Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)

by Frank Herbert

the mystery of life isn’t a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.

Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.

“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.”

The concept of progress acts as a protective mechanism to shield us from the terrors of the future.

“Anger is one thing, violence another,”

Deep in the human unconscious is a pervasive need for a logical universe that makes sense. But the real universe is always one step beyond logic.

“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.”