Quotes from Frank Herbert

When you take your stand along the maker's path, you must remain utterly still. You must think like a patch of sand. Hide beneath your cloak and become a little dune in your very essence.

He straightened, assuming an odd attitude of dignity – as though it were another mask.

we are so money-rich and so life-poor.

Ima trava okolo! I korenja okolo!" Jessica translated silently: "These are ashes! And these are roots!

Indeed, it was the Bene Gesserit view that humans were life designed by evolution to create order.

Bis jetzt haben die Menschen, wenn sie die Oberfläche ihrer Planeten veränderten, diesen Welten nichts als Krankheiten zugefügt. Glücklicherweise tendiert die Natur dazu, den ihr zugefügten Schaden zu absorbieren oder sie dem eigenen System geschickt anzupassen.

I need time now to consider the future that is a past within my mind.

The future remains uncertain and so it should, for it is the canvas upon which we paint our desires.

And his father was right: trying for some ultimate control of the universe, you only built weapons with which the universe eventually defeated you.

First, as to Time: there is no difference between ten thousand years and one year; no difference between one hundred thousand years and a heartbeat. No difference. That is the first fact about Time. And the second fact: the entire universe with all of its Time is within me.

Memories which fastened him to places his flesh had never known presented him with answers to questions he had not asked.

Even the seemingly immortal gods survive only as long as they are required by mortal men.

For the Gowachin, to stand alone against all adversity is the most sacred moment of existence. — The Gowachin, a BuSab analysis

She rides the sandworm of space! She guides through all storms Into the land of gentle winds. Though we sleep by the snake's den, She guards our dreaming sould. Shunning the desert heat, She hides us in a cool hollow. The gleaming of her white teeth Guides us in the night. By the braids of her hair We are lifted to heaven! Sweet fragrance, flower-scented, Surrounds us in her presence.

They'll call me Muad'Dib, 'The One Who Points the Way'.

But, later, coming back and reading what I have produced, I am unable to detect the difference between what came easily and when I had to sit down and say, Well, now it's writing time and now I'll write.

Empires do not suffer emptiness of purpose at the time of their creation. It is when they have become established that aims are lost and replaced by vague ritual.

attempt seeing Truth without knowing Falsehood. It is the attempt to see the Light without knowing Darkness. It cannot be.

While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine—history will call us wives.

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.

The only permanence was fluid. Change was all that mattered.

Now, watch these matters closely for I wish to see this room later through your wisdom.

Just as individuals are born, mature, breed, and die, so do societies and civilizations and governments.

Is your religion real when it costs you nothing and carries no risk? Is your religion real when you fatten upon it? Is your religion real when you commit atrocities in its name?