Dune (Dune #1)

by Frank Herbert

But he knew he could not let any consideration deflect him. He had to remain on the central line of the time storm he could see in the future. There would come an instant when it could be unraveled, but only if he were where he could cut the central knot of it.

When law and duty are one, united by religion, you never become fully conscious, fully aware of yourself. You are always a little less than an individual.

“The people who can destroy a thing, they control it,” Paul said.

“One of the most terrible moments in a boy’s life,” Paul said, “is when he discovers his father and mother are human beings who share a love that he can never quite taste. It’s a loss, an awakening to the fact that the world is there and here and we are in it alone.

The Guild was like a man testing the sand with his toe to gauge its temperature before erecting a tent.

“Our pet Sardaukar have been released near Old Gap low on the rim and are on their way to their master. The rocket launchers and other projectile weapons are in place. The people are deployed as you ordered. It was all routine.”

Muad’Dib from whom all blessings flow, he thought, and it was the bitterest thought of his life.

There should be a word for memories that deny themselves.