A good traveler has no fixed plansand is not intent upon arriving.A good artist lets his intuitionlead him wherever it wants.A good scientist has freed himself of conceptsand keeps his mind open to what is.Thus the Master is available to all peopleand doesn't reject anyone.He is ready to use all situationsand doesn't waste anything.This is called embodying the light.What is a good man but a bad man's teacher?What is a bad man but a good man's job?If you don't understand this, you will get lost,however intelligent you are.It is the great secret.-- The Book of the WayShe is good to people who are good.She is also good to people who aren't good.This is true goodness.She trusts people who are trustworthy.She also trusts people who aren't trustworthy.This is true trust.-- The Book of the WaySam Carter: It's a shame when a difference of opinion gets somebody killed. That's all I have to say about that.-- Deus Ex"When you kill, you subtract a possibility from the world."-- Daniel Keys Moran, The Long Run
If you must label the absolute, use its proper name: Temporary.--Frank Herbert, God Emperor of DuneIf you realize that all things change,there is nothing you will try to hold on to.If you aren't afraid of dying,there is nothing you can't achieve.Trying to control the futureis like trying to take the master carpenter's place.When you handle the master carpenter's tools,chances are that you'll cut yourself.--The Book of the Way[…] similarly, we expect our friends to follow this or that logical and conventional pattern we have fixed for them. Thus X will never compose the immortal music that would clash with the second-rate symphonies he has accustomed us to. Y will never commit murder. Under no circumstances can Z ever betray us. We have it all arranged in our minds, and the less often we see a particular person the more satisfying it is to check how obediently he conforms to our notion of him every time we hear of him. Any deviation in the fates we have ordained would strike us as not only anomalous but unethical. We would prefer not to have known at all our neighbor, the retired hot-dog stand operator, if it turns out he has just produced the greatest book of poetry his age has seen.--Vladimir Nabokov, LolitaPlans are worthless, but planning is everything. There is a very great distinction because when you are planning for an emergency you must start with this one thing: the very definition of 'emergency' is that it is unexpected, therefore it is not going to happen the way you are planning.--Dwight D. EisenhowerThey say some people never learn, but Never is a long time; longer than Forever, which is simply Now.--David Carradine, Spirit of Shaolin“I have heard the Bene Gesserit say,” Bijaz said, “that there is nothing firm, nothing balanced, nothing durable in all the universe—that nothing remains in its state, that each day, sometimes each hour, brings change.”--Frank Herbert, Dune MessiahDo you want an absolute prediction? Then you want only today, and you reject tomorrow. You are the ultimate conservative. You are trying to hold back movement in an infinitely changing universe. The verb to be does make idiots of us all.--Frank Herbert, Dune Genesis"The lesson here is this: The consequence of even the simplest action cannot be reliably predicted over any long term. One cannot control how events unfold, and whether any action is 'good' or 'evil' can only be judged in terms of its consequence—and even that judgement will alter, over time. An action initially judged to be 'good' may later be found to have 'evil' effects—which eventually may be seen, in fact, to be 'good.' Good and evil are, after all, only code words for outcomes we either favor, or of which we disapprove. We all must accept that anything we do, however 'good' it seems at the time, might have consequences that will be too horrible to contemplate.“What then, is the answer? To do nothing? But even inaction has consequences. The essence of Cainism is this: the truly free man chooses his own goals and seeks his own ends, purely for the joy of the choice and the seeking.”--Matthew Woodring Stover, Blade of TyshalleThis is the fallacy of power: ultimately it is effective only in an absolute, a limited universe. But the basic lesson of our relativistic universe is that things change. Any power must always meet a greater power.--Frank Herbert, Dune MessiahHumankind periodically goes through a speedup of its affairs, thereby experiencing the race between the renewable vitality of the living and the beckoning vitiation of decadence. In this periodic race, any pause becomes luxury. Only then can one reflect that all is permitted; all is possible.--Frank HerbertPeace demands solutions, but we never reach living solutions; we only work toward them. A fixed solution is, by definition, a dead solution. The trouble with peace is that it tends to punish mistakes instead of rewarding brilliance.