you can’t buy security - Frank Herbert

Unceasing warfare gives rise to its own social conditions which have been similar in all epochs. People enter a permanent state of alertness to ward off attacks. You see the absolute rule of the autocrat. All new things become dangerous frontier districts — new planets, new economic areas to exploit, new ideas or new devices, visitors — everything suspect. Feudalism takes firm hold, sometimes disguised as a politbureau or similar structure, but always present. Hereditary succession follows the lines of power. The blood of the powerful dominates.

A good ruler has to learn his world's language, and that's different for every world, the language you don't hear just with your ears.

Bir zamanlar, insanlar düşünme işini makinelere devretmiş, böylece özgürleşmeyi umut etmişlerdi; ama bu, makinelere sahip başka insanların onları köleleştirmesine yol açtı sadece.