The Butlerian Jihad (Legends of Dune, #1)

by Brian Herbert

Wishing to rule for centuries, Agamemnon and his lover Juno undertook a risky course of action. They had their brains surgically removed and implanted in preservation canisters that could be installed into a variety of mechanical bodies. One by one—as the remaining Titans felt the specter of age and vulnerability—all of the others also converted themselves into “cymeks,” machines with human minds.

But one fateful day the hedonistic Titan Xerxes, anxious to have more time for his pleasures, surrendered too much access to his pervasive AI network. The sentient computer network seized control of an entire planet, followed quickly by others. The breakdown spread like a virulent infestation from world to world, and the computer “evermind” grew in power and scope. Naming itself Omnius, the intelligent and adaptable network conquered all the Titan-controlled planets before the cymeks had time to warn each other of the danger.

When humans created a computer with the ability to collect information and learn from it, they signed the death warrant of mankind. —SISTER BECCA THE FINITE

The intelligent machine is an evil genie, escaped from its bottle. —BARBAROSSA, Anatomy of a Rebellion

Most histories are written by the winners of conflicts, but those written by the losers—if they survive—are often more interesting. —IBLIS GINJO, The Landscape of Humanity

Any man who asks for greater authority does not deserve to have it. —TERCERO XAVIER HARKONNEN, address to Salusan Militia

Is the subject or the observer the greater influence? —ERASMUS, uncollated laboratory files

Most robots were not as independent as Erasmus. They were little more than mobile thinking boxes, drone subsets of the evermind. Erasmus obeyed Omnius’s commands as well, but he had more freedom to interpret. Over the centuries, he had developed his own identity and semblance of an ego. Omnius considered him something of a curiosity.

The mind commands the body and immediately it obeys. The mind orders itself, and meets resistance. —ST. AUGUSTINE, ancient Earth philosopher

We learned a negative thing from computers, that the setting of guidelines belongs to humans, not to machines. —RELL ARKOV, charter meeting of the League of Nobles

Every endeavor is a game, is it not? —IBLIS GINJO, Options for Total Liberation

“We are not machines, Xavier. There must be more to our lives than war and revenge.”

Humans tried to develop intelligent machines as secondary reflex systems, turning over primary decisions to mechanical servants. Gradually, though, the creators did not leave enough to do for themselves; they began to feel alienated, dehumanized, and even manipulated. Eventually humans became little more than decisionless robots themselves, left without an understanding of their natural existence. —TLALOC, Weaknesses of the Empire

From a certain perspective, defense and offense encompass nearly identical tactics. —XAVIER HARKONNEN,

The eyes of common perception do not see far. Too often we make the most important decisions based only on superficial information. —NORMA CENVA, unpublished laboratory notebooks

In his drug-enhanced, euphoric state, Aurelius found the design hypnotic. “God is in everything,” he said. The stimulant he had taken seemed to supercharge his synapses. He squinted through the illuminated fabric of the leaf as she pointed to the internal shapes.

Careful preparations and defenses can never guarantee victory. However, ignoring these precautions is an almost certain recipe for defeat. —League Armada Strategy Manual

In the process of becoming slaves to machines, we transferred technical knowledge to them—without imparting proper value systems. —PRIMERO FAYKAN BUTLER, Memoirs of the Jihad

Humans, with such fragile physical forms, are easily crushed. Is it any challenge to hurt or damage them? —ERASMUS, uncollated laboratory files

The tapestry of the universe is vast and complex, with infinite patterns. While threads of tragedy may form the primary weave, humanity with its undaunted optimism still manages to embroider small designs of happiness and love. —COGITOR KWYNA, City of Introspection archives

There is a certain hubris to science, a belief that the more we develop technology and the more we learn, the better our lives will be. —TLALOC, A Time for Titans

Home can be anywhere, for it is a part of one’s self. —Zensunni saying

One of the questions the Butlerian Jihad answered with violence was whether the human body is simply a machine that a man-made machine can duplicate. The results of the war answered the question. —DR. RAJID SUK, Post-Trauma Analysis of the Human Species

We are happiest when planning our futures, letting our optimism and imagination run unrestrained. Unfortunately, the universe does not always heed such plans. —ABBESS LIVIA BUTLER, private journals

Everything in the universe contains flaws, ourselves included. Even God does not attempt perfection in His creations. Only mankind has such foolish arrogance. —COGITOR KWYNA, City of Introspection archives

With a wry smile, he told her, “All of us disappointments need to stick together.”

Only those with narrow minds fail to see that the definition of Impossible is ‘Lack of imagination and incentive.’ —SERENA BUTLER

Religion, time and time again, brings down empires, rotting them from within. —IBLIS GINJO, early planning for the Jihad

Each of us influences the actions of the people we know. —XAVIER HARKONNEN, comment to his men

Think of war as behavior. —GENERAL AGAMEMNON, Memoirs

Survivors learn to adapt. —ZUFA CENVA, lecture to Sorceresses

In times of war, every person claims to contribute to the effort. Some give lip service, some provide funds, but few are willing to sacrifice everything. This, I believe, is why we have been unable to defeat the thinking machines. —ZUFA CENVA, The Rossak Weapon

Mind rules the universe. We must make certain it is the Human mind, rather than the Machine version. —PRIMERO FAYKAN BUTLER, Memoirs of the Jihad

Each human being is a time machine. —Zensunni Fire Poetry

Some lives are taken, while others are freely given. —ZUFA CENVA, repeated eulogy speech phrase

Whether we are rich, poor, strong, weak, intelligent, or stupid, the thinking machines treat us as nothing more than meat. They do not understand what humans really are. —IBLIS GINJO, early planning for the Jihad

Most traditional governments divide people, setting them against each other to weaken the society and make it governable. —TLALOC, Weaknesses of the Empire

Life is the sum of the forces that resist death. —SERENA BUTLER

If life is but a dream, then do we only imagine the truth? No! By following our dreams we make our own truths! —The Legend of Selim Wormrider

There is no place in all the universe as inviting as home and the comfortable relationships there. —SERENA BUTLER

Machines may be predictable, but we are also reliable. Conversely, humans change their beliefs and their loyalties with remarkable, and distressing, ease. —ERASMUS Erasmus Dialogues

Is there any greater joy than to return home? Are any other memories so vivid, any other hopes so bright? —SERENA BUTLER

The Butlerian Jihad arose from just such stupidity. An infant was killed. The bereaved mother struck out at the nonhuman machinery that had caused the senseless death. Soon, the violence was in the hands of the extended mob and became known as a jihad. —PRIMERO FAYKAN BUTLER, Memoirs of the Jihad

Support thy brother, whether he be just or unjust. —Zensunni saying

Without recognizing it, humankind created a weapon of mass destruction—one that only became apparent after machines took over every aspect of their lives. —BARBAROSSA, Anatomy of a Rebellion

Quite obviously, our problems do not come from what we invent, but from how we use our sophisticated toys. The difficulties stem not from our hardware or software, but from ourselves. —BARBAROSSA, Anatomy of a Rebellion

Technology should have freed mankind from the burdens of life. Instead, it created new ones. —TLALOC, A Time for Titans