{
  "type": "quote",
  "site": {
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  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune/above-all-else",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune/above-all-else.json",
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  "id": "0b84fa9b-b618-4df8-8db7-6be34a1b4983",
  "slug": "above-all-else",
  "text": "Above all else, the mentat must be a generalist, not a specialist. It is wise to have decisions of great moment monitored by generalists. Experts and specialists lead you quickly into chaos. The mentat-generalist, on the other hand, should bring to decision-making a healthy common sense. He must not cut himself off from the broad sweep of what is happening in his universe. He must remain capable of saying: \"There's no real mystery about this at the moment. This is what we want now. It may prove wrong later, but we'll correct that when we come to it.\" The mentat-generalist must understand that anything which we can identify as our universe is merely a part of larger phenomena. But the expert looks backward; he looks into the narrow standards of his own specialty. The generalist looks outward; he looks for living principles, knowing full well that such principles change, that they develop. It is to the characteristics of change itself that the mentat-generalist must look. There can be no permanent catalogue of such change, no handbook or manual. You must look at it with as few preconceptions as possible, asking yourself: \"Now what is this thing doing?\"",
  "language": "en",
  "author": {
    "name": "Frank Herbert",
    "slug": "frank-herbert",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert"
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  "book": {
    "title": "Children of Dune",
    "slug": "children-of-dune",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune"
  },
  "character": null,
  "chapter": null,
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  "page": null,
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  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "change",
      "slug": "change",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change"
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    {
      "name": "choices",
      "slug": "choices",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices"
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  "source": {
    "name": "Wikiquote",
    "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Children_of_Dune_(1976)",
    "license": {
      "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
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  "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:52",
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    {
      "id": "ef4947db-b9b0-4a09-8707-b4cdfcd1045d",
      "slug": "the-one-eyed-view",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune/the-one-eyed-view",
      "text": "The one-eyed view of our universe says you must not look far afield for problems. Such problems may never arrive. Instead, tend to the wolf within your fences. The packs ranging outside may not even exist.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": null,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "the present moment",
          "slug": "the-present-moment",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-present-moment"
        },
        {
          "name": "problems",
          "slug": "problems",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/problems"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Children_of_Dune_(1976)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
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      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:53"
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    {
      "id": "a558d4c6-8857-4a1b-811e-946d8d6b34a7",
      "slug": "weve-lost-something",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune/weve-lost-something",
      "text": "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?",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
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      "topics": [
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          "slug": "choices",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices"
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      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Children_of_Dune_(1976)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
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      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:53"
    },
    {
      "id": "a16d79c2-ebca-4b4b-b4da-395dd33decf7",
      "slug": "to-stay-awake",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/frank-herbert/children-of-dune/to-stay-awake",
      "text": "To stay awake all night adds a day to your life.",
      "language": "en",
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      "topics": [
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          "name": "life",
          "slug": "life",
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      "source": {
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        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Dune#Children_of_Dune_(1976)",
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          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
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      "added_at": "2026-09-25T22:40:53"
    }
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}