--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It has occurred to me more than once that…" description: "\"“It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will.”\" — Frank Herbert" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d2/frank-herbert-262_boredom_it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-tha_824021.jpg" --- # It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is… ![“It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will.” quote by Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d2/frank-herbert-262_boredom_it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-tha_824021.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d2/frank-herbert-262_boredom_it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-tha_824021.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d2/frank-herbert-262_boredom_it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-tha_824021.jpg) > ““It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will.”” [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He suggests that boredom can motivate the creation of free will as a coping mechanism. **In simple terms:** Boredom may inspire free will. Key Takeaway Embrace boredom as creative spark. Themes philosophy psychology motivation Mood thoughtful curious Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - creative work - personal growth - decision making Key Concepts existentialism human agency Questions to Reflect On - When does boredom hinder rather than help? - Can free will be invented? A Different Perspective May oversimplify complex motivations. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Boredom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) [Free will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/free-will/) [Reason](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/reason/) [Science fiction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/science-fiction/) ## Related quotes > [“holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will.   —”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/holy-boredom-is-good-and-sufficient-reason-for-the-invention-of-free/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [I have come to believe that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-have-come-to-believe-that-holy-boredom-is-good-and-sufficient/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“Boredom can be a very good thing for someone in a creative jam.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/boredom-can-be-a-very-good-thing-for-someone-in-a-creative-jam/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“By the way, I'm not usually attracted to danger," I said. "Up until now I've led a pretty boring life." "Boredom is good!" Dr.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-schumacher/by-the-way-i-m-not-usually-attracted-to-danger-i-said-up-until-now-i/) [Julie Schumacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-schumacher/) > [To write, I think one must sit in one place and be bored. Boredom is a very good state for writers to be. Things…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neel-mukherjee/to-write-i-think-one-must-sit-in-one-place-and-be-bored-boredom-is-a/) [Neel Mukherjee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neel-mukherjee/) > [I wrote a novel because I had a yen to do it. 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La Follette, Sr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-m-la-follette-sr/) > [“The single word that directs a person’s fate and ultimately the fates of those she comes in contact with is of course a common…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-leckie/the-single-word-that-directs-a-person-s-fate-and-ultimately-the-fates/) [Ann Leckie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-leckie/) > [I don't speak ... I operate a machine called language. It creaks and groans, but is mine own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-don-t-speak-i-operate-a-machine-called-language-it-creaks-and/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) ## More by Frank Herbert > [“He who can destroy a thing has the real control of it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/he-who-can-destroy-a-thing-has-the-real-control-of-it/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“A leader, you see, is one of the things that distinguishes a mob from a people. He maintains the level of individuals. Too few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/a-leader-you-see-is-one-of-the-things-that-distinguishes-a-mob-from-a/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“I will tell you this only once. Homosexuals have been among the best warriors in our history, the berserkers of last resort. They were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/i-will-tell-you-this-only-once-homosexuals-have-been-among-the-best/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“Between depriving a man of one hour from his life and depriving him of his life there exists only a difference of degree.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/between-depriving-a-man-of-one-hour-from-his-life-and-depriving-him/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [The surest way to keep a secret is to make someone think they already know the answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/the-surest-way-to-keep-a-secret-is-to-make-someone-think-they-already/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“how inevitable it was that the aristocrat would refuse his final duty—which was to step aside and vanish into history.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/how-inevitable-it-was-that-the-aristocrat-would-refuse-his-final-duty/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“What we should have done was test the gift first. We should have probed for dangers. We were too bedazzled by it, though.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/what-we-should-have-done-was-test-the-gift-first-we-should-have/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“Have you noticed, Stil, how beautiful the young women are this year?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/have-you-noticed-stil-how-beautiful-the-young-women-are-this-year/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“Humans are born with a susceptibility to that most persistent and debilitating disease of intellect: self-deception. The best of all possible worlds and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/humans-are-born-with-a-susceptibility-to-that-most-persistent-and/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Face your fears or they will climb over your back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/face-your-fears-or-they-will-climb-over-your-back/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [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.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/many-have-marked-the-speed-with-which-muad-dib-learned-the/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [“The assumption that a whole system can be made to work better through an assault on its conscious elements betrays a dangerous ignorance. This…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/the-assumption-that-a-whole-system-can-be-made-to-work-better-through/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/the-power-to-destroy-a-thing-is-the-absolute-control-over-it/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Providence and Manifest Destiny are synonyms often invoked to support arguments based on wishful thinking.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/providence-and-manifest-destiny-are-synonyms-often-invoked-to-support/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [If you ask "Should we be in space?" you ask a nonsense question. We are in space. We will be in space.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/if-you-ask-should-we-be-in-space-you-ask-a-nonsense