Explore Quotes by Frank Herbert

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

Ultimately, all things are known because you want to believe you know.

When religion and politics ride in the same cart, the whirlwind follows.

The ferocity we show our foes must be tempered by the lesson we hope to teach.

When your opponent fears you, then's the moment when you give the fear its own rein, give it the time to work on him. Let it become terror. The terrified man fights himself. Eventually, he attacks in desperation. That is the most dangerous moment, but the terrified man can be trusted usually to make a fatal mistake. You are being trained here to detect these mistakes and use them.

Kindness is the beginning of cruelty.

Sympathy for the enemy -- a weakness of police and armies alike. Most perilous are the unconscious sympathies directing you to preserve your enemy intact because the enemy is your justification for existence.

The mistakes (of leaders) are amplified by the numbers who follow them without question. Charismatic leaders tend to build up followings, power structures and these power structures tend to be taken over by people who are corruptible. I don't think that the old saw about 'power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely' is accurate: I think power attracts the corruptible.

If there is a difference between what is said and what is done, only a fool believes what was said.

Educational bureaucracies dull a child's questing sensitivity.

It is a wise man that does know the contented man is never poor, whilst the discontented man is never rich.

All proofs inevitably lead to propositions which have no proof! All things are known because we want to believe in them.

If you rely only on your eyes, your other senses weaken.

Most believe that a satisfactory future requires a return to an idealized past, a past which never in fact existed.

War is behavior with roots in the single cell of the primeval seas. Eat whatever you touch or it will eat you.

The highest function of ecology is the understanding of consequences.

Every civilization depends upon the quality of the individuals it produces.

The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future but sometimes to prevent it.

A storm is coming; our storm. Emperor - we come for you!

Once human beings realize something can be done, they're not satisfied until they've done it.

When you think to take determination of your fate into your own hands, that is the moment you can be crushed. Be cautious.