Demagogues are so easy to identify. They gesture a lot and speak with pulpit rhythms, using words that ring of religious fervour and god-fearing sincerity. Sincerity with nothing behind it takes so much practice. The practice can always be detected. Repetition. Great attempts to keep your attention on words.

I give you the chameleon, whose ability to blend itself into the background tells you all you need to know about the roots of ecology and the foundations of a personal identity

A man's flesh is his own; the water belongs to the tribe.

In my estimation, more misery has been created by reformers than by any other force in human history.

Do actions agree with words? There's your measure of reliability. Never confine yourself to the words.

Arrakis teaches the attitude of the knife - chopping off what's incomplete and saying: "Now it's complete because it's ended here."

The young reed dies so easily. Beginnings are times of great peril.