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
You've heard of animals chewing off a leg to escape a trap? There's an animal kind of trick. A human would remain in the trap, endure the pain, feigning death that he might kill the trapper and remove a threat to his kind.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the bravery of humans to withstand pain for a greater purpose.
In this quote, Frank Herbert contrasts the instinctual behavior of animals with the calculated and courageous actions of humans. While animals may escape immediate danger through self-sacrifice, humans have the capacity to endure suffering in order to confront threats and protect their community, demonstrating resilience and strategic thinking in the face of adversity.
Themes
CourageSacrificeResilienceEnduranceCommunity
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about facing challenges, one might use this quote to illustrate the bravery required to overcome obstacles.
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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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.
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