Quotes From "Dune Messiah" By Frank Herbert

The flesh surrenders itself. Eternity takes back its own. Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time. What can we say of this? I occurred. I am not...yet, I occurred. Frank Herbert

Some say, " Scytale said, "that people cling to Imperial leadership because space is infinite. They feel lonely without a unifying symbol. For a lonely people, the Emperor is a definite place. They can turn toward him and say: 'See, there He is. He makes us one.' Perhaps religion serves the same purpose, m' Lord. Frank Herbert

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. -Words of Muad'dib by Princess Irulan. Frank Herbert

Constitutions become the ultimate tyranny, " Paul said. "They’re organized power on such a scale as to be overwhelming. The constitution is social power mobilized and it has no conscience. It can crush the highest and the lowest, removing all dignity and individuality. It has an unstable balance point and no limitations. Frank Herbert

Deceit is a tool of statecraft, " Irulan agreed." There are limits to power, as those who put their hopes in a constitution always discover, " Paul said. Frank Herbert

CHOAM is business and business follows profits. Frank Herbert

Every man carries his own past with him, " Hayt said. Frank Herbert

I don't speak, I operate a machine called language. It creaks and groans, but is mine own. Frank Herbert

Once .. . long ago, he’d thought of himself as an inventor of government. But the invention had fallen into old patterns. It was like some hideous contrivance with plastic memory. Shape it any way you wanted, but relax for a moment, and it snapped into the ancient forms. Forces at work beyond his reach in human breasts eluded and defied him. Frank Herbert

There exists a limit to the force even the most powerful may apply without destroying themselves. Judging this limit is the true artistry of government. Misuse of power is the fatal sin. The law cannot be a tool of vengeance, never a hostage, nor a fortification against the martyrs it has created. You cannot threaten any individual and escape the consequences. Frank Herbert

Government cannot be religious and self-assertive at the same time. Religious experience needs a spontaneity which laws inevitably suppress. And you cannot govern without laws. Your laws eventually must replace morality, replace conscience, replace even the religion by which you think to govern. Sacred ritual must spring from praise and holy yearnings which hammer out a significant morality. Government, on the other hand, is a cultural organism particularly attractive to doubts, questions and contentions. I see the day coming when ceremony must take the place of faith and symbolism replaces morality. . Frank Herbert

Reason is the first victim of strong emotion, " Scytale murmured. Frank Herbert

Cynicism! That, no doubt is a greater crime than heresy. Frank Herbert

The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend toward each other. Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. You have done violence to him, consumed his energy. Elaborate euphemisms may conceal your intent to kill, but behind any use of power over another the ultimate assumption remains: "I feed on your energy. . Frank Herbert

I have said: "Blow out the lamp! Day is here! " And you keep saying: "Give me a lamp so I can find the day. Frank Herbert

What's law? Control? Law filters chaos and what drips through? Serenity? Law -- our highest ideal and our basest nature. Don't look too closely at the law. Do, and you'll find the rationalized interpretations, the legal casuistry, the precedents of convenience. You'll find the serenity, which is just another word for death. Frank Herbert

What the eyes had seen could not be erased. Frank Herbert

Wild Fremen said it well: "Four things cannot be hidden -- love, smoke, a pillar of fire and a man striding across the open bled. Frank Herbert

You do not beg the sun for mercy.- Maud'dib's Travail from The Stilgar Commentary Frank Herbert

And loyalty is a valued commodity. It can be sold .. . not bought, but sold. Frank Herbert

Religion, too, is a weapon. What manner of weapon is religion when it becomes the government? Frank Herbert

One moment of incompetence can be fatal. Frank Herbert

We will not run, " Paul said. "We'll move with dignity. We'll do what must be done. Frank Herbert