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Icarus
This is a toy that I completely blame on Alex. You see, he kept telling me how wonderful the “DUNE” stories were. I thought he was silly for thinking that. One day, I looked over at my bookshelf and saw that I had many of the books right there, so I picked one up… and ugh! I hate it when Alex is right…
Still, there are so many lessons in these stories. I forget where this list of quotations came from, but I found it one day. I’m going to put it here for the playground.
LESSONS FROM DUNE:
I must not fear. 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 I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
These are illusions of popular history which a successful religion must promote: Evil men never prosper; only the brave deserve the fair; honesty is the best policy; actions speak louder than words; virtue always triumphs; a good deed is its own reward; any bad human can be reformed; religious talismans protect one from demon possession; only females understand the ancient mysteries; the rich are doomed to unhappiness.
Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class — whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.
If you believe certain words, you believe their hidden arguments. When you believe something is right or wrong, true of false, you believe the assumptions in the words which express the arguments. Such assumptions are often full of holes, but remain most precious to the convinced.
Those who would repeat the past must control the teaching of history.
Confine yourself to observing and you always miss the point of your life. The object can be stated this way: Live the best life you can. Life is a game whose rules you learn if you leap into it and play it to the hilt. Otherwise, you are caught off balance, continually surprised by the shifting play. Non-players often whine and complain that luck always passes them by. They refuse to see that they can create some of their own luck.
Do not depend only on theory if your life is at stake.
No sweeteners will cloak some forms of bitterness. If it tastes bitter, spit it out. That’s what our earliest ancestors did.
Enter no conflict against fanatics unless you can defuse them. Oppose a religion with another religion only if your proofs (miracles) are irrefutable or if you can mesh in a way that the fanatics accept you as god-inspired. This has long been the barrier to science assuming a mantle of divine revelation. Science is so obviously man-made. Fanatics know where you stand, but more important, must recognize who whispers in your ear.
Making workable choices occurs in a crucible of informative mistakes. Thus Intelligence accepts fallibility. And when absolute (infallible) choices are not known, Intelligence takes chance with limited data in an arena where mistakes are not only possible but also necessary.
When you think to take determination of your fate into your own hands, that is the moment you can be crushed. Be cautious. Allow for surprises. When we create, there are always other forces at work.
We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose.
Major flaws in government arise from a fear of making radical internal changes even though a need is clearly seen.
Humans are born with a susceptibility to that most persistent and debilitating disease of intellect: self-deception. The best of all possible worlds and the worst get their dramatic coloration from it. As nearly as we can determine, there is no natural immunity. Constant alertness is required.
Seek freedom and become captive of your desires. Seek discipline and find your liberty.
Do not be quick to reveal judgment. Hidden judgment often is more potent. It can guide reactions whose effects are felt only when too late to divert them.
There’s no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves.
Humans live best when each has his place to stand, when each knows where he belongs in the scheme of things and what he may achieve. Destroy the place and you destroy the person.
At the quantum level our universe can be seen as an indeterminate place, predictable in a statistical way only when you employ large enough numbers. Between that universe and a relatively predictable one where the passage of a single planet can be timed to a picosecond, other forces come into play. For the in-between universe where we find our daily lives, that which you believe is a dominant force. Your beliefs order the unfolding of daily events. If enough of us believe, a new thing can be made to exist. Belief structure creates a filter through which chaos is sifted into order.
The basic rule is this: Never support weakness; always support strength.
Bureaucracy destroys initiative. There is little that bureaucrats hate more than innovation, especially innovation that produces better results than the old routines. Improvements always make those at the top of the heap look inept. Who enjoys appearing inept?
People always want something more than immediate joy or that deeper sense called happiness. This is one of the secrets by which we shape the fulfillment of our designs. The something more assumes amplified power with people who cannot give it a name or who (most often the case) do not even suspect its existence. Most people only react unconsciously to such hidden forces. Thus, we have only to call a calculated something more into existence, define it and give it shape, then people will follow.
