Frank Herbert Quotes

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

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

Paradise on my right, Hell on my left and the Angel of Death behind.

"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."

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

Much that was called religion has carried an unconscious attitude of hostility toward life. True religion must teach that life is filled with joys pleasing to the eye of God, that knowledge without action is empty. All men must see that the teaching of religion by rules and rote is largely a hoax. The proper teaching is recognized with ease. You can know it without fail because it awakens within you that sensation which tells you this is something you’ve always known.

What senses do we lack that we cannot see or hear another world all around us?

"Constitutions become the ultimate tyranny," Paul said. "They’re organized power on such a scale as to be overwhelming. The constitution is social power mobilized and it has no conscience. It can crush the highest and the lowest, removing all dignity and individuality. It has an unstable balance point and no limitations."

No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero

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.

"Reason is the first victim of strong emotion," Scytale murmured.

Think on it, Chani: the princess will have the name, yet she'll live as less than a concubine - never to know a moment of tenderness from the man to whom she's bound. While we, Chani, we who carry the name of concubine - history will call us wives.

"We have eternity, beloved."
"You may have eternity. I have only now."
"But this is eternity."

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

Parting with friends is a sadness. A place is only a place.