--Frank HerbertIf life is to be explained on the basis of physical laws, then the overwhelming evidence that life deliberately works around these laws cannot be ignored. The reason atoms become chemistry professors has got to be that something in nature does not like laws of chemical euquilibrium or the law of gravity or the laws of thermodynamics or any other law that restricts the molecules' freedom. They only go along with laws of any kind because they have to, preferring an existence that does not follow any laws whatsoever.This would explain why patterns of life do not change solely in accord with causative "mechanisms" or "programs" or blind operations of physical laws. They do not just change valuelessly. They change in ways that evade, override and circumvent these laws. The patterns of life are constantly evolving in response to something "better" than that which those laws have to offer.This would at first seem to contradict the one thing that evolutionists insist upon most: that life is not responding to anything but the "survival of the fittest" process of natural selection. But "survival of the fittest" is one of those catch-phrases like "mutants" or "misfits" that sounds best when you don't ask precisely what it means. Fittest for what? Fittest for survival? That reduces to "survival of the survivors," which doesn't say anything. "Survival of the fittest" is meaningful only when "fittest" is equated with "best," which is to say, "Quality." And the Darwinians don't mean just any old quality, they mean undefined Quality! As Mayr's article makes clear, they are absolutely certain there is no way to define what that "fittest" is.--Robert M. Pirsig, Lila“Is in the sense that the force for which Shiva was a metaphor is entirely real, and still with us. Shiva is power in its purest sense. Absolute motion. Destruction, creation: the same energy informs both. Destructive creation, creative destruction. This isn't a paradox. It isn't. It's a breakdown of language. Destruction and creation are not opposites. They are both opposites of stasis.”[…] “The old name—the best name—is Shiva: the Dancer on the Void. The power that shatters order into primordial chaos is the same power that patterns chaos into a new structure of order—because pure chaos is also a kind of stasis, don't you see? Shiva is the enemy of everything that does not change. Shiva's Dance is the play of energy in the cosmos; it's not good, it's not evil, it simply is. It's change itself, and it touches everything.”--Matthew Woodring Stover, Blade of Tyshalle“The empty universe, where is it now? Alone are you, Count, and no one your master. Each instant the universe annihilates itself, and starts again.” He poked Dokuu in the chest with his stick, hard. “Choose, and start again!”
Say not, “I have found the truth,” but rather, “I have found a truth.”Say not, “I have found the path of the soul.” Say rather, “I have met the soul walking upon my path.”--Khalil Gibran, The Prophet, ch. 17: Self-KnowledgeFor so long as we admit our ignorance, we can hope to improve our claims, and so long as we can improve our claims, we can aspire to the Truth, even if only in rank approximation.--R. Scott Bakker, The Prince of Nothing“You want the Great Truth about Humanity? Most people are pretty decent. They try to be nice guys but they're too lazy or sometimes too tired and they do things they feel sorry for later. A lot of people, most of those who ever make it into a position of power in the real world, are basically pricks. A huge number of them are sociopaths. A fairly small number—and fortunately for us all, a disproportionally large amount of these end up in power also—are kind, decent, just people who are also very, very tough.”--Daniel Keys Moran, Emerald Eyes“Peace is a product of civilization. The myth of the peaceful savage is precisely that: a myth. Without civilization, all existence is only the jungle. Go to your peaceful savage and burn his crops, or slaughter his herds, or kick him off his hunting grounds. You'll find that he will not remain peaceful for long.”--Matthew Woodring Stover, Shatterpoint“Is this not what playgrounds are in the New Republic—a place for children to learn the boundaries of behavior? One learns to fight in playground scuffles; one learns politics in playground cliques. It is on the playground that one is initiated into the madness of mobs, the insidious mire of peer pressure, and the final, unthinkable, inarguable unfairness of existence—that some are smarter, others stronger or faster, and no force at your command can make you better than your gifts.”--Matthew Woodring Stover, Traitor“But everything you tell yourself should be the truth—or as close to it as you can come. You did what you did because you are who you are. Self-control, or its lack, had nothing to do with it.”--Matthew Woodring Stover, TraitorT]he only way to safeguard yourself against flatterers is by letting people understand that you are not offended by the truth;--Machiavelli, The PrinceAnd his attitude towards his councils and towards each one of his advisers should be such that they will recognize that the more freely they speak out the more acceptable they will be.--Machiavelli, The PrinceA prince must, therefore, never lack advice. […] All the same, he should be a constant questioner, and he must listen patiently to the truth regarding what he has inquired about. Moreover, if he finds that anyone for some reason holds the truth back he must show his wrath.--Machiavelli, The Prince“See, the thing is, everything everyone tells you is a lie. The truth is always greater than the words we use to describe it.”--Matthew Woodring Stover, Traitor
