Quotes from Frank Herbert

How often it is that the angry man rages denial of what his inner self is telling him.

They are not mad. They're trained to believe, not to know. Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous.

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.

What do such machines really do? They increase the number of things we can do without thinking. Things we do without thinking-there's the real danger.

Do you wrestle with dreams? Do you contend with shadows? Do you move in a kind of sleep? Time has slipped away. Your life is stolen. You tarried with trifles, Victim of your folly.

One learns from books and example only that certain things can be done. Actual learning requires that you do those things.

When I am Weaker Thn You, I ask you for Freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am Stronger than you, I take away your Freedom Because that is according to my principles.

Anything outside yourself, this you can see and apply your logic to it. But it's a human trait that when we encounter personal problems, these things most deeply personal are the most difficult to bring out for our logic to scan. We tend to flounder around, blaming everything but the actual, deep-seated thing that's really chewing on us.

What does a mirror look at?

We faced it and did not resist. The storm passed through us and around us. It's gone, but we remain.

A killer with the manners of a rabbit - this is the most dangerous kind.

Then, as his planet killed him, it occurred to Kynes that his father and all the other scientists were wrong, that the most persistent principles of the universe were accident and error.

But it's well known that repression makes a religion flourish.

It is difficult to live in the present, pointless to live in the future and impossible to live in the past.

When I need to identify rebels, I look for men with principles

Never attempt to reason with people who know they are right!

When a wise man does not understand, he says: I do not understand. The fool and the uncultured are ashamed of their ignorance. They remain silent when a question could bring them wisdom.

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities.

To know a thing well, know its limits; Only when pushed beyond its tolerance will its true nature be seen. -The Amtal Rule

Religion must remain an outlet for people who say to themselves, 'I am not the kind of person I want to be.' It must never sink into an assemblage of the self-satisfied.

Police are inevitably corrupted. ... 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.

Knowing where the trap is—that's the first step in evading it.

Many have marked the speed with which Muad'Dib learned the necessities of Arrakis. The Bene Gesserit, of course, know the basis of this speed. For the others, we can say that Muad'Dib learned rapidly because his first training was in how to learn. And the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult. Muad'Dib knew that every experience carries its lesson.

You see, gentlemen, they have something to die for. They've discovered they're a people. They're awakening.