Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert was an American author and the creator of the Dune series.

Herbert was born in Tacoma, Washington in 1920. From an early age, he had literary ambitions and worked as a journalist and photographer before pursuing a writing career. His early work consisted of science-fiction short stories.

In 1959 he began research for his Dune novel, which he completed in 1965. Like his earlier works, he extended his science-fiction writing beyond the superficial predictions and plots that were common at the time, favoring complex psychological, social and environmental themes with greater depth and subtlety.

In Dune and its sequels - as with most of his novels - Herbert explored numerous subjects: politics, the power of love, facets of conflict, human survival, lessons from history, the power of genetics, the complexity of human relationships, and family lineage, to name but a few. Perhaps his most pervasive theme in the Dune series was his optimistic view of human potential. In the various schools of Dune's universe - the Bene Gesserit, Suk School, Spacing Guild, the Mentats - each explored an aspect of untapped human potential and took it to its logical, if fantastical, conclusion.

Because of this bold approach, Herbert initially had difficulty finding a willing publisher for Dune. Eventually, the Chilton Book Company picked up his work and released it to critical acclaim. In 1966, Dune won the Nebula Award for Best Novel and shared a Hugo Award with Roger Zelazny's This Immortal.

Despite the relative success of Dune, it took several more years before Frank Herbert was financially secure enough to become a full-time novelist. He went on to write twenty more novels - including five Dune sequels - and witnessed Dune become a major motion picture in 1984.

Frank Herbert - Interview on TV

Frank Herbert died of pancreatic cancer in Madison, Wisconsin, on February 11, 1986. He was survived by his son Brian Herbert.

Quotes from Dune

Awareness

"The mind commands the body and it obeys. The mind orders itself and meets resistance."

"It is so shocking to find out how many people do not believe that they can learn, and how many more believe learning to be difficult."

"The mind can go either direction under stress - toward positive or toward negative: on or off. Think of it as a spectrum whose extremes are unconsciousness at the negative end and hyperconsciousness at the positive end. The way the mind will lean under stress is strongly influenced by training."

Emotions

"Hope clouds observation."

"I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain."

Technology

"Once men turned their thinking over to machines in the hope that this would set them free. But that only permitted other men with machines to enslave them."

Conflict

"What has mood to do with it? You fight when the necessity arises - no matter the mood! Mood’s a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset. It’s not for fighting."

Leadership

"A world is supported by four things… …the learning of the wise, the justice of the great, the prayers of the righteous and the valor of the brave. But all of these things are as nothing… …without a ruler who knows the art of ruling. Make that the science of your tradition!"

Greatness

"Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him. And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic. This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions. The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man."

Fanaticism

"When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movements become headlong - faster and faster and faster. They put aside all thoughts of obstacles and forget the precipice does not show itself to the man in a blind rush until it’s too late."

Personal quotes

"The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand."

"The people I distrust most are those who want to improve our lives but have only one course of action."

"People say 'Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.' My point is that power attracts the corruptible."

“I wrote the Dune series because I had this idea that charismatic leaders ought to come with a warning label on their forehead: 'May be dangerous to your health.' One of the most dangerous presidents we had in this century was John Kennedy because people said 'Yes Sir Mr. Charismatic Leader what do we do next?' and we wound up in Vietnam. And I think probably the most valuable president of this century was Richard Nixon. Because he taught us to distrust government and he did it by example.”

See also

• Frank Herbert Timeline - Chronology of Herbert's life and work
• Dreamer of Dune - Brian Herbert's biography of his father

External links

• Frank Herbert - Wikipedia article
• Frank Herbert by Timothy O'Reilly
• Frank Herbert by William F. Touponce