You must learn to rule. It's something none of your ancestors learned. - Frank Herbert

I have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once.

The highest function of ecology is understanding consequences.

The Reverend Mother must combine the seductive wiles of a courtesan with the untouchable majesty of a virgin goddess, holding these attributes in tension so long as the powers of her youth endure. For when youth and beauty have gone, she will find that the place-between, once occupied by tension, has become a wellspring of cunning and resourcefulness.