Quotes About Manipulation

You see, I'm not above helping an unfortunate soul find new purpose in life…so long as it benefits me

The gift of words is the gift of deception and illusion.

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

If you think of yourselves as helpless and ineffectual, it is certain that you will create a despotic government to be your master. The wise despot, therefore, maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual.

The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.

Religion, too, is a weapon. What manner of weapon is religion when it becomes the government?

Small souls who seek power over others first destroy the faith those others might have in themselves.

If you put away those who report accurately, you'll keep only those who know what you want to hear. I can think of nothing more poisonous than to rot in the stink of your own reflections.

motivating people, forcing them to your will, gives you a cynical attitude toward humanity. It degrades everything it touches.

Politics: the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible.

All of history is a malleable instrument in my hands. Ohhh, I have accumulated all of these pasts and I possess every fact—yet the facts are mine to use as I will and, even using them truthfully, I change them.

All rebels are closet aristocrats. That's why I can convert them so easily.

In the wrong hands," Leto said, "monolithic centralized power is a dangerous and volatile instrument." - "And your hands are the right ones?

Those who would repeat the past must control the teaching of history. —Bene Gesserit Coda

Power bases are very dangerous because they attract people who are truly insane, people who seek power only for the sake of power.

Power and fear, he said. The tools of statecraft.

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

When your opponent fears you, then's the moment when you give the fear its own rein, give it the time to work on him. Let it become terror. The terrified man fights himself. Eventually, he attacks in desperation. That is the most dangerous moment, but the terrified man can be trusted usually to make a fatal mistake. You are being trained here to detect these mistakes and use them.

Where is the weapon with which I enforce your bondage? You give it to me every time you open your mouth.

Deceit is a tool of statecraft, Irulan agreed. There are limits to power, as those who put their hopes in a constitution always discover, Paul said.

Culture! They dispense culture the better to rule. Beauty! They promote the beauty which enslaves. They create a literate ignorance—easiest thing of all. They leave nothing to chance. Chains! Everything they do forges chains, enslaves. But slaves always revolt.

How ignorant a man can become on a diet of managed history.

The wise despot...maintains among his subjects a popular sense that they are helpless and ineffectual.

It's an old, old trick of autocratic rule," Idaho said. "Alia knows it well. Good subjects must feel guilty. The guilt begins as a feeling of failure. The good autocrat provides many opportunities for failure in the populace.