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To Know The Future Absolutely It To Be Trapped Into That Future Absolutely. It Collapses Time. Present Becomes Future.
-Frank Herbert
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To Know The Future

Frank Herbert
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To Know The Future Absolutely It To Be Trapped Into That Future Absolutely. It Collapses Time. Present Becomes Future.

Understanding the Quote: "to know the future absolutely it to be trapped into that future..."

This quote by Frank Herbert reflects deeply on the theme of collapse. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Collapse, Knows, Trapped, 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 collapse and knows. 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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Topic
Collapse
Knows
Trapped
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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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Paired Opposites Define Your Longings And Those Longings Imprison You.
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To Endure Oneself May Be The Hardest Task In The Universe.
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Absolute Prediction Is Completion . . . Is Death!
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That Is One Of The Law's Purposes, Of Course: To Test The Qualities Of Those Who Choose To Employ It.
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I Don’t Think It’s Quite That Simple. Some People Never Observe Anything, Life Just Happens To Them. They Get By On Little More Than A Kind Of Dumb Persistence, And They Resist With Anger And Resentment Anything That Might Lift Them Out Of That False Serenity.
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A Killer With The Manners Of A Rabbit - This Is The Most Dangerous Kind.
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It Was Mostly Sweet," He Whispered, "and You Were The Sweetest Of All.
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What Greater Gift Is There Than To Demonstrate You Need Not Fear Death?
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The Joy Of Living, Its Beauty, Is All Bound Up In The Fact That Life Can Surprise You.
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You've Heard Of Animals Chewing Off A Leg To Escape A Trap? There's An Animal Kind Of Trick. A Human Would Remain In The Trap, Endure The Pain, Feigning Death That He Might Kill The Trapper And Remove A Threat To His Kind.
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There's A Lesson In Every Temptation.
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Chance Is The Nature Of Our Universe. [...] Madness Represents A Chaotic Reservoir Of Surprises. Some Surprises Can Be Valuable.
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Grief Is The Price Of Victory.
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When I Need To Identify Rebels, I Look For Men With Principles
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If All Those Around You Believe Some Particular Thing, You Will Soon Be Tempted To Share In That Belief.
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If We Define Futurism As An Exploration Beyond Accepted Limits, Then The Nature Of Limiting Systems Becomes The First Object Of Exploration.
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Remember: Bureaucracy Elevates Conformity ... Make That Elevates 'fatal Stupidity' To The Status Of Religion.
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Power Attracts The Corruptible. Suspect Any Who Seek It.
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Beyond A Critical Point Within A Finite Space, Freedom Diminishes As Numbers Increase. This Is As True Of Humans As It Is Of Gas Molecules In A Sealed Flask. The Human Question Is Not How Many Can Possibly Survive Within The System, But What Kind Of Existence Is Possible For Those Who So Survive.
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It Is Not The Present Which Unfluences The Future, Thou Fool, But The Future Which Forms The Present. You Have It All Backward. Since The Future Is Set, An Unfolding Of Events Which Will Assure That Future Is Fixed And Inevitable.
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Question: Who Governs The Governors? Answer: Entropy
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I Am Like A Person Whose Hands Were Kept Numb, Without Sensation From The First Moment Of Awareness - Until One Day The Ability To Feel Is Forced Into Them. And I Say "look! I Have No Hands!" But The People All Around Me Say: "what Are Hands?
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I Now Believe That Evolution, Or Deevolution, Never Ends Short Of Death, That No Society Has Ever Achieved An Absolute Pinnacle, That All Humans Are Not Created Equal. In Fact, I Believe Attempts To Create Some Abstract Equalization Create A Morass Of Injustices That Rebound On The Equalizers. Equal Justice And Equal Opportunity Are Ideals We Should Seek, But We Should Recognize That Humans Administer The Ideals And That Humans Do Not Have Equal Ability.
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Constitutions Become The Ultimate Tyranny," Paul Said. "they’re Organized Power On Such A Scale As To Be Overwhelming. The Constitution Is Social Power Mobilized And It Has No Conscience. It Can Crush The Highest And The Lowest, Removing All Dignity And Individuality. It Has An Unstable Balance Point And No Limitations.
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Happiness
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Waste
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Teaching
Past
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Self
Defense
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Blind
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Judging
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Law
Ultimate
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Time
Space
Locks
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Eternity
Endless
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Irreverence
Way
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Infinity
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Pope
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Obsolete
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Betrayal
Trying
Scream
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Ideas
Ordinary
Want
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Powerful
Men
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Future
Journey
Desire
There Has Never Been A Truly Selfless Rebel, Just Hypocrites—conscious Hypocrites Or Unconscious Hypocrites, It’s All The Same.
