Dune Quotes

As long as there is life, every ending is a beginning. And I would save humankind, even from itself. This is why no death in the perpetuation of humankind can be a complete failure[...] why a birth touches us so deeply. This is why the most tragic death is the death of a youth

'Control the coinage and the courts—let the rabble have the rest.' Thus the Padishah Emperor advises you.

No sweeteners will cloak some forms of bitterness. If it tastes bitter, spit it out.

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;

O you who know what we suffer here, do not forget us in your prayers. — Sign over Arrakeen Landing Field"

Travail and persecution are the lot of all who follow me.

Nothing surpasses the complexity of the human mind

We will never forgive and we will never forget

Any road followed precisely to its end leads precisely nowhere. Climb the mountain just a little bit to test that it's a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain.

The narrowing viewpoint of the maze should appeal only to creatures with their noses buried in sand

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

The singular multiplicity of this universe draws my deepest attention. It is a thing of ultimate beauty.

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct. This every sister of the Bene Gesserit knows. To begin your study of the life of Muad'Dib, then take care that you first place him in his time

"The people who can destroy a thing, they control it."

I know a profound pattern which humans deny with their words even while their actions affirm it. They say they seek security and quiet, the condition they call peace. Even as they speak, they create the seeds of turmoil and violence.

That honorable banner could come to mean many evil things.

Climb the mountain just a little bit to test that it's a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain.

A stone is heavy and the sand is weighty; but a fool's wrath is heavier than them both.

"Tell me about the waters of your homeworld, Usul."

It is difficult to live in the present, pointless to live in the future and impossible to live in the past.

Answers grip on the universe. They can appear sensible yet explain nothing.

'Desperate people are the most dangerous,' Gurney said. 'Are we not desperate?' Stilgar asked.

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.

When God hath ordained a creature to die in a particular place, He causeth that creature's wants to direct him to that place.

The outer surface of a balloon is always larger than the center of the damned thing! That's the whole point of the Scattering!

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.

And the price we paid was the price men have always paid for achieving a paradise in this life — we went soft, we lost our edge.

"One of the hardest things for a tyrant to find," he said, "is people who actually make decisions."

Here, you learn what it is to be human. You are a creator of order, of beautiful shapes and systems, an organizer of chaos.

When things change, your absolute universe vanishes, no longer accessible to your self-limiting perceptions. The universe has moved beyond you.