Absolute power does not corrupt absolutely, absolute power attracts the corruptible.

— Frank Herbert

A killer with the manners of a rabbit - this is the most dangerous kind.

— Frank Herbert

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities.

— Frank Herbert

All governments suffer a recurring problem: Power attracts pathological personalities. It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.

— Frank Herbert

And loyalty is a valued commodity. It can be sold. . . Not bought, but sold.

— Frank Herbert

And the question of Wester religion,” Flattery said, “is: What lies beyond death? But the question of the Zen master is: What lies beyond waking?

— Frank Herbert

Any man who retreats into a cave which has only one opening deserves to die.

— Frank Herbert

A popular man arouses the jealousy of the powerful.

— Frank Herbert

A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it.

— Frank Herbert

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.

— Frank Herbert