Hypocrite
Rebel
Selfless
When A Creature Has Developed Into One Thing, He Will Choose Death Rather Than Change Into His Opposite.
Opposites
Creatures
One Thing
Does A Population Have Informed Consent When A Ruling Minority Acts In Secret To Ignite A War, Doing This To Justify The Existence Of The Minority's Forces? ... Failure To Provide Full Information For Informed Consent On Such An Issue Represents An Ultimate Crime.
War
Issues
Secret
A Beginning Is The Time For Taking The Most Delicate Care That The Balances Are Correct.
Balance
Care
Delicate
I Never Thought It Would Be Easy To Serve God," She Said. "i Just Didn't Think It Would Be This Hard.
Thinking
Would Be
Easy
Always Prepare Secondary Ways Of Dealing With Problems.
Way
Problem
Problem Solving
The Most Important Survival Ability For Any Life Form Is The Ability To Change.
Survival
Important
Form
There Is No Escape - We Pay For The Violence Of Our Ancestors.
Pay
Violence
Thrive
Then, As His Planet Killed Him, It Occurred To Kynes That His Father And All The Other Scientists Were Wrong, That The Most Persistent Principles Of The Universe Were Accident And Error.
Father
Errors
Principles
Deep In The Human Unconscious Is A Pervasive Need For A Logical Universe That Makes Sense. But The Real Universe Is Always One Step Beyond Logic.
Life
Real
Princess
If We Deny Emotion, We Lose All Touch With Our Internal Universe.
Emotion
Deny
Internals
There's Hope Left In These Dusty Chords. There's A Song Left In Our Rusty Hearts. We Are Torn And Frayed But Love Remains.
Song
Heart
Chords
We Bene Gesserit Sift People To Find The Humans.
People
Humans
Men Always Fear Things Which Move By Themselves.
Moving
Men
Politics: The Art Of Appearing Candid And Completely Open While Concealing As Much As Possible.
Art
Candid
Concealing
The Unclouded Eye Was Better, No Matter What It Saw.
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Saws
Matter
The Act Of Saying That Things Exist That Cannot Be Described In Words Shakes A Universe Where Words Are The Supreme Belief.
Belief
Shakes
Supreme
One Learns From Books And Example Only That Certain Things Can Be Done. Actual Learning Requires That You Do Those Things.
Inspirational
Book
Example
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Time
Looks
Consciousness
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Hysteria
Undeserving
Promoting
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Art
Perfection
Form
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Past
Fit
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Life Is
Mask
When I Was Writing Dune There Was No Room In My Mind For Concerns About The Book's Success Or Failure. I Was Concerned Only With The Writing. Six Years Of Research Had Preceded The Day I Sat Down To Put The Story Together, And The Interweaving Of The Many Plot Layers I Had Planned Required A Degree Of Concentration I Had Never Before Experienced.
Book
Writing
Years
A Man's Flesh Is His Own; The Water Belongs To The Tribe.
Men
Water
Flesh
Memory Never Recaptures Reality. Memory Reconstructs. All Reconstructions Change The Original, Becoming External Frames Of Reference That Inevitably Fall Short.
Memories
Fall
Reality
Many Things We Do Naturally Become Difficult Only When We Try To Make Them Intellectual Subjects. It Is Possible To Know So Much About A Subject That You Become Totally Ignorant.
Intellectual
Ignorant
Trying
Much That Was Called Religion Has Carried An Unconscious Attitude Of Hostility Toward Life. True Religion Must Teach That Life Is Filled With Joys Pleasing To The Eye Of God, That Knowledge Without Action Is Empty. All Men Must See That The Teaching Of Religion By Rules And Rote Is Largely A Hoax. The Proper Teaching Is Recognized With Ease. You Can Know It Without Fail Because It Awakens Within You That Sensation Which Tells You This Is Something You’ve Always Known.
Life
Attitude
Teaching
There Are Problems In This Universe For Which There Are No Answers. Nothing. Nothing Can Be Done.
Done
Answers
Problem
Bureaucracy Destroys Initiative. There Is Little That Bureaucrats Hate More Than Innovation, Especially Innovation That Produces Better Results Than The Old Routines. Improvements Always Make Those At The Top Of The Heap Look Inept. Who Enjoys Appearing Inept?
Hate
Thought Provoking
Innovation
Argument Closes Off The Doors Of The Senses. It Always Masks Violence. Continued Too Long, Argument Always Leads To Violence.
