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Once Human Beings Realize Something Can Be Done, They're Not Satisfied Until They've Done It.
-Frank Herbert
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Once Human Beings Realize

Frank Herbert
...
Once Human Beings Realize Something Can Be Done, They're Not Satisfied Until They've Done It.

Understanding the Quote: "once human beings realize something can be done, they're not satisfied until..."

This quote by Frank Herbert reflects deeply on the theme of science. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Science, Being Real, Done, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Frank Herbert interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Frank Herbert

Frank Herbert is celebrated for insightful thoughts on science and being real. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Being Real
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When Your Opponent Fears You, Then's The Moment When You Give The Fear Its Own Rein, Give It The Time To Work On Him. Let It Become Terror. The Terrified Man Fights Himself. Eventually, He Attacks In Desperation. That Is The Most Dangerous Moment, But The Terrified Man Can Be Trusted Usually To Make A Fatal Mistake. You Are Being Trained Here To Detect These Mistakes And Use Them.
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Memory Never Recaptures Reality. Memory Reconstructs. All Reconstructions Change The Original, Becoming External Frames Of Reference That Inevitably Fall Short.
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How Often It Is That The Angry Man Rages Denial Of What His Inner Self Is Telling Him.
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What I'm Saying In My Books Boils Down To This: Mine Religion For What Is Good And Avoid What Is Deleterious. Don't Condemn People Who Need It. Be Very Careful When That Need Becomes Fanatical.
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We’ve Lost Something Vital, I Tell You. When We Lost It, We Lost The Ability To Make Good Decisions. We Fall Upon Decisions These Days The Way We Fall Upon An Enemy—or Wait And Wait, Which Is A Form Of Giving Up, And We Allow The Decisions Of Others To Move Us. Have We Forgotten That We Were The Ones Who Set This Current Flowing?
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Technology Tends Toward Avoidance Of Risks By Investors. Uncertainty Is Ruled Out If Possible. People Generally Prefer The Predictable. Few Recognize How Destructive This Can Be, How It Imposes Severe Limits On Variability And Thus Makes Whole Populations Fatally Vulnerable To The Shocking Ways Our Universe Can Throw The Dice.
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The Basic Lesson Of Our Relativistic Universe Is That Things Change. Any Power Must Always Meet A Greater Power.
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The Act Of Saying That Things Exist That Cannot Be Described In Words Shakes A Universe Where Words Are The Supreme Belief.
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Good Subjects Must Feel Guilty. The Guilt Begins As A Feeling Of Failure. The Good Autocrat Provides Many Opportunities For Failure In The Populace.
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Nature Does Not Make Mistakes. Right And Wrong Are Human Categories.
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“you May Have Eternity. I Have Only Now.” “but This Is Eternity.”
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Governments Can Be Useful To The Governed Only So Long As Inherent Tendencies Toward Tyranny Are Restrained.
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But, Later, Coming Back And Reading What I Have Produced, I Am Unable To Detect The Difference Between What Came Easily And When I Had To Sit Down And Say, "well, Now It's Writing Time And Now I'll Write.
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A Killer With The Manners Of A Rabbit - This Is The Most Dangerous Kind.
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Power Attracts The Corruptible. Suspect All Who Seek It ... We Should Grant Power Over Our Affairs Only To Those Who Are Reluctant To Hold It And Then Only Under Conditions That Increase That Reluctance.
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If You Think Of Yourselves As Helpless And Ineffectual, It Is Certain That You Will Create A Despotic Government To Be Your Master. The Wise Despot, Therefore, Maintains Among His Subjects A Popular Sense That They Are Helpless And Ineffectual.
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The Undeserving Maintain Power By Promoting Hysteria.
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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.
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It Was Mostly Sweet," He Whispered, "and You Were The Sweetest Of All.
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The Young Reed Dies So Easily. Beginnings Are Times Of Great Peril.
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Show Me A Completely Smooth Operation And I'll Show You Someone Who's Covering Mistakes. Real Boats Rock.
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Control The Coinage And The Courts — Let The Rabble Have The Rest.
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Leto Turned A Hard Stare At Kynes. And Kynes, Returning The Stare, Found Himself Troubled By A Fact He Had Observed Here: This Duke Was Concerned More Over The Men Than He Was Over The Spice. He Risked His Own Life, And That Of His Son To Save The Men. He Passed Off The Loss Of A Spice Crawler With A Gesture. The Threat To Men's Lives Had Him In A Rage. A Leader Such As That Would Command Fanatic Loyalty. He Would Be Difficult To Defeat. Against His Own Will And All Previous Judgements, Kynes Admitted To Himself: I Like This Duke.
