Brian Herbert Quotes

We cannot see but a small depth into the heart of man, and can only discover the work of his tongue.

Never say you know the last word about any human heart.

I'm interested in writing that explores all sides of human beings.

It's interesting if you can talk about the large moments and also the small moments to understand the deepest complexities of a man by trying to imagine who they are.

For me, I start at the place that my characters are human. I start at the place that they are onions that are layered and meant to be peeled, just as we as human beings are.

Until we know what motivates the hearts and minds of men we can understand nothing outside ourselves, nor will we ever reach fulfillment as that greatest miracle of all, the human being.

Novels are . . . an unsurpassed form to understand people.

We can't love our neighbors till we know how crooked their hearts are.

Only friendliness produces friendship. And we must look far deeper into the soul of man for the thing that produces friendliness.

There is no knowing what is in a man's heart.

This business of really knowing people, deep down, including your own self, it is not something you can learn in school or from a book. It takes your whole being to do it—your eyes and your ears, your brain and your heart. Maybe your heart most of all. —Bobby Goodspeed

It is when we try to grapple with another man's intimate need that we perceive how incomprehensible, wavering, and misty are the beings that share with us the sight of the stars and the warmth of the sun.

It is never possible to understand completely any other human being; and no individual will ever really understand himself - the complexity is too great and there is not the time to constantly take things apart and examine them.

We cannot possibly imagine the variety of contradictions in every heart.

How did the senator know that children meant happiness? Could he see into their souls? What if the moment they were out of sight, three of them jumped the fourth and began beating him up?

Fiction is able to do one thing better than any other art form: it is able to convey a convincing sense of what is going on in someone else's head. To me, that is the great mystery of life: what is everyone else thinking?

Each of us, face to face with other men, is clothed with some sort of dignity, but we know only too well all the unspeakable things that go on in the heart.

No man really knows about other human beings. The best he can do is to suppose that they are like himself.

Man becomes man only by his intelligence, but he is man only by his heart.

I happen to like movies and plays about dislikeable people as long as I get to know why they are what they are.

Are we to paint what's on the face, what's inside the face, or what's behind it?

Who would ever think that so much went on in the soul of a young girl?

I'm entirely interested in people, and also other creatures and beings, but especially in people, and I tend to read them by emotional field more than anything. So I have a special interest in what they're thinking and who they are and who's hiding behind those eyes and how did he get there, and what's the story, really?

The father's greatest folly is that he believes he can be a much more simple person than he is; he is not really able to deal with his own complexity as a human being.

It's important to determine not just the quality of your mind but the fullness of your heart.