Home > Work > Chapterhouse: Dune (Dune, #6)
41 " Surely you know bureaucracies always become voracious aristocracies after they attain commanding power. "
― Frank Herbert , Chapterhouse: Dune (Dune, #6)
42 " Leaders made mistakes. And those mistakes, amplified by the numbers who followed without questioning, moved inevitably toward great disasters. "
43 " Your habits always come hunting after you. The self you construct will haunt you. A ghost wandering around in search of your body, eager to possess you. We are addicted to the self we construct. "
44 " Beware jargon. It usually hides ignorance and carries little knowledge. "
45 " The tyranny of the minority cloaked in the mask of the majority,” Odrade called it, her voice exultant. “Downfall of democracy. Either overthrown by its own excesses or eaten away by bureaucracy.” Idaho could hear the Tyrant in that judgment. If history had any repetitive patterns, here was one. A drumbeat of repetition. First, a Civil Service law masked in the lie that it was the only way to correct demagogic excesses and spoils systems. Then the accumulation of power in places voters could not touch. And finally, aristocracy. "
46 " Many things we do naturally become difficult only when we try to make them intellectual subjects. It is possible to know so much about a subject that you become totally ignorant. "
47 " Thinking you knew something was a sure way to blind yourself. It was not growing up that slowly applied brakes to learning (Mentats were taught) but an accumulation of “things I know.” New "
48 " The writing of history is largely a process of diversion. Most historical accounts distract attention from the secret influences behind great events. "
49 " Enclosures of any kind are a fertile breeding ground for hatred of outsiders, "
50 " In all Things you must appear important. No minor decisions pass through your hands unless they are quiet acts called 'Favors' done for people whose loyalty can be earned. "
51 " Enclosures of any kind are a fertile breeding ground for hatred of outsiders,” she said. “That produces a bitter harvest. "
52 " Order generally was a product of human activity. Chaos existed as raw material from which to create order. That was the Mentat approach, giving no unalterable truths but a remarkable lever for decision-making: orderly assemblage of data in a non-discrete system. "
53 " Mentats cultivated naivete. Thinking you knew something was a sure way to blind yourself. It was not growing up that slowly applied brakes to learning (Mentats were taught) but an accumulation of “things I know. "
54 " To know a thing well, know its limits. Only when pushed beyond its tolerances will true nature be seen. "
55 " At root, I am happy with myself. I do not mind being alone. "
56 " What greater gift is there than to demonstrate you need not fear death? "
57 " This is what it means to be human. Try to hold on to youth and it mocks you while it sprints away. "
58 " There's no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves. "
59 " Power attracts the corruptible. Absolute power attracts the absolutely corruptible. This is the danger of entrenched bureaucracy to its subject population. Even spoils systems are preferable because levels of tolerance are lower and the corrupt can be thrown out periodically. Entrenched bureaucracy seldom can be touched short of violence. Beware when Civil Service and Military join hands! "
60 " All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible. Such people have a tendency to become drunk on violence, a condition to which they are quickly addicted. "