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. . . Is To Attempt Seeing Truth Without Knowing Falsehood. It Is The Attempt To See The Light Without Knowing Darkness. It Cannot Be.
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I Cry For Those Not Yet Dead.
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Men Always Fear Things Which Move By Themselves.
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To See Eternity Was To Be Exposed To Eternity's Whims, Oppressed By Endless Dimensions.
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Paired Opposites Define Your Longings And Those Longings Imprison You.
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They Say They Seek Security And Quiet, The Condition They Call Peace. Even As They Speak They Create The Seeds Of Turmoil And Violence.
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Speak
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Waste
The Gravest Error A Thinking Person Can Make Is To Believe That One Particular Version Of History Is Absolute Fact. History Is Recorded By A Series Of Observers, None Of Whom Is Impartial. The Facts Are Distorted By Sheer Passage Of Time And Thousands Of Years Of Humanity's Dark Ages, Deliberate Misrepresentations By Religious Sects, And The Inevitable Corruption That Comes From An Accumulation Of Careless Mistakes. The Wise Person, Then, Views History As A Set Of Lessons To Be Learned, Choices And Ramifications To Be Considered And Discussed, And Mistakes That Should Never Again Be Made.
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Levels
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Justice
Mistress
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Discontent
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Survival
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Self
Desire
Quality
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Wise
Men
Doe
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Inspiration
Worry
Sitting Down
Unfortunately Most Criticism Is By Poseurs. They Use Their Comments About Someone Else's Work As A Platform On Which To Strike Poses. What They're Really Saying Is: "look At Me! Look At Me!"
Criticism
Looks
Use
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.
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People
Difficult
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Thinking
Secret
Answers
We Never Get Far From Wealth And All Of Its Masks When We Deal With Power.
Power
Wealth
Mask
Since Every Individual Is Accountable Ultimately To The Self, The Formation Of That Self Demands Our Utmost Care And Attention.
Self
Attention
Demand
Most Civilisation Is Based On Cowardice. It's So Easy To Civilize By Teaching Cowardice. You Water Down The Standards Which Would Lead To Bravery. You Restrain The Will. You Regulate The Appetites. You Fence In The Horizons. You Make A Law For Every Movement. You Deny The Existence Of Chaos. You Teach Even The Children To Breathe Slowly. You Tame.
Children
Teaching
Law
Time Is A Measure Of Space, Just As A Range-finder Is A Measure Of Space, But Measuring Locks Us Into The Place We Measure.
Time
Space
Locks
The Writing Of History Is Largely A Process Of Diversion. Most Historical Accounts Distract Attention From The Secret Influences Behind Great Events.
Writing
Historical
Secret
If Wishes Were Fishes, We'd All Cast Nets.
Wish
Casts
Fishes
The Only Past Which Endures Lies Wordlessly Within You.
Lying
Past
Endure
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Grief
Victory
Aging
To Determine If You're Human. Be Silent.
Silent
Determine
Humans
Enemies Make You Stronger, Allies Make You Weaker.
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Stronger
Allies
My Lungs Taste The Air Of Time,blown Past Falling Sands.
Fall
Past
Air
Education Is No Substitute For Intelligence.
Substitutes
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.
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Motivational
Death
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Enough
What Do You Despise? By This Are You Truly Known.
Hate
Princess
Hatred
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Thinking
Support
Death Makes A Prophet's Voice Louder.
Voice
Prophet
Ultimately, All Things Are Known Because You Want To Believe You Know.
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Want
All Things
Give Me A Lamp So I Can Find The Day.
Giving
Lamps
Give Me
The Person Who Takes The Banal And Ordinary And Illuminates It In A New Way Can Terrify. We Do Not Want Our Ideas Changed.
Ideas
Ordinary
Want
She Looked At Patches Of Blackness. Black Is A Blind Remembering, She Thought.
Black
Remember
Blind
Give As Few Orders As Possible," His Father Had Told Him Once Long Ago. "once You've Given Orders On A Subject, You Must Always Give Orders On That Subject.
Motivational
Inspiring
Leadership
Religion, Too, Is A Weapon. What Manner Of Weapon Is Religion When It Becomes The Government?
Government
Weapons
What Greater Gift Is There Than To Demonstrate You Need Not Fear Death?