It is the systems themselves that I see as dangerous. Systematic is a deadly word. Systems originate with human creators, with people who employ them. Systems take over and grind on and on.--Frank Herbert, Dune GenesisCaution is indeed indicated, but not the terror that prevents all movement. Hang loose. And when someone asks whether you're starting a new cult, do what I do: Run like hell.--Frank Herbert, Dune GenesisEmpires 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 ritual.--Frank HerbertConfusion (entropy) is always increasing in society. Only if someone or something works extremely hard can this confusion be reduced to order in a limited region. Nevertheless, this effort will still result in an increase in the total confusion of society at large.—Everitt's Form of the Second Law of ThermodynamicsAbsolute liberty is absence of restraint; responsibility is restraint; therefore, the ideally free individual is responsible only to himself. This principle is the philosophical foundation of anarchism, and, for anything that science has yet proved, may be the philosophical foundation of the universe; but it is fatal to all society and is especially fatal to the State.--Henry and Brooks Adams, The Degradation of the Democratic DogmaWhere nature makes natural allies of us all, we can demonstrate that beneficial relationships are possible even with those with whom we must deeply disagree, and this must someday be the basis of world peace and world law.--John F. Kennedy, State of the Union Address1. No action is without side-effects.2. Nothing ever goes away.3. There is no free lunch.—Commoner's Three Laws of EcologyRemember that there exists a certain malevolence about the formation of any social order. It is the struggle for existence by an artificial entity. Despotism and slavery hover at the edges. Many injuries occur and, thus, the need for laws. The law develops its own power structure, creating more wounds and new injustices. Such trauma can be healed by cooperation, not by confrontation. The summons to cooperate identifies the healer.--Frank Herbert, God Emperor of DuneWhat we must strive for always! is to find the natural flow and go with it.--Frank Herbert, Heretics of DuneBut to tear down a factory or to revolt against a government or to avoid repair of a motorcycle because it is a system is to attack effects rather than causes; and as long as the attack is upon effects only, no change is possible. The true system, the real system, is our present construction of systematic thought itself, rationality itself, and if a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a systematic government, but the systematic patters of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves in the succeeding government. There's so much talk about the system. And so little understanding.--Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceLittle children were trained not to do "just what they liked" but … but what? … Of course! What others liked. And which others? Parents, teachers, supervisors, policemen, judges, officials, kings, dictators. All authorities. When you are trained to despise "just what you like" then, of course, you become a much more obedient servant of others—a good slave. When you learn not to do "just what you like" then the System loves you.But suppose you do just what you like? Does that mean you're going to go out and shoot heroin, rob banks and rape old ladies? The person who is counseling you not to do "just as you like" is making some remarkable presumptions as to what is likable. He seems unaware that people may not rob banks because they have considered the consequences and decided they don't like to. He doesn't see that banks exist in the first place because they're "just what people like," namely, providers of loans. Phaedrus began to wonder how all this condemnation of "what you like" ever seemed such a natural objection in the first place.--Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle MaintenanceCodes and manuals create patterned behavior. All patterned behavior tends to go unquestioned, gathering destructive momentum.--Frank Herbert=> Ritual is the husk of true faith,the beginning of chaos.--The Book of the Way
Yesterday we obeyed kings and bent our necks before emperors. But today we kneel only to the truth, follow only beauty, and obey only love.--Khalil Gibran, The Vision, On Progress: Children of Gods, Scions of ApesIn the final reckoning there is only love, only that divinity. That we are capable only of being what we are remains our unforgivable sin.--Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun“Should everything be forgiven? Has no one ever done something to you that was such a betrayal, did such violence to your trust, that you could not forgive him?”--Daniel Keys Moran, The Last DancerShe is good to people who are good.She is also good to people who aren't good.This is true goodness.She trusts people who are trustworthy.She also trusts people who aren't trustworthy.This is true trust.--The Book of the WayAhimsa, infinite love, is a weapon of matchless potency…--Mohandas K. GandhiAre there really people without resentment, without hate, she wondered. People who never go cross-grained to the universe? Who recognize evil, and resist evil, and yet are utterly unaffected by it?Of course there are. Countless, the living and the dead. Those who have returned in pure compassion to the wheel, those who follow the way that cannot be followed without knowing they follow it, the sharecropper's wife in Alabama and the lama in Tibet and the entomoligist in Peru and the millworker in Odessa and the greengrocer in London and the goatherd in Nigeria and the old, old man sharpening a stick by a dry streambed somewhere in Australia, and all the others. There is not one of us who has not known them. There are enough of them, enough to keep us going. Perhaps.--Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of HeavenLife cannot find reasons to sustain it, cannot be a source of decent mutual regard, unless each of us resolves to breathe such qualities into it.--Frank Herbert, Heretics of DuneAll of them embodythe virtue of non-competition.Not that they don't love to compete,but they do it in the spirit of play.In this they are like childrenand in harmony with the Tao.--The Book of the Way“What man who has lived for more than a score of years desires justice, warrior? For my part, I find mercy infinitely more attractive. Give me a forgiving deity any day.”--Roger Zelazny, Lord of LightA person who believes, as she did, that things fit: that there is a whole of which one is a part, and that in being a part one is whole: such a person has no desire whatever, at any time, to play God. Only those who have denied their being yearn to play at it.--Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven“It's important to remember,” said Denice softly. “But it's more important to forgive.”“The proper expression of life consists of moving in harmony with the world. To move in harmony with the world, with other people, with the things of the world, with ourselves; this is the ultimate expression of dance. All living things wish to move well; it is built into them to wish it, for living things that move well are better fit to survive than those that do not.”--Daniel Keys Moran, The Last DancerYou need not like someone to love him. Love is nothing more than the recognition that two are one. That all is one.--Matthew Woodring Stover, Traitor"Oh, yes. Of course, I understand. You're so enlightened, you love everyone. That's so much safer than loving just one person, isn't it?"--Daniel Keys Moran, The AI War
Do you want to improve the world?I don't think it can be done.The world is sacred.It can't be improved.If you tamper with it, you'll ruin it.If you treat it like an object, you'll lose it.--The Book of the WayPerhaps for illustration it's enough to say that you can't very well treat the world like an object because you're part of everything. And:As his grandfather had done, he had broken through the apparent opposites that concealed the absolute nature of the Force, and found his way into an unseen unity that existed beyond the seeming separateness of the world. For a moment all the cosmic tumblers had clicked into place, and light and dark sides became something he could balance within himself, without having to remain on one side or the other. [...]Jacen continued to stand firm, righting the world.He had become so powerful as to be dangerous to his own galaxy, for he could see clearly the temptations of the dark side and the desire to force one's will on others---to so completely dominate [in order to right the world] that all life would kowtow to him.--James Luceno, The Unifying ForceKnowing when to stop,you can avoid any danger.--The Book of the Way“You told me that I, too, took pleasure in the ways of the pain which you work. You were correct, for all men have within them both that which is dark and that which is light. A man is a thing of many divisions, not a pure, clear flame such as you once were. His intellect often wars with his emotions, his will with his desires… his ideals are at odds with his environment, and if he follows them, he knows keenly the loss of that which was old—but if he does not follow them, he feels the pain of having forsaken a new and noble dream. Whatever he does represents both a gain and a loss, an arrival and a departure. Always he mourns that which is gone and fears some part of that which is new. Reason opposes tradition. Emotions oppose the restrictions his fellow men lay upon him. Always, from the friction of these things, there arises the thing you called the curse of man and mocked—guilt!”--Roger Zelazny, Lord of LightAll men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dream with open eyes, to make it possible.--T. E. Lawrence of Arabia, Seven Pillars of WisdomThe reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.--George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman, Maxims for RevolutionistsSuffering is the fuel in the engine of civilization.--Matthew Woodring Stover, TraitorIt seems as though a society that is intolerant of all forms of degeneracy shuts off its own Dynamic growth and becomes static. But a society that tolerates all forms of degeneracy degenerates. Either direction can be dangerous. The mechanisms by which a balanced society grows and does not degenerate are difficult, if not impossible, to define.How can you tell the two directions apart? Both oppose the status quo. Radical idealists and degenerate hooligans sometimes strongly resemble each other.--Robert M. Pirsig, LilaThis is really the central problem in the static-Dynamic conflict of evolution: how do you tell the saviors from the degenerates? Particularly when they look alike, talk alike and break all the rules alike? Freedoms that save the saviors also save the degenerates and allow them to tear the whole society apart. But restrictions that stop the degenerates also stop the creative Dynamic forces of evolution.