In a stone chamber lit by a slit window onto the desert, a boy kneels with his hand in a black box while a robed old woman stands over him. — Original artwork

Fear is the mind-killer.

Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear

A princess in a dark blue gown writes in a heavy book at a stone desk, gazing out of an arched window at a vast desert of dunes. — Original artwork

A beginning is the time for taking the most delicate care that the balances are correct.

Princess Irulan

A lone robed desert-dweller in a hooded suit stands on the crest of a high dune at dawn, a sandstorm on the horizon. — Original artwork

The mystery of life isn't a problem to solve, but a reality to experience.

Gaius Helen Mohiam

Painterly scene: a boy holds his hand inside a black box while a hooded old woman watches, in a stone castle hall above the sea. — Original artwork

Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.

The Litany Against Fear, Dune (1965)

Painterly scene: a boy kneels at a black box on a marble table as a veiled old woman leans close, a stormy sea beyond the arches. — Original artwork

I will permit it to pass over me and through me.

The Litany Against Fear, Dune (1965)

Painterly scene: a young man and an older fighter spar with knives inside a shimmering shield in a sunlit castle hall. — Original artwork

A process cannot be understood by stopping it.

Paul Atreides

Passengers watch a sandworm consume a spice crawler from an ornithopter. — Original artwork

Bless the Maker and His water.

Liet-Kynes

Two opponents stand in a Fremen ritual circle with lowered crysknives. — Original artwork

May thy knife chip and shatter.

Jamis

A desert leader confronts the imperial court in Arrakeen. — Original artwork

The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.

Paul Atreides

A boy and a hooded Reverend Mother stand beside the test box on Caladan. — Original artwork

Thou shalt not make a machine in the likeness of a man's mind.

Orange Catholic Bible, Dune

The Reverend Mother and Paul sit in the sea-lit chamber after the test. — Original artwork

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.

Gaius Helen Mohiam

Gurney and Paul pause during a training lesson on Caladan. — Original artwork

Mood's a thing for cattle or making love or playing the baliset. It's not for fighting.

Gurney Halleck

Paul examines his unharmed hand beside the closed test box. — Original artwork

They tried and failed, all of them? / Oh, no. They tried and died.

Paul Atreides / Gaius Helen Mohiam, Dune

Leto and Hawat study a desert relief map in Arrakeen. — Original artwork

Here, we must develop something I choose to call desert power.

Duke Leto Atreides

Irulan writes at a palace desk overlooking the desert. — Original artwork

What do you despise? By this are you truly known.

Princess Irulan

Irulan studies a sandworm model beneath the desert night sky. — Original artwork

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.

Princess Irulan

Jessica watches a sietch council gather around Paul. — Original artwork

When religion and politics travel in the same cart, the riders believe nothing can stand in their way. Their movement becomes headlong – faster and faster and faster. …

Bene Gesserit proverb, Dune