Death
Needs
Fear Of Death
Whether A Thought Is Spoken Or Not It Is A Real Thing And Has Powers Of Reality.
Real
Reality
Thrive
The Universe Does Not Work By Our Rules
Doe
Universe
The Convoluted Wording Of Legalisms Grew Up Around The Necessity To Hide From Ourselves The Violence We Intend Toward 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.
Men
Differences
Violence
Educational Bureaucracies Dull A Child's Questing Sensitivity.
Children
Educational
Dull
His Voice Was Low, Charged With Unspeakable Adjectives.
Voice
Adjectives
Lows
Irreverence Is A Most Necessary Ingredient Of Religion. Not To Speak Of Its Importance In Philosophy. Irreverence Is The Only Way Left To Us For Testing Our Universe.
Philosophy
Irreverence
Way
The Most Terrifying Things In The Universe Came From Human Minds.
Mind
Humans
Human Mind
Ecology Is Often Confused With Environmentalism, While In Fact, Environmentalism Often Leaves Out The Fact That People, Too, Can Be A Legitimate Part Of An Ecosystem.
Funny
Confused
Animal
Love Is A Very Ancient Force, Which Served Its Purpose In Its Day But No Longer Is Essential For The Survival Of The Species.
Love
Survival
Essentials
Ask What Infinity Might Produce And The Only Answer Possible Was, "anything." Any Good, Any Evil; Any God, Any Devil.
Evil
Answers
Might
I Don't Speak ... I Operate A Machine Called Language. It Creaks And Groans, But Is Mine Own.
Machines
Language
Speak
The Ferocity We Show Our Foes Must Be Tempered By The Lesson We Hope To Teach.
Lessons
Teach
Shows
Beware! The Mind Of The Believer Stagnates. It Fails To Grow Outward Into An Unlimited, Infinite Universe.
Mind
Belief
Failing
Governments, If They Endure, Always Tend Increasingly Toward Aristocratic Forms. No Government In History Has Been Known To Evade This Pattern. And As The Aristocracy Develops, Government Tends More And More To Act Exclusively In The Interests Of The Ruling Class -- Whether That Class Be Hereditary Royalty, Oligarchs Of Financial Empires, Or Entrenched Bureaucracy.
Government
Class
Aristocracy
In My Estimation, More Misery Has Been Created By Reformers Than By Any Other Force In Human History.
Misery
Force
Humans
Infinity? It Attracts Us Like A Floodlight In The Night.
Night
Infinity
Education Is No Substitute For Intelligence. That Elusive Quality Is Defined Only In Part By Puzzle-solving Ability. It Is In The Creation Of New Puzzles Reflecting What Your Senses Report That You Round Out The Definitions.
Quality
Definitions
Creation
Killing With The Point Lacks Artistry, But Don't Let That Hold Your Hand When The Opening Presents Itself.
Art
Hands
Killing
Money To A Writer Is Time To Write.
Writing
You Can't Build Politics On Love. People Aren't Concerned With Love; It's Too Disordered. They Prefer Despotism. Too Much Freedom Breeds Chaos.
People
Too Much
Chaos
The Child Who Refuses To Travel In The Father's Harness, This Is The Symbol Of Man's Most Unique Capability. "i Do Not Have To Be What My Father Was. I Do Not Have To Obey My Father's Rules Or Even Believe Everything He Believed. It Is My Strength As A Human That I Can Make My Own Choices Of What To Believe And What Not To Believe, Of What To Be And What Not To Be.
Children
Father
Believe
Ambitions Tend To Remain Undisturbed By Realities.
Ambition
Reality
If You Need Something To Worship, Then Worship Life - All Life, Every Last Crawling Bit Of It! We're All In This Beauty Together!
Life
Together
Needs
The Thing The Ecologically Illiterate Don't Realize About An Ecosystem Is That It's A System. A System! A System Maintains A Certain Fluid Stability That Can Be Destroyed By A Misstep In Just One Niche.
Ecosystems
Niche
Realizing
... Motivating People, Forcing Them To Your Will, Gives You A Cynical Attitude Toward Humanity. It Degrades Everything It Touches.
Attitude
People
Giving
The Function Of Science Fiction Is Not Always To Predict The Future But Sometimes To Prevent It.
Science
Fiction
Sometimes
A Storm Is Coming; Our Storm. Emperor - We Come For You!
Fear
Atheism
Storm
Madness In Method, That's Genius
Genius
Madness
Method
What Are You, Child, That You Need Time To Learn About Yourself?
Children
Needs
About Yourself
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