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 HerbertRead
The difference between sentiment and being sentimental is the following: Sentiment is when a driver swerves out of the way to avoid hitting a rabbit on the road. Being sentimental is when the same driver, when swerving away from the rabbit, hits a pedestrian.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Sentiment involves genuine concern, while being sentimental can lead to unintended negative consequences.
Frank Herbert's quote highlights the distinction between having real feelings (sentiment) and being overly emotional (sentimental), suggesting that while genuine care can lead to positive actions, excessive sentimentality may result in adverse outcomes. It critiques how sometimes, in our attempts to protect or save something we value, we might end up causing harm to others or creating greater problems.
Themes
SentimentSentimentalEmotionConsequencesCare
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion about decision-making ethics, this quote can be used to illustrate the complexities of emotional responses.
More from Frank Herbert
All quotes →If you need something to worship, then worship life - all life, every last crawling bit of it! We're all in this beauty together!
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To know a thing well, know it's limits; Only when pushed beyond it's tolerance will it's true nature be seen. -The Amtal Rule
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Technology tends toward avoidance of risks by investors. Uncertainty is ruled out if possible. People generally prefer the predictable. Few recognize how destructive this can be, how it imposes severe limits on variability and thus makes whole populations fatally vulnerable to the shocking ways our universe can throw the dice.
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It is impossible to live in the past, difficult to live in the present and a waste to live in the future.
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