--Robert M. Pirsig, Lila“[T]he personal strengths and weakness of a leader are no true indication of the merits of his cause.”--Roger Zelazny, Lord of LightIt was the most Dynamic place on earth, but the price of being Dynamic is instability. Any Dynamic situation is vulnerable to attrition and corruption and even to complete collapse. When you take steps forward into the unkown you always risk being smashed by that unkown.--Robert M. Pirsig, LilaSo the thing to do when working on a motorcycle, as in any other task, is to cultivate the peace of mind which does not separate one's self from one's surroundings. When that is done successfully then everything else follows naturally. Peace of mind produces right values, right values produce right thoughts. Right thoughts produce right actions and right actions produce work which will be a material reflection for others to see of the serenity at the center of it all. That was what it was about that wall in Korea. It was a material reflection of a spiritual reality.I think that if we are going to reform the world, and make it a better place to live in, the way to do it is not with talk about relationships of a political nature, which are inevitably dualistic, full of subjects and objects and their relationships to one another; or with programs fulls of things for other people to do. I think that kind of approach starts it at the end and presumes the end is the beginning. Programs of a political nature are important end products of social quality that can be effective only if the underlying structure of social values is right. The place to improve the world is first in one's own heart and head and hands, and then work outward from there. Other people can talk about how to expand the destiny of mankind. I just want to talk about how to fix a motorcycle. I think that what I have to say has more lasting value.--Robert M. Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance
All sentient beings are created unequal. The best society provides each with equal opportunity to float at his own level.--Frank Herbert, The Dosadi Experiment“The salient feature of America—the ways in which the original American Republic was unique in human history to that point—lies in the assumption that humans are wise enough to control their own lives. I am not certain this is an accurate assumption; nonetheless, it is a distinct one. Everything that the Founding Fathers wrote reflects this underlying assumption. They were without exception, even those with religious leanings, strongly anti-Church, because the Church tended to desire the control of the populace's lives in ways the Founding Fathers found abhorrent. They were strongly progun; guns made it possible for a citizen to protect himself from encroachments upon his liberty, even by his own government. They desired a free press because they believed that, in an intellectually free environment humans were wise enough to make decisions that would, ultimately, be beneficial to the larger community. It is clear that this was the original intent of the United States: to provide an environment in which citizens were allowed to make free decisions about the details of their own lives.”--Daniel Keys Moran, The Last Dancer“The best security, Master Yoda once said, lies in creating a society that nobody wishes to attack.”--Sean Stewart, Dark RendezvousGreat minds discuss ideas.Average minds discuss events.Small minds discuss people.—?We do not believe any group of men adequate enough or wise enough to operate without scrutiny or without criticism. We know that the only way to avoid error is to detect it, that the only way to detect it is to be free to inquire. We know that in secrecy error undetected will flourish and subvert.--J. Robert OppenheimerWe should test our own ideas rigorously, so that by falsifying them ourselves we spare ourselves the embarrassment of having them refuted by others, and may thereby drive ourselves on to new and perhaps less vulnerable ideas.--Brian Boyd"Of course we must keep young; but it is useless to keep young if we do not also grow up, and never stop growing up. To keep young, surely, is just to keep supple and keen; and to grow up is not at all a mere sinking into stiffness and into disillusion, but a rising into ever finer skill in all the actions of the game of living. There is something else, too, which is part of growing up—to see that life is really, after all, a game; a terribly serious game, no doubt, but none the less a game. When we play a game, as it should be played, we strain every muscle to win; but all the while we care less for winning than for the game. And we play the better for it. When barbarians play against a Patagonian team, they forget that it is a game, and go mad for victory. […] How they pester and curse the umpire, too! I have done that myself, of course, before now; not in games but in life. I have actually cursed the umpire of life. Better so, anyhow, than to insult him with presents, in the hope of being favoured; which is what you are doing here, with your salaams and your vows. I never did that. I merely hated him. Then later I learned to laugh at him, or rather at the thing you set up in his place. But now at last I see him clearly, and laugh with him, at myself, for having missed the spirit of the game."