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"Good governance never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders."
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"One obvious palliative of the evils of democracy in its present form would be to encourage much more publicity and initiative on the part of civil servants. They ought to have the right, and, on occasion, the duty, to frame Bills in their own names, and set forth publicly the arguments in their favor."

"The spirit of democracy is not a mechanical thing to be adjusted by abolition of forms. It requires change of heart."

"The financial elite already have the politicians in their pockets, as a result of their lobbying."

"Politics should be a field that attracts statesmen, not future CEO's and board members."

"In reality, commissions rarely solve complicated problems. Therefore, the following question arises: what is worse " to establish a commission knowing it cannot solve a complicated problem, or to believe that the commission will truly solve such a problem?"

"There exists a limit to the force even the most powerful may apply without destroying themselves. Judging this limit is the true artistry of government. Misuse of power is the fatal sin. The law cannot be a tool of vengeance, never a hostage, nor a fortification against the martyrs it has created. You cannot threaten any individual and escape the consequences."

"The bureaucrat is a man who administers things and people, and who relates himself to people as to things."

"Metaphorically, governance is like a "Steer, Risk Management is like a "Brake."

"An assembly is extra slow in taking actions."

"Truth is commodity in political consumption."
Explore more quotes by Frank Herbert

"There will be sadness," Alia intoned. "I remind you that all things are but beginning, forever beginning. Worlds wait to be conquered. Some within the sound of my voice will attain exalted destinies. You will sneer at the past, forgetting what I tell you now: within all differences there is unity."

"Any road followed precisely to its end leads precisely nowhere. Climb the mountain just a little bit to test it's a mountain. From the top of the mountain, you cannot see the mountain."

"Military foolishness is ultimately suicidal. They believe that by risking death they pay the price of any violent behavior against enemies of their own choosing. They have the invader mentality, that false sense of freedom from responsibility for your own actions."

"Since every individual is accountable ultimately to the self, the formation of that self demands our utmost care and attention."

"There are many degrees of sight and many degrees of blindness. What senses do we lack that we cannot see another world all around us?"

"There are proven ways to win the loyalty of tough, strong, ferocious men: play on the certain knowledge of their superiority, the mystique of secret covenant, the esprit of shared suffering."

"It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will."

"A process cannot be understood by stopping it. Understanding must move with the flow of the process, must join it and flow with it."
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