Frank Herbert, Dune

US science fiction novelist (1920 - 1986)

Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. ...The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

Humans live best when each has his place, when each knows where he belongs in the scheme of things. Destroy the place and destroy the person.

Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. ...The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.

Truth is subject to too much analysis.

Blood is thicker than water, but politics are thicker than blood.

Absolute power is the power to destroy.

Beaurocracy destroys initiative.

It is impossible to live in the past, difficult to live in the present and a waste to live in the future.

Seek freedom and become captive of your desires, seek discipline and find your liberty.

Humans live best when each has a place to stand, when each knows where he belongs in the scheme of things and what he may achieve. Destroy the place and you destroy the person.

Peace for any prolonged period of time is impossible. Humans have a natural thirst for chaos and war is the most readily available form of chaos.

All governments eventually lean further and further towards aristocracy.

Empires do not suffer emptiness of purpose at the time of their creation. It is when they have become established that aims are lost and replaces by vague ritual.

Think you of the fact that a deaf person cannot hear. Then, what deafness may we not all possess? What senses do we lack that we cannot see and cannot hear another world all around us?