--Olaf Stapledon, Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Futurech. V: The Fall of the First Men, 3. The Cult of Youth“'Sier Obodi, when he should speak of liberty, speaks of loyalty. When he should speak of the need for self-determination, he speaks of the need for wisdom; the implication being that he is wise, and his listeners are not. Where he should instill self-respect, he instills respect for himself. I confess,” said the smooth, inhuman voice, “I do not understand his effect upon human beings, his charm; he seems to me a dangerous charlatan.”--Daniel Keys Moran, The Last DancerMorpheus: The human organism always worships. First it was the gods, then it was fame (the observation and judgment of others), next it will be the self-aware systems you have built to realize truly omnipresent observation and judgment.JC Denton: You underestimate humankind's love of freedom.Morpheus: The individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is impossible, and so is civilization. The human being created civilization not because of a willingness but because of a need to be assimilated into higher orders of structure and meaning. God was a dream of good government.--Deus ExIf you want to build a shipdon't herd people together to collect woodand don't assign them tasks and work,but rather teach them to long for theendless immensity of the sea.--Antoine-Marie-Roger de Saint-Exupéry
If a country is governed with tolerance,the people are comfortable and honest.If a country is governed with repression,the people are depressed and crafty.When the will to power is in charge,the higher the ideals, the lower the results.Try to make people happy,and you lay the groundwork for misery.Try to make people moral,and you lay the groundwork for vice.Thus the Master is contentto serve as an exampleand not to impose her will.She is pointed, but doesn't pierce.Straightforward, but supple.Radiant, but easy on the eyes.--The Book of the WayNone the less, a prince must be slow to believe allegations and to take action, and must watch that he does not come to be afraid of his own shadow; his behaviour must be tempered by humanity and prudence so that over-confidence does not make him rash or excessive distrust make him unbearable.--Machiavell, The PrinceAnd I will be known for kindliness more than for knowledge.--Frank HerbertHe should appear to be compassionate, faithful to his word, kind, guileless, and devout. And indeed he should be so. But his disposition should be such that, if he needs to be the opposite, he knows how.--Machiavell, The PrincePeople with real power never fear of losing it. People with control think of little else.--Joss Whedon, Mom, He's Doing It Again...When he makes a mistake, he realizes it.Having realized it, he admits it.Having admitted it, he corrects it.He considers those who point out his faultsas his most benevolent teachers.He thinks of his enemyas the shadow that he himself casts.--The Book of the WayYet he who reigns within himself, and rulesPassions, Desires, and Fears, is more a King;Which every wise and virtuous man attains:And who attains not, ill aspires to ruleCities of men, or headstrong Multitudes,Subject himself to Anarchy within,Or lawless passions in him which he serves.--John Miltion, Paradise Regained[…] no matter how admirable those people may appear to be. Beneath the hero's facade you will find a human being who makes human mistakes. Enormous problems arise when human mistakes are made on the grand scale available to a superhero.--Frank Herbert, Dune GenesisWhat part do the meek play in creating the powerful? If a leader cannot admit mistakes, these mistakes will be hidden. Who says our leaders must be perfect? Where do they learn this?--Frank Herbert, Dune GenesisThe one-eyed view of our universe says you must not look far afield for problems. Such problems may never arrive. Instead, tend to the wolf within your fences. The packs ranging outside may not even exist.--Frank Herbert"[…] The difference between a good administrator and a bad one is about five heartbeats. Good administrators make immediate choices.”“Acceptable choices?”“They usually can be made to work. A bad administrator, on the other hand, hesitates, diddles around, asks for committees, for research and reports. Eventually, he acts in ways which create serious problems.”“But don't they sometimes need more information to make…”“A bad administrator is more concerned with reports than with decisions. He wants the hard record which he can display as an excuse for his errors.”“And good administrators?”“Oh, they depend on verbal orders. They never lie about what they've done if their verbal orders cause problems, and they surround themselves with people able to act wisely on the basis of verbal orders. Often, the most important piece of information is that something has gone wrong. Bad administrators hide their mistakes until it's too late to make corrections.”--Frank Herbert, God Emperor of DuneAll 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.--Frank Herbert“How shall the state be most vigorous? It shall be most vigorous when it is without conflict. How shall it be without conflict? When it is without disagreement. How shall disagreement be banished? By banishing the four causes of disagreement: lies, foolish talk, boastful talk, and talk which serves only to incite quarrels. […]”--Gene Wolfe, The Book of the New Sun
