Dune Navigator Quotes

I need not remind you that this was David Lynch's version of Dune, in which all of the characters were sexy and deformed at the same time. There was a character called the 3rd Stage Guild Navigator, which was a kind of giant floating fetus creature, that lived in a giant tank, with his orange mist of psychedelic spice swirling around him allowing him to bend space and time. He could never leave the tank or interact with the outside world. He had become, in his isolation, so deformed and so sexy that he had to talk through a kind of old-timey radio to the outside world and could never touch them.

I have never been attracted to a person’s pretentious demeanor. A gaudy surface often obscures a hidden agenda. Rather, I trust the quiet, unassuming person much more than one who constantly needs to remind others of his accomplishments and embellish them. —EMPEROR RODERICK CORRINO

And he thought then about the Guild—the force that had specialized for so long that it had become a parasite, unable to exist independently of the life upon which it fed. They had never dared grasp the sword…and now they could not grasp it. They might have taken Arrakis when they realized the error of specializing on the melange awareness-spectrum narcotic for their navigators. They could have done this, lived their glorious day and died. Instead, they’d existed from moment to moment, hoping the seas in which they swam might produce a new host when the old one died.

The Congregating of Stars They often meet in mountain lakes, No matter how remote, no matter how deep Down and far they must stream to arrive, Navigating between the steep, vertical piles Of broken limestone and chert, through shattered Trees and dry bushes bent low by winter, Across ravines cut by roaring avalanches Of boulders and ripping ice. Silently, the stars have assembled On the surface of this lost lake tonight, Arranged themselves to match the patterns They maintain in the highest spheres Of the surrounding sky. And they continue on, passing through The smooth, black countenance of the lake, Through that mirror of themselves, down through The icy waters to touch the perfect bottom Stillness of the invisible life and death existing In the nether of those depths. Sky-bound- yet touching every needle In the torn and sturdy forest, every stone, Sharp, cracked along the ragged shore- the stars Appear the same as in ancient human ages On the currents of the old seas and the darkened Trails of desert dunes, Orion’s belt the same As it shone in Galileo’s eyes, Polaris certain above The sails of every mariner’s voyage. An echoing Light from the Magi’s star, that beacon, might even Be shining on this lake tonight, unrecognized. The stars are congregating, perhaps in celebration, passing through their own names and legends, through fogs, airs, and thunders, the vapors of winter frost and summer pollens. They are ancestors of transfiguration, intimate with all the eyes of the night. What can they know?

Many forces sought control of the Atreides twins and, when the death of Leto was announced, this movement of plot and counterplot was amplified. Note the relative motivations: the Sisterhood feared Alia, an adult Abomination, but still wanted those genetic characteristics carried by the Atreides. The Church hierarchy of Auquaf and Hajj saw only the power implicit in control of Muad'Dib's heir. CHOAM wanted a doorway to the wealth of Dune. Farad'n and his Sardaukar sought a return to glory for House Corrino. The Spacing Guild feared the equation Arrakis=melange; without the spice they could not navigate. Jessica wished to repair what her disobedience to the Bene Gesserit had created. Few thought to ask the twins what their plans might be, until it was too late. -The Book of Kreos

