The Butlerian Jihad

Aristotle raped reason. He implanted in the dominant schools of philosophy the attractive belief that there can be discrete separation between mind and body. This led quite naturally to corollary delusions such as the one that power can be understood without applying it, or that joy is totally removable from unhappiness, that peace can exist in the total absence of war, or that life can be understood without death. —ERASMUS, Corrin Notes

Any true student must realize that History has no beginning. Regardless of where a story starts, there are always earlier heroes and earlier tragedies.

With few ambitions, most people allowed efficient machines to perform everyday tasks for them. Gradually, humans ceased to think, or dream... or truly live.

A winner has more skills than a loser," Vor said, "no matter how you define the competition.

Only those with narrow minds fail to see that the definition of Impossible is ‘Lack of imagination and incentive.’ —SERENA BUTLER

Each of us influences the actions of the people we know. —XAVIER HARKONNEN,

Technology should have freed mankind from the burdens of life. Instead, it created new ones. —TLALOC, A Time for Titans

Some lives are taken, while others are freely given. —ZUFA CENVA, repeated eulogy speech phrase

Fire has no form of its own, but clings to the burning object. Light clings to darkness. —Cogitor philosophy

Talk is based on the assumption that you can get somewhere if you keep putting one word after another. —IBLIS GINJO, notes in the margin of a stolen notebook

There is a certain hubris to science, a belief that the more we develop technology and the more we learn, the better our lives will be.

The narrow mind erects stubborn barriers," her mother had once told her. "But against those barriers, words are formidable weapons.

The tapestry of the universe is vast and complex, with infinite patterns. While threads of tragedy may form the primary weave, humanity with its undaunted optimism still manages to embroider small designs of happiness and love.

Music should make the spirit soar, take the breath away, touch the soul. Your work was just…pleasant tones, adequately performed.

Your outrageous and reckless chaos is the only reason you are able to beat me in any strategy game,” Seurat said. “It certainly has nothing to do with your innate skills.

Human life is not negotiable. —SERENA BUTLER

The logic which is sound for a finite system is not necessarily sound for an infinite universe. Theories, like living things, do not always scale up. —ERASMUS, secret records (from the Omnius databank)

Consciousness and logic are not reliable standards. —COGITORS, Fundamental Postulate

No matter the challenge, his people knew how to endure.

The robot responded with surprising sarcasm. “I am aware of the various bodily orifices humans possess. Therefore, I invite you to take a power tool and insert it where the—

Tell her nothing is impossible. Tell her that love is what separates humans from other living creatures, not hatred. Not violence—

Vor stared for a moment at his own reflection in the familiar mirrored face, remembering some of the stupid jokes his friend had told and the innovative military games they had played together. Seurat had never harmed him in any way.

A human captive had fought the machines! She had destroyed a robot with her own hands! Amazed, they called out her name.

My father lied to me! He distorted the events, taking credit, hiding the extent of the brutality and suffering—even Omnius knew it. On the other hand, Serena had told him the truth.

Do you know about the horrors during the Time of Titans? Or the Hrethgir Rebellions?” “I’ve read my father’s memoirs in great detail—” “I don’t mean Agamemnon’s propaganda. Have you learned the real history?

If we give up our humanity to fight the machines, Zufa, then Omnius has already won!

Erasmus was like Serena in a sense: he frequently needed to prune and weed the human race in his own garden.

Vor laughed, proud of his place here. He quoted what he’d been taught all his life. “I am the pinnacle of humanity—a trustee of Omnius, the son of General Agamemnon.