Frank Herbert
Frank Herbert
Frank Patrick Herbert, Jr.was an American science fiction writer best known for the novel Dune and its five sequels. Though he became famous for science fiction, he was also a newspaper journalist, photographer, short story writer, book reviewer, ecological consultant and lecturer...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth8 October 1920
CityTacoma, WA
CountryUnited States of America
running risk becoming
Machine makers always run the risk of becoming totally machine.
fool events fixed
It is not the present which unfluences the future, thou fool, but the future which forms the present. You have it all backward. Since the future is set, an unfolding of events which will assure that future is fixed and inevitable.
night tunnels tomorrow
The night is a tunnel ... a hole into tomorrow.
father son extensions
What is the son but an extension of the father?
agreement wish tradition
Words can carry any burden we wish. All that's required is agreement and a tradition upon which to build.
belief shakes supreme
The act of saying that things exist that cannot be described in words shakes a universe where words are the supreme belief.
machinery gross ambiguous
Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.
blow knives decision
Prophecy and prescience--How can they be put to the test in the face of unanswered questions? Consider: How much is actual prediction ... and how much is the prophet shaping the future to fit the prophecy? What are the harmonics inherent in the act of prophecy? Does the prophet see the future or does he see a line of weakness, a fault or cleavage that he may shatter with words or decisions as a diamond-cutter shatters his gem with a blow of the knife?
night infinity
Infinity? It attracts us like a floodlight in the night.
collapse trapped knows
To know the future absolutely it to be trapped into that future absolutely. It collapses time. Present becomes future.
peace war impossible
Peace for any prolonged period of time is impossible. Humans have a natural thirst for chaos and war is the most readily available form of chaos.
wise men tasks
To endure oneself may be the hardest task in the universe. You cannot hire a wise man or any other intellect to solve it for you. There's no writ of inquest or calling of witness to provide answers.
self law names
In all of my universe I have seen no law of nature, unchanging and inexorable. This universe presents only changing relationships which are somtimes seen as laws by short-lived awareness. These fleshy sensoria which we call self are ephemera withering in the blaze of infinity, fleetingly aware of temporary conditions which confine our activities and change as our activities change. If you must label the absolute, use its proper name: Temporary.
self demand care
Since every individual is accountable ultimately to the self, the formation of that self demands our utmost care and attention.