There exists no separation between gods and men; one blends softly casual into the other.
- Proverbs of Muad’dib
Archive for July, 2007
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Every civilization must contend with an unconscious force which can block, betray or countermand almost any conscious intention of the collectivity.
- Tleilaxu Theorem
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
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 vague rituals.
- Words of Muad’dib by Princess Irulan
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
The most dangerous game in the universe is to govern from an oracular base. We do not consider ourselves wise enough or brave enough to play that game. The measures detailed here for regulation in lesser matters are as near as we dare venture to the brink of government. For our purposes, we borrow a definition from the Bene Gesserit and we consider the various worlds as gene pools, sources of teachings and teachers, sources of the possible. Our goal is not to rule, but to tap these gene pools, to learn, and to free ourselves from all restraints imposed by dependency and government.
- The Steersman Guide, Chapter Three:“The Orgy as a Tool of statecraft”
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
Here lies a toppled god –
His fall was not a small one.
We did but build his pedestal,
A narrow and a tall one.
- Tleilaxu Epigram
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
You do not beg the sun for mercy.
- Muad’dib’s Travail from The Stilgar Commentary
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
No matter how exotic human civilization becomes, no matter the developments of life and society nor the complexity of the machine/human interface, there always come interludes of lonely power when the course of humankind, the very future of humankind, depends upon the relatively simple actions of single individuals.
- From the Tleilaxu Godbuk
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
The convoluted wording of legalisms grew up around the necessity to hide from ourselves the violence we intend towards each other. Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree. You have done violence to him, consumed his energy. Elaborate euphemisms may conceal your intent to kill, but behind any use of power over another the ultimate assumption remains: “I feed on your energy.”
- The Emperor Paul Muad’dib, Addenda to Orders in Council
Thursday, July 19th, 2007
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. Misuse of power is the fatal sin. The law cannot be a tool of vengeance, never a hostage, nor a fortification against the martyrs it has created. You cannot threaten any individual and escape the consequences.
-Muad’dib on Law, The Stilgar Commentary