From "Children of Dune" by Frank Herbert, published by Ace Books 1987

“The haughty do build castle walls behind which they try to hide their doubts and fears.” (P24)

“When we try to conceal our innermost drives, the entire being screams betrayal.” (P26)

“Balance, it’s what distinguishes a people from a mob.” “Economics versus beauty, a story older than Sheba.” (P34)

“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.” (P51)

“These are illusions of popular history which a successful religion must promote: Evil men never prosper; only the brave deserve the fair; honesty is the best policy; actions speak louder than words; virtue always triumphs; a good deed is its own reward; any bad human can be reformed; religious talismans protect one from demon possession; only females understand the ancient mysteries; the rich are doomed to unhappiness…”  -- From the Instruction Manual: Missionaria Potectiva” (P66 Chapter Header)

“The joy of living, its beauty is all bound up in the fact that life can surprise you.” (P73)

“Most deadly errors arise from obsolete assumptions.” (P76)

“Governments may rise and fall for reasons which appear insignificant, Prince.  What small events!  An argument between two women … which way the wind blows on a certain day … a sneeze, a cough, the length of a garment or the chance collision of a fleck of sand and a courtier’s eye.  It is not always the majestic concerns of Imperial ministers which dictate the course of history, nor is it necessarily the pontifications of priests which move the hands of God.” (P89)

“Ambitions tend to remain undisturbed by realities.”…
…“You’ve given no thought to the kind of society you might prefer.  “You do not consider the hopes of your subjects.  Even the form of the Imperium which you seek has little shape in your imaginings.”  He turned his masked face toward Tyekanik.  “Your eye is upon the power, not upon its subtle uses and its perils.  Your future is filled, thus, with manifest unknowns: with arguing women, with coughs and windy days.  How can you create an epoch when you cannot see every detail?  Your tough mind will not serve you.  This is where you are weak.”
Farad’n …[wondered]…  Morality! Social goals! These were myths to put beside belief in an upward movement of evolution.” (P90) – The Preacher on their weaknesses in relation to overthrowing the current empire.

“They who pray for dew at the desert’s edge shall bring forth the deluge!  They shall not escape their fate through powers of reason!  Reason arises from pride that a man may not know in this way when he has done evil.”…  “They who learn the lesson of self-deception too well shall perish by that deception.” (P107)

“A large populace held in check by a small but powerful force is quite a common situation in our universe.  And we know the major conditions wherein this large populace may turn upon its keepers-
One: When they find a leader.  This is the most volatile threat to the powerful; they must retain control of leaders.
Two: When the populace recognizes its chains.  Keep the populace blind and unquestioning.
Three: When the populace perceives a hope of escape from bondage.  They must never even believe that escape is possible!” (P108)

“To be sighted in the land of the blind carries its own perils.  If you try to interpret that you see for the blind, you tend to forget that the blind possess an inherent movement conditioned by their blindness.  They have their own momentum, their own fixations.  I fear the blind, Stil.  I fear them.  They can so easily crush anything in their path.” (P112)

“For proper government, the tribe must have ways to choose men whose lives reflect the way a government should behave.” (P115)

“… Were I to give free reign to this inclination, I would demand a closed society, completely dependent upon the sacred ways of the past.  I would control migration, explaining that this fosters new ideas, and new ideas are a threat to the entire structure of life.  Each little planetary polis would go its own way, becoming what it would.  Finally the Empire would shatter under the weight of its differences.”
“The past may show the right way to behave if you live in the past, Stil, but circumstances change.” (P116)

“And they remembered the words of Muad’Dib as he deposed Shaddam IV: “It’s not long life to the Emperor I seek; it’s long life to the Imperium.”
“Just as individuals are born, mature, breed, and die, so do societies and civilizations and governments.” (P122)

“One must cast off old agonies as a snake casts off its skin – only to grow a new set and accept all of their limitations.  It was the same with governments – even the Regency.  Old governments can be traced like discarded molts.” (P126)

“Senses once whetted by omnipresent dangers could degenerate when not used.” (P126)

“To suspect your own mortality is to know the beginning of terror; to learn irrefutably that you are mortal is to know the end of terror.” (P133)

“When you try the hardest, just then you most often fail.” (P136)

“Societies move to the goading of ancient reactive impulses.  They demand permanence. Any attempt to display the universe of impermanence arouses rejection patterns, fear, anger, and despair.  The how do we explain the acceptance of presence?  Simply: the giver of prescient visions, because he speaks of an absolute (permanent) realization, may be greeted with joy by human kind even while predicting the most dire events.” (P137)

“[Mentats] had to make pronouncements.  This brought about a tendency to depend upon absolutes, to see finite limits.  They knew this about themselves.  It was part of there training.  Yet they continued to act beyond self-limiting parameters.” (P140)

“Money as a translation of energy can’t be separated from the energy it expresses.” (P144)

“Good government never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern.  The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery.  The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.” (P148)

“All proofs inevitably lead to propositions which have no proof!” (P150)

“When God hath ordained a creature to die in a particular place, He causeth that creature’s wants to direct him to that place.” (P172)

“If you focus your awareness only upon your own rightness, then you invite the forces of opposition to overwhelm you.” (P173)

“One uses power by grasping it lightly.  To grasp too strongly is to be taken over by power, and thus to become its victim.” (P75)

“The universe is just there; that’s the only way a Fedaykin can view it and remain the master of his senses.  The universe neither threatens nor promises.  It holds things beyond our sway: the fall of a meteor, the eruption of a spiceblow, growing old and dying.  These are the realities of this universe and they must be faced regardless of how you feel about them.  You cannot fend off such realities with words.  They will come at you in their own wordless way and then, then you will understand what is meant by “life and death.”  Understanding this, you will be filled with joy.” (P179)  -- Maud’Dib to his Fedaykin

“The more he read about Muad’Dib/Paul Atreides, the more fascinated Farad’n became with the uses of power.  As titular head of House Corrino, heir of Shaddam IV, what a great achievement it would be to restore his line to the Lion Throne.  He wanted that!  He wanted it.  Farad’n had found that, by repeating this enticing litany to himself several times, he could overcome momentary doubts.”

“When we think we know something, that’s precisely the moment when we should look deeper into the thing.” (P93)
 
 Dough or doughnut, there is no pie.