Doors
Long
Violence
I'm Going To Rub Your Faces In Things You Try To Avoid. I Don't Find It Strange That All You Want To Believe Is Only That Which Comforts You. How Else Do Humans Invent The Traps Which Betray Us Into Mediocrity? How Else Do We Define Cowardice?
Believe
Trying
Comfort
Growth Is Limited By That Necessity Which Is Present In The Least Amount.
Growth
Amount
This Wise Man Observed That Wealth Is A Tool Of Freedom. But The Pursuit Of Wealth Is The Way To Slavery.
Wise
Men
Tools
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
Police Are Inevitably Corrupted. ... Police Always Observe That Criminals Prosper. It Takes A Pretty Dull Policeman To Miss The Fact That The Position Of Authority Is The Most Prosperous Criminal Position Available.
Missing
Police
Criminals
The Best Contribution One Can Make To Humanity Is To Improve Oneself.
Humanity
Contribution
Oneself
Life - All Life - Is In The Service Of Life. Necessary Nutrients Are Made Available To Life By Life In Greater And Greater Richness As The Diversity Of Life Increases. The Entire Landscape Comes Alive, Filled With Relationships And Relationships Within Relationships.
Diversity
Alive
Landscape
But It's Well Known That Repression Makes A Religion Flourish.
Well Known
Wells
Repression
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
A World Is Supported By Four Things: The Learning Of Wise, The Justice Of Great, The Prayers Of The Righteous And The Valor Of The Brave. But All Of These Are As Nothing Without A Ruler Who Knows The Art Of Ruling.
Wise
Art
Prayer
Hope Clouds Observation.
Hope
Ambition
Clouds
A Voice Hissed: "he Sheds Tears!" It Was Taken Around The Ring "usal Gives Moisture To The Dead!" He Felt Fingers Touch His Damp Cheek, Heard The Awed Whispers.
Taken
Voice
Giving
There Are Limits To Power, As Those Who Put Their Hopes In A Constitution Always Discover.
Limits
Constitution
Educational Bureaucracies Dull A Child's Questing Sensitivity. The Young Must Be Dampened Down. Never Let Them Know How Good They Can Be. That Brings Change. Spend Lots Of Committee Time Talking About How To Deal With Exceptional Students. Don't Spend Any Time Dealing With How The Conventional Teacher Feels Threatened By Emerging Talents And Squelches Them Because Of A Deep-seated Desire To Feel Superior And Safe In A Safe Environment.
Teacher
Children
Educational
He Who Controls The Spice Controls The Universe.
Spices
Science Fiction
Sci Fi
Order Generally Was A Product Of Human Activity. Chaos Existed As A Raw Material From Which To Create Order.
Order
Raw Materials
Chaos
Sympathy For The Enemy -- A Weakness Of Police And Armies Alike. Most Perilous Are The Unconscious Sympathies Directing You To Preserve Your Enemy Intact Because The Enemy Is Your Justification For Existence.
Army
Police
Enemy
A Ruler Must Learn To Persuade And Not To Compel.
Rulers
Once Human Beings Realize Something Can Be Done, They're Not Satisfied Until They've Done It.
Science
Being Real
Done
When You Think To Take Determination Of Your Fate Into Your Own Hands, That Is The Moment You Can Be Crushed. Be Cautious.
Determination
Fate
Thinking
Any Man Who Retreats Into A Cave Which Has Only One Opening Deserves To Die.
Men
Caves
Retreat
I Live In An Apocalyptic Dream. My Steps Fit Into It So Precisely That I Fear Most Of All I Will Grow Bored Reliving The Thing So Exactly.
Dream
Bored
Steps
My Lungs Taste The Air Of Time,blown Past Falling Sands.
Fall
Past
Air
Power Tends To Isolate Those Who Hold Too Much Of It. Eventually, They Lose Touch With Reality ... And Fall.
Fall
Power
Reality
All Proofs Inevitably Lead To Propositions Which Have No Proof! All Things Are Known Because We Want To Believe In Them.
Believe
Want
Proof
We Tend To Become Like The Worst In Those We Oppose.
Enemy
Worst
Fear Is The Mind-killer. Fear Is The Little-death That Brings Total Obliteration.
Fear
Fantasy Novels
Scary
Too Much Knowledge Never Makes For Simple Decisions.
Simple
Decision
Too Much
It Must Certainly Be More Dangerous To Live In Ignorance Than To Live With Knowledge.
Ignorance
Dangerous
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