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
Most believe that a satisfactory future requires a return to an idealized past, a past which never in fact existed.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the folly of yearning for a perfect past that never actually occurred.
Frank Herbert's quote critiques the tendency of people to romanticize the past, believing it to be better than the present, and suggests that clinging to an idealized version of history can prevent progress and a satisfactory future. By recognizing that this idealized past is a fabrication, individuals can better focus on creating a future based on reality rather than nostalgia.
Themes
FuturePastNostalgiaIdealizationProgress
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech, one could use this quote to encourage listeners to focus on the future instead of dwelling on the past.
More from Frank Herbert
All quotes βIf 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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Religion must remain an outlet for people who say to themselves, "I am not the kind of person I want to be." It must never sink into an assemblage of the self-satisfied.
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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.
Frank HerbertRead
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