Quotes from Frank Herbert

Give me the judgment of balanced minds in preference to laws every time. Codes and manuals create patterned behavior. All patterned behavior tends to go unquestioned, gathering destructive momentum. —Darwi Odrade

Moral decisions are always easy to recognize," Odrade said. "They are where you abandon self-interest.

It is said of Muad'Dib that once when he saw a weed trying to grow between two rocks, he moved one of the rocks. Later, when the weed was seen to be flourishing, he covered it with the remaining rock. "That was its fate," he explained.

A sing-song of shouts filled the air as the merchants tried to attract buyers. Their voices had that end of the workday lift - a false brilliance composed of the hope that old dreams would be fulfilled, yet coloured by the knowledge that life would not change for them.

It was a BuSab axiom that all power blocs tended toward aristocratic forms, that the descendants of decision makers dominated the power niches.

Men and their works have been a disease on the surface of their planets before now. Nature tends to compensate for diseases, to remove or encapsulate them, to incorporate them into the system in her own way.

He uses the nice old words so rich in tradition to be sure I know he means it.

Major flaws in government arise from a fear of making radical internal changes even though a need is clearly seen. —Darwi Odrade

A good bureaucracy is the best tool of oppression ever invented.

The voice of a rebeck echoed from somewhere behind him. The music echoed and echoed until it entered his head, still echoing. It suffused his body and he felt himself to be large, very large, not a child at all. And his skin was not his own.

The Fremen have a simple, practical religion," he said. "Nothing about religion is simple.

Review, friends—troops long past review," the Duke intoned. "All to fate a weight of pains and dollars. Their spirits wear our silver collars. Review, friends—troops long past review: Each a dot of time without pretense or guile. With them passes the lure of fortune. Review, friends—troops long past review. When our time ends on its rictus smile, we'll pass the lure of fortune.

Governments may rise and fall for reasons which appear insignificant, Prince. What small events! An argument between two women . . . which way the wind blows on a certain day . . . a sneeze, a cough, the length of a garment or the chance collision of a fleck of sand and a courtier's eye. It is not always the majestic concerns of Imperial ministers which dictate the course of history, nor is it necessarily the pontifications of priests which move the hands of God.

As with all priests, you learned early to call the truth heresy.

Bir zamanlar, insanlar düÅŸünme iÅŸini makinelere devretmiÅŸ, böylece özgürleÅŸmeyi umut etmiÅŸlerdi; ama bu, makinelere sahip baÅŸka insanlar?n onlar? köleleÅŸtirmesine yol açt? sadece.

Leaders made mistakes. And those mistakes, amplified by the numbers who followed without questioning, moved inevitably toward great disasters.

Life is not an option, it is a gift. Death is the option.

There should be a science of discontent. People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles. --from Collected Sayings of Muad'Dib by the Princess Irulan

Police always observe that criminals prosper. It takes a pretty dull policeman to miss the fact that the position of authority is the most prosperous criminal position available.

Law always chooses sides on the basis of enforcement power. Morality and legal niceties have little to do with it when the real question is: Who has the clout?   —Bene

How sure it is, Leto thought, that a weapon can lock a person into a predictable pattern of behavior.

Scratch a conservative and you find someone who prefers the past over any future. Scratch a liberal and find a closet aristocrat.

Isn't it odd how we misunderstand the hidden unity of kindness and cruelty?" Jessica

I knew Frank Herbert for more than thirty-eight years. He was a magnificent human being, a man of great honor and distinction, and the most interesting person at any gathering, drawing listeners around him like a magnet. To say he was an intellectual giant would be an understatement, since he seemed to contain all of the knowledge of the universe in his marvelous mind. He was my father, and I loved him deeply.