Quotes from Brian Herbert

Even innocents carry within them their own guilt in their own way. No one survives through life without paying in one fashion or another.

Kwisatz Haderach: "Shortening of the Way." This is the label applied by the Bene Gesserit to the unknown for which they sought a genetic solution: a male Bene Gesserit whose organic mental powers would bridge space and time.

The Butlerian Jihad has been over for thousands of years, and still humankind acts as if we're terrified rodents hiding from shadows. There is an anti-Ixian prejudice throughout the Imperium because we make complex machines. People don't understand what we do, and misunderstanding breeds suspicion.

The cymek walkers marched forward like monsters from the greatest nightmares of mankind, smashing buildings into rubble, slaughtering crowds as if they were massed insects.

A man never gets over losing his son, or his honor.

The enemy of my enemy can still betray me. The enemy of my enemy can still kill me. —EMPEROR RODERICK CORRINO I

We believe that confession should lead to forgiveness and redemption. Usually, however, it leads only to further accusations.

A man may flee swiftly, and far, but he can never run from himself. —Zensunni aphorism

One uses power by grasping it lightly. To grasp with too much force is to be taken over by power, thus becoming its victim. —Bene Gesserit Axiom

She takes grains of truth and builds them into vast deserts.

Superstitions and nonsense from the past should not prevent us from making progress. If we hold ourselves back, we admit that our fears are more powerful than our abilities.

The robot ship and the plague capsule waited there, intact, symbolic reminders of the horrific machine tyranny … which few people alive could remember. But they knew what they had been taught, and they knew what to hate.

Each of us influences the actions of the people we know. —XAVIER HARKONNEN, comment to his men

Although the Spacing Guild had no military power of its own, it could—through withdrawal of transportation services—cripple any solar system. And with elaborate surveillance mechanisms, the Guild could trace and identify rogue attackers and send messages off to the Emperor, who in turn would dispatch Imperial Sardaukar according to mutual treaty.

Men who are fundamentally weak look upon threats as the ultimate expressions of power. Men who are truly powerful, however, view threats as yet another vulnerability. —BARON VLADIMIR HARKONNEN, Advice for Assassins

The Empire functions beyond mere laws," Paulus continued. "An equally strong foundation is the network of alliances, favors, and religious propaganda. Beliefs are more powerful than facts.

the next Age of Reason will not come easily in this time of magical beliefs and superstitious fear.

The blood of innocents has always been the currency of charismatic leaders, Kwyna said

If you sit safely by and wait for your people to do your work for you, then you do not deserve to rule such a populace.

I thought that Navigators just saw the way, a safe way. Holtzman generators actually move the spacecraft." He decided to add a quote he remembered from the Bible. "'The highest master in the material world is the human mind, and the beasts of the field and the machines of the city must be forever subordinate.

While lashing out against an insult can provide a certain gratification, a long-anticipated and carefully planned revenge is far more satisfying. —DIRECTEUR JOSEPH VENPORT, private conversation with his wife, Cioba

Even a Duke or an Emperor cannot always control the universe, young Master. It is best to be prepared for that eventuality.

For every scientist who dedicates his life to helping humanity, there are ten thousand fools who are just as willing to destroy. —PTOLEMY, Zenith Archives

Logical enlightenment will always defeat emotional ignorance, although the battle is not necessarily pretty. —mission statement, Denali Research Facility