Frank Herbert

Science Fiction Writer

Frank Herbert was an American author best known for his science fiction masterpiece, Dune, which explores themes of power, ecology, and human potential.

Born
October 8, 1920
Died
February 11, 1986
Quotes
427
Rank
#444

Quote collection

Frank Herbert quotes (page 2 of 22)

427 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.

Frank Herbert Science Fiction Writer
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"Educational bureaucracies dull a child's questing sensitivity. The young must be dampened down. Never let them know how good they can be. That brings change. Spend lots of committee time talking about how to deal with exceptional students. Don't spend any time dealing with how the conventional teacher feels threatened by emerging talents and squelches them because of a deep-seated desire to feel superior and safe in a safe environment."

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Frank Herbert Science Fiction Writer
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"A ruler must learn to persuade and not to compel... he must lay the best coffee hearth to attract the finest men... a good ruler has to learn his world's language... it's different for every world... the language of the rocks and growing things... the language you don't hear just with your ears... the Mystery of Life... not a problem to solve, but a reality to experience... Understanding must move with the flow of the process."

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Frank Herbert Science Fiction Writer
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"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand."

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Frank Herbert Science Fiction Writer
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"There is only one true wealth in all the universe. I have given you some of it. I have given your father and your mate some of it. And your friends. This wealth is living time."

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"Scientists seek the lawfulness of events. It is the task of Religion to fit man into this lawfulness."

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Frank Herbert Science Fiction Writer
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"It is so shocking to find out how many people do not believe that they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult."

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"The function of science fiction is not always to predict the future but sometimes to prevent it."

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Frank Herbert Science Fiction Writer
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"Most civilisation is based on cowardice. It's so easy to civilize by teaching cowardice. You water down the standards which would lead to bravery. You restrain the will. You regulate the appetites. You fence in the horizons. You make a law for every movement. You deny the existence of chaos. You teach even the children to breathe slowly. You tame."

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"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."

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"When your opponent fears you, then's the moment when you give the fear its own rein, give it the time to work on him. Let it become terror. The terrified man fights himself. Eventually, he attacks in desperation. That is the most dangerous moment, but the terrified man can be trusted usually to make a fatal mistake. You are being trained here to detect these mistakes and use them."

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"When a wise man does not understand, he says: "I do not understand." The fool and the uncultured are ashamed of their ignorance. They remain silent when a question could bring them wisdom."

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"The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action in mind."

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"We sift reality through screens composed of ideas . (And such ideas have their roots in older ideas.) Such idea systems are necessarily limited by language , by the ways we can describe them. That is to say: language cuts the grooves in which our thoughts move. If we seek new validity forms (other laws and other orders) we must step outside language."

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"Science fiction, because it ventures into no man's lands, tends to meet some of the requirements posed by Jung in his explorations of archetypes, myth structures and self-understanding. It may be that the primary attraction of science fiction is that it helps us understand what it means to be human."

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"How often it is that the angry man rages denial of what his inner self is telling him."

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"When I need to identify rebels, I look for men with principles"

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"Politics: the art of appearing candid and completely open while concealing as much as possible."

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