Concealed behind strong barriers the heart becomes ice.
One observes the survivors, and learns from them.
There are weapons you cannot hold in your hands. You can only hold them in your mind.
Perceptions rule the universe.
Speak the truth. That is always much easier, and is often the most powerful argument.
Hatred is as dangerous an emotion as love. The capacity for either one is the capacity for its opposite.
Storms beget storms. Rage begets rage. Revenge begets revenge. Wars beget wars.
The purpose of argument is to change the nature of truth.
The Unknown surrounds us at any given moment. That is where we seek knowledge.
One uses power by grasping it lightly. To grasp with too much force is to be taken over by power, thus becoming its victim.
The greatest and most important problems of life cannot be solved. They can only be outgrown.
To keep from dying is not that same as “to live.”
When we try to conceal our innermost drives, our entire being screams betrayal.
The less we know, the longer the explanation.
The more tightly packed the group, the greater the need for strict social ranks and orders.
It is astonishing how foolish humans can be in groups, especially when they follow their leaders without question.
The universe is always one step beyond logic.
Does knowledge increase a person’s burden more, or ignorance? Every teacher must consider this question before beginning to alter a student.
It is not easy for some men to know they have done evil, for reasoning and honor are often clouded by pride.
Aslyn
The Bene Gesseritt sure had a lot of interesting information clogging up their Archives, that’s for sure
Sufficed to say, when I’m feeling more awake, I’ll add a few bits and pieces that you won’t have read yet. Plus, of course, you haven’t said whether or not you agree and/or disagree with any of this stuff.Kol Drake
Dune…
I tried to read it once in high school… and only skimmed it. I finally read it while in military language school. I thought is was interesting — and some fun with my Air Force buddy… since he was taking Arabic — he would point out all the similarities in words or philosophies that mirrored what he was studying.
I only read the first four in the Dune “never ending story”… Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune. I have yet to read the ‘final two’ of the Dune saga.. or the many prequel stories now out.
And here’s a website that lists your ‘list’ and more… and tags which character and what book it came from…
http://www.dunemessiah.com/benegesserit.shtmlInteresting what Frank Herbert came up with when he wrote these in the mid 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.
The final two? They released a few more since then, so there’s a sequence: Butlerian Jihad Trilogy (The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade and The Battle of Corrin), the Prequels Trilogy (House Harkonnen, House Atreides and House Corrino), Dune, Dune Messiah, Children of Dune, God Emperor of Dune, Heretics of Dune, Chapterhouse Dune, Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune.
Quote:And here’s a website that lists your ‘list’ and more… and tags which character and what book it came from…
http://www.dunemessiah.com/benegesserit.shtmlThank you, Kol. I lost so many things during my computer’s apparent attempted suicide. I appreciate you taking the time to find that.
As for the stories, well, I need to finish reading them. I’ve read:
Dune,
Dune Messiah,
Children of Dune,
God Emperor of Dune <--- That one is about Alex.
Heretics of Dune,
Chapterhouse DuneI absolutely loved each of these, and now that the holidays are here, I may just get to read the rest of them. Yay me!!!
Jax
I never got past Dune. Granted, I read Dune back in high school, so the mid 90’s, but it was quite interesting then. I just haven’t had the time to get back to them since then. It’s on the todo list.
inari
I’ll probably get drawn and quartered for this, but I never really got into the first Dune book, though I’m familiar with the storyline from the more recent mini-series, which seemed fairly accurate to the book as I remembered it. I found that while I enjoyed the story, I didn’t really enjoy Frank’s writing style.
Chris-Tien Jinn
Like so many series, I loved the first book and yet my interest faltered on subsequent books. Still, a great many good quotes. Maybe we should compile a book with quotes and interpretations – “365 Jedi”
Hello, Chris! Good to see you
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