Homère donne à un simple artisan le nom de sage, c'est ainsi qu'il s'exprime sur un certain Margites : « Les dieux n'en firent ni un cultivateur ou fossoyeur, ni un sage en quoi que ce soit ; il ne réussit en aucun art. » Hésiode, après avoir dit que Linus le joueur de harpe était versé dans toutes sortes de sagesses, ne craint pas de nommer sage un matelot. Il ne montre, écrit-il, aucune sagesse dans la navigation. Que dit le prophète Daniel : « Les sages, les mages, les devins et les augures ne peuvent découvrir au roi le secret dont il s'inquiète; mais il est un Dieu dans le ciel qui révèle les mystères. » Ainsi Daniel salue du nom de sages les savants de Babylone. Ce qui prouve clairement que l'Écri- 17 ture enveloppe sous la même dénomination de sagesse toute science ou tout art profane, enfin tout ce que l'esprit de l'homme a pu concevoir et imaginer, et que toute invention d'art ou de science vient de Dieu ; ajoutons les paroles suivantes, elles ne laisseront aucun doute : « Et le Seigneur parla à Moïse en ces termes : Voilà que j'ai appelé Béséléel, fils d'Uri, fils de Hur, de la tribu de Juda, et je l'ai rempli d'un divin esprit de sagesse, d'intelligence et de science, pour inventer et exécuter toutes sortes d'ouvrages, pour travailler l'or et l'argent, et l'airain, et l'hyacinthe, et le porphyre, et le bois de l'arbre qui donne l'écarlate, et pour exécuter tous les travaux qui concernent l'architecte et le lapidaire, et pour travailler les bois, etc. » Dieu poursuit de la sorte jusqu'à ces mots : « Et tous les ouvrages. » Puis il se sert d'une expression générale pour résumer ce qu'il vient de dire : « Et j'ai mis l'intelligence dans le cœur de tous les ouvriers intelligents; » c'est-à-dire, dans le cœur de tous ceux qui peuvent la recevoir par le travail et par l'exercice. Il est encore écrit d'une manière formelle, au nom du Seigneur : « Et toi, parle à tous ceux qui ont la sagesse de la pensée, et que j'ai remplis d'un esprit d'intelligence. » Ceux-là possèdent des avantages naturels tout particuliers; pour ceux qui font preuve d'une grande aptitude, ils ont reçu une double mesure, je dirai presque un double esprit d'intelligence. Ceux même qui s'appliquent à des arts grossiers, vulgaires, jouissent de sens excellents. L'organe de l'ouïe excelle dans le musicien, celui du tact dans le sculpteur, de la voix dans le chanteur, de l'odorat dans le parfumeur, de la vue dans celui qui sait graver des figures sur des cachets. Mais ceux qui se livrent aux sciences ont un sentiment spécial par lequel le poète a la perception du mètre; le rhéteur, du style; le dialecticien, du raisonnement ; le philosophe, de la contemplation qui lui est propre. Car, c'est à la faveur de ce sentiment ou instinct qu'on trouve et qu'on invente, puisque c'est lui seul qui peut déterminer l'application de notre esprit. Cette application s'accroit à raison de l'exercice continu. L'apôtre a 18 donc eu raison de dire que « la sagesse de Dieu revêt mille formes diverses, » puisque que pour notre bien elle nous révèle sa puissance en diverses occasions et de diverses manières, par les arts, par la science, par la foi, par la prophétie. Toute sagesse vient donc du Seigneur, et elle est avec lui pendant tous les siècles, comme le dit l'auteur du livre de la sagesse : « Si tu invoques à grands cris l'intelligence et la science, si tu la cherches comme un trésor caché, et que tu fasses avec joie les plus grands efforts pour la trouver, tu comprendras le culte qu'il faut rendre au Seigneur, et tu découvriras la science de Dieu. »

The Spacing Guild has worked for centuries to surround our elite Navigators with mystique. They are revered, from the lowest Pilot to the most talented Steersman. They live in tanks of spice gas, see all paths through space and time, guide ships to the far reaches of the Imperium. But no one knows the human cost of becoming a Navigator. We must keep this a secret, for if they really knew the truth, they would pity us.

I thought that Navigators just saw the way, a safe way. Holtzman generators actually move the spacecraft.” He decided to add a quote he remembered from the Bible. “‘The highest master in the material world is the human mind, and the beasts of the field and the machines of the city must be forever subordinate.

The Spacing Guild needed vast amounts of melange to fill the enclosed chambers of their mutated Navigators. He himself, and all the upper classes in the Empire, needed daily (and increasing) doses of melange to maintain their vitality and to extend their lives. The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood needed it in their training to create more Reverend Mothers. Mentats needed it for mental focus.

Once the wonders of space are opened up to a Guild Navigator’s mind, what other decorations are necessary? How can any ornamentation rival the wonders a Navigator sees on a single journey through foldspace? The universe, brother! The whole universe.” C’tair nodded, conceding the point. “All right,

We’re in a dark passage,” he said. “Without spice, the Empire falls apart. The Guild will not move. Planets will slowly lose their clear memories of each other. They’ll turn inward upon themselves. Space will become a boundary when the Guild navigators lose their mastery. We’ll cling to our dunetops and be ignorant of that which is above us and below us.

When receiving an unexpected gift, a wise man does not ask too many questions. Only the foolish person assumes that a gift is simply a gift, and that there are no implied obligations. —DIRECTEUR JOSEF VENPORT, Venport Holdings consolidation memo

The Guild navigators, gifted with limited prescience, had made the fatal decision: they'd chosen always the clear, safe course that leads ever downward into stagnation.

Melange is the financial crux of CHOAM activities. Without this spice, Bene Gesserit Reverend Mothers could not perform feats of observation and human control, Guild Navigators could not see safe pathways across space, and billions of Imperial citizens would die of addictive withdrawal. Any simpleton knows that such dependence upon a single commodity leads to abuse. We are all at risk.

Traditionally, Guild Navigators masked their appearance, keeping themselves hidden in thick clouds of spice gas. It was generally believed that the process of becoming a Navigator transformed a person into something other than human, something more evolved. The Guild said nothing to confirm or deny the speculations.

Contrary to popular belief, Navigators did not themselves fold space; the Holtzman engines did that. They used their limited prescience to choose safe paths to travel. A ship could move through the void without a Navigator’s guidance, but that perilous guessing game invariably led to disaster. A Guild Navigator did not guarantee a safe journey—but he vastly improved the odds. Problems still arose when unforeseen events occurred.

MELANGE: the "spice of spices," the crop for which Arrakis is the unique source. The spice, chiefly noted for its geriatric qualities, is mildly addictive when taken in small quantities, severely addictive when imbibed in quantities above two grams daily per seventy kilos of body weight. (see Ibad, Eyes of; Water of Life; and Pre-spice Mass.) Muad'Dib claimed the spice as a key to his prophetic powers. Guild navigators make similar claims. Its price on the Imperial market has ranged as high as 620,000 solaris the decagram.

The unexpected is not always a surprise. —Mentat observation

If you perceive that a person holds power over you, whether or not it is true, then your weakness is very real. —MANFORD TORONDO, final Lampadas rally

To negotiate, both parties must want something that is tangible and compatible. If one party wishes only the destruction of the other, no solution can exist. —Landsraad League records, Salusan proceedings

In desperation we may agree to pay any price. Only later do we learn the true cost. —MENTAT PEARTEN, new Lampadas school archives

An Emperor rules through wealth, military might, alliances, and influence. But he keeps his rule through the wisdom of his decisions, the respect of his subjects, and the momentum of history. Should he lose any one of those factors, his position is greatly weakened.

Each life has numerous crossroads, paths taken and paths avoided. After each such crux-point, one should examine the thought processes that went into the significant decisions, the opportunities grasped, the successes and failures. The same is true with personal relationships. All important things in life can be distilled down to personal relationships. —Old Earth philosopher (name unknown)

For every scientist who dedicates his life to helping humanity, there are ten thousand fools who are just as willing to destroy. —PTOLEMY, Zenith Archives

While lashing out against an insult can provide a certain gratification, a long-anticipated and carefully planned revenge is far more satisfying. —DIRECTEUR JOSEPH VENPORT, private conversation with his wife, Cioba

The enemy of my enemy can still betray me. The enemy of my enemy can still kill me. —EMPEROR RODERICK CORRINO I

Those without a true sense of history fail to see how volatile and transient human leadership is, even on the scale of empires. When viewed from the perspective of a mere lifetime, we tend to see our governmental structures as permanent and unchangeable. This is entirely false. —FAYKAN CORRINO I, first Emperor after the Butlerian Jihad

There are those who see influence and power as a reward rather than a responsibility. Such men do not make good leaders. —DIRECTEUR JOSEF VENPORT, internal Venport Holdings memo

The cymek walkers marched forward like monsters from the greatest nightmares of mankind, smashing buildings into rubble, slaughtering crowds as if they were massed insects.