most decent and
kindly internal practices and foreign policies to be found
anywhere in history.
"And finally, I believe in my whole race. Yellow,
white, black, red, brown. In the honesty, courage,
intelligence, durability, and goodness of
the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters
everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. I
believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth.
That we always make it just by the skin of
our teeth, but that we will always make it. Survive. Endure.
I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching, oversize
brain case and the
opposable thumb, this animal barely up from the apes will endure.
Will endure longer than his home planet --
will spread out to the stars and beyond, carrying with him
his honesty and his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited
courage and his noble essential decency.
"This I believe with all my heart."
Robert A. Heinlein wrote this item in 1952. His wife,
Virginia Heinlein, chose to read it when she accepted NASA's
Distinguished Public Service Medal on October 6, 1988, on the
Grand Master's behalf (it was a posthumous award).
Mrs. Heinlein received a standing ovation.
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