My father once told me that respect for truth comes close to being the basis for all morality. 'Something cannot emerge from nothing,' he said. This is profound thinking if you understand how unstable 'the truth' can be.
Frank HerbertAll proofs inevitably lead to propositions which have no proof! All things are known because we want to believe in them.
Frank HerbertA process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it.
Frank HerbertPeace for any prolonged period of time is impossible. Humans have a natural thirst for chaos and war is the most readily available form of chaos.
Frank HerbertI live in an apocalyptic dream. My steps fit into it so precisely that I fear most of all I will grow bored reliving the thing so exactly.
Frank HerbertWhen you think to take determination of your fate into your own hands, that is the moment you can be crushed. Be cautious.
Frank HerbertPolitics: the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible.
Frank HerbertI have no fear, for fear is the little death that kills me over and over. Without fear, I die but once.
Frank HerbertBut, later, coming back and reading what I have produced, I am unable to detect the difference between what came easily and when I had to sit down and say, "Well, now it's writing time and now I'll write.
Frank HerbertA stone is heavy and the sand is weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.
Frank HerbertIn my estimation, more misery has been created by reformers than by any other force in human history.
Frank HerbertMemory never recaptures reality. Memory reconstructs. All reconstructions change the original, becoming external frames of reference that inevitably fall short.
Frank HerbertA person needs new experiences. They jar something deep inside, allowing you to grow. Without them, it sleeps- seldom to awaken. The sleeper must awaken.
Frank HerbertI'm going to rub your faces in things you try to avoid. I don't find it strange that all you want to believe is only that which comforts you. How else do humans invent the traps which betray us into mediocrity? How else do we define cowardice?
Frank HerbertChance is the nature of our universe. [...] madness represents a chaotic reservoir of surprises. Some surprises can be valuable.
Frank HerbertOnce human beings realize something can be done, they're not satisfied until they've done it.
Frank HerbertNo more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero.
Frank HerbertAll men seek to be enlightened. Religion is but the most ancient and honorable way in which men have striven to make sense out of God's universe. Scientists seek the lawfulness of events. It is the task of Religion to fit man into this lawfulness.
Frank HerbertThere's hope left in these dusty chords. There's a song left in our rusty hearts. We are torn and frayed but love remains.
Frank HerbertThe future remains uncertain and so it should, for it is the canvas upon which we paint our desires. Thus always the human condition faces a beautifully empty canvas. We possess only this moment in which to dedicate ourselves continuously to the sacred presence which we share and create.
Frank HerbertIf there is a difference between what is said and what is done, only a fool believes what was said.
Frank HerbertReligions often partake of the myth of progress that shields us from the terrors of an uncertain future.
Frank HerbertThe basic lesson of our relativistic universe is that things change. Any power must always meet a greater power.
Frank Herbert