Dune (Dune #1)

by Frank Herbert

She went through the quick regimen of calmness—the two deep breaths, the ritual thought, then: “When I assign rooms, is there anything special I should reserve for you?” “You must teach me someday how you do that,” he said, “the way you thrust your worries aside and turn to practical matters. It must be a Bene Gesserit thing.” “It’s a female thing,” she said.

the first lesson of all was the basic trust that he could learn. It is shocking to find how many people do not believe they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult.

the proximity of a desirable thing tempts one to overindulgence. On that path lies danger.

“Bitterness I understand,” the Duke said. “But let us not rail about justice as long as we have arms and the freedom to use them.

There is probably no more terrible instant of enlightenment than the one in which you discover your father is a man—with human flesh.

“We mustn’t run short of filmbase,” the Duke said. “Else, how could we flood village and city with our information? The people must learn how well I govern them. How would they know if we didn’t tell them?”

Free, independent media is important.

“In our society, people shouldn’t be quick to take offense. It’s frequently suicidal.”

“When strangers meet, great allowance should be made for differences of custom and training.”

“Anything outside yourself, this you can see and apply your logic to it,” she said. “But it’s a human trait that when we encounter personal problems, those things most deeply personal are the most difficult to bring out for our logic to scan.

It’s the look of terrible awareness, she thought, of someone forced to the knowledge of his own mortality.

“The vision of time is broad, but when you pass through it, time becomes a narrow door.” And always, he fought the temptation to choose a clear, safe course, warning “That path leads ever down into stagnation.”

“Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past me I will turn to see fear’s path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.”

“What senses do we lack that we cannot see or hear another world all around us?”