Reverend Mother

The reverend mother must combine the seductive whiles of a courtesan
With the untouchable majesty of a virgin Goddess
Holding these attributes in tension
So long as the powers of her youth endure

For when youth and beauty have gone
She will find that the place between
One occupied by tension
Has become a wellspring
Of cunning
And resourcefulness

Many have marked the speed with which Muad'Dib
Learned the necessities of Arrakis

The Bene Gesserit of course
Know the basis of this speed
For the others
We can say that Muad'Dib learned rapidly
Because his first training
Was in how to learn
And the first lesson of all
Was the basic trust that he could learn
It is shocking to find how many people
Do not believe they can learn
And how many more believe learning to be difficult

Muad'Dib knew that every experience
Carries
Its lesson
Greatness is a transitory experience

It is never consistent
It depends in part
Upon the myth-making imagination of human kind

The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling
For the myth he is in
He must reflect what is projected upon him

And he must have a strong sense of the sardonic
This is what uncouples him from belief in his own pretensions
The sardonic is all that permits him to move within himself

Without this quality
Even occasional greatness
Will destroy a man