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Dune was a world of paradox now—a world under siege, yet the center of power. To come under siege, he decided, was the inevitable fate of power.

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Create or arouse such unbridled forces and you built carnal fantasies of enormous complexity. You could lead whole populations around by their desires...more

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Democracy is susceptible to being led astray by having scapegoats paraded in front of the electorate. Get the rich, the greedy, the criminals, the stu...more

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

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When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movements become headlong - faster and fa...more

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Schools were started to train human talents... The Guild... emphasizes almost pure mathematics. Bene Gesserit performs... politics. The original Bene ...more

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The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend toward each other. Between depriving a ...more

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Religion, too, is a weapon. What manner of weapon is religion when it becomes the government?

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Empires do not suffer emptiness of purpose at the time of their creation. It is when they have become established that aims are lost and replaced by v...more