Frank Herbert was an American science fiction writer who wrote the novel Dune. He wrote many other novels and short stories that have been adapted into films and television shows. His most famous work is the epic series of novels called Dune, which was released in 1965.
56 Frank Herbert Quotes
- “Desperate people are the most dangerous.”
2. “Face your fears or they will climb over your back.”
3. “It is impossible to live in the past, difficult to live in the present and a waste to live in the future.”
4. “Nature does not make mistakes. Right and wrong are human categories.”
5. “Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.”
6. “Never attempt to reason with people who know they are right!”
7. “To endure oneself may be the hardest task in the universe.”
8. “A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.”
9. “Power attracts the corruptible. Suspect any who seek it.”
10. “The willow submits to the wind and prospers until one day it is many willows – a wall against the wind.”
Famous Frank Herbert Quotes
11. “There is no real ending. It’s just the place where you stop the story.”
12. “It is so shocking to find out how many people do not believe that they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult.”
13. “Survival is the ability to swim in strange water.”
14. “He who controls the spice controls the universe.”
15. “Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous.”
16. “The mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.”
17. “You know it’s love when you want to give joy and damn the consequences.”
18. “Behold, as a wild ass in the desert, go I forth to my work.”
19. “The gift of words is the gift of deception and illusion.”
20. “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 replaced by vague ritual.
Inspirational Frank Herbert Quotes
21. “Education is no substitute for intelligence.”
22. “It’s easier to be terrified by an enemy you admire.”
23. “We faced it and did not resist. The storm passed through us and around us. It’s gone, but we remain.”
24. “Humans are almost always lonely.”
25. “Prophets have a way of dying by violence.”
25. “The mind commands the body and it obeys. The mind orders itself and meets resistance.”
26. “Parting with friends is a sadness. A place is only a place.”
27. “All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities.”
28. “I don’t speak, I operate a machine called language. It creaks and groans, but is mine own.”
29. “The people who can destroy a thing, they control it.”
30. “A popular man arouses the jealousy of the powerful.”
Frank Herbert Quotes From Dune
31. “Any man who retreats into a cave which has only one opening deserves to die.”
32. “A ruler must learn to persuade and not to compel.”
33. “Give as few orders as possible,” his father had told him once long ago. “Once you’ve given orders on a subject, you must always give orders on that subject.”
34. “The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.”
35. “Enemies strengthen you. Allies weaken.”
36. “Madness in method, that’s genius”
37. “Highly organized research is guaranteed to produce nothing new.”
38. “Without change something sleeps inside us, and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken.”
39. “Do actions agree with words? There’s your measure of reliability. Never confine yourself to the words.”
40. “Guilt starts as a feeling of failure.”
Thought-Provoking Frank Herbert Quotes
41. “Try looking into that place where you dare not look! You’ll find me there, staring out at you!”
42. “The test of a man isn’t what you think he’ll do. It’s what he actually does.”
43. “The purpose of argument is to change the nature of truth.”
44. “The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action.”
45. “Emotions are the curse of logic.”
46. “They are not mad. They’re trained to believe, not to know. Belief can be manipulated. Only knowledge is dangerous.”
47. “Most deadly errors arise from obsolete assumptions.”
48. “A stone is heavy and the sand is weighty; but a fool’s wrath is heavier than them both.”
49. “This wise man observed that wealth is a tool of freedom. But the pursuit of wealth is the way to slavery.”
50. “The surest way to keep a secret is to make someone think they already know the answer.”
Read More Frank Herbert Quotes
51. “Show me a completely smooth operation and I’ll show you someone who’s covering mistakes. Real boats rock.”
52. “If all those around you believe some particular thing, you will soon be tempted to share in that belief.”
53. “It is difficult to live in the present, pointless to live in the future and impossible to live in the past.”
54. “The truth always carries the ambiguity of the words used to express it.”
55. “Most men go through life unchallenged, except at the final moment.”
56. “There’s hope left in these dusty chords. There’s a song left in our rusty hearts. We are torn and frayed but love remains.”
57. “Whether a thought is spoken or not it is a real thing and it has power,” Tuek said. “You might find the line between life and death among the Fremen to be too sharp and quick.”
58. “The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand.”
59. “Polish comes from the cities; wisdom from the desert.”
60. “Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.”
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61. “There is no escape, we pay for the violence of our ancestors.”
62. “The vision of time is broad, but when you pass through it, time becomes a narrow door.”
63. “One learns from books and example only that certain things can be done. Actual learning requires that you do those things.”
64. “You see, gentlemen, they have something to die for. They’ve discovered they’re a people. They’re awakening.”
65. “If you rely only on your eyes, your other senses weaken.”
66. “You aren’t thinking or really existing unless you’re willing to risk even your own sanity in the judgement of your existence.”
Must Read: Frank Herbert most famous work is the epic series of novels called Dune.
Frank Herbert Short Biography:
Frank Herbert was an American science fiction author best known for the 1965 book Dune and its five sequels. He was born on October 8, 1920, and passed away on February 11, 1986. He also published short stories, worked as a newspaper journalist, photographer, book reviewer, ecological consultant, and lecturer, though he is best known for his novels.
The Dune saga, which is set in the far future and spans millennia of time, examines complex themes like the long-term survival of the human species, human evolution, planetary science, and ecology, as well as the intersection of religion, politics, economics, and power in a time when humanity has long since perfected interstellar travel and colonized tens of thousands of worlds. The Dune series as a whole is regarded as one of the best science fiction series ever written, and Dune is the best-selling science fiction novel of all time.
Herbert and his wife relocated to California in 1949 so that he could work at the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat. Ralph and Irene Slattery, psychologists, became their friends in this location. The Slatterys introduced Herbert to the works of many philosophers who would have an impact on his writing, including Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung, Karl Jaspers, and Martin Heidegger. They also made Herbert familiar with Zen Buddhism.
Herbert never earned a university degree. According to his son Brian, he didn’t finish the required curriculum because he wanted to focus on the subjects that interested him. He picked up journalism again, working at the Oregon Statesman and the Seattle Star. He worked for the San Francisco Examiner’s California Living magazine for ten years as a writer and editor.
H. G. Wells, Robert A. Heinlein, Poul Anderson, and Jack Vance were among Herbert’s favorite authors. In a 1973 interview, Herbert claimed that he had been reading science fiction for “about ten years” prior to starting to write in the genre.
Additional Read.
Dune, 50 years on: how a science fiction novel changed the world
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Brian Herbert on Dune: ‘My Father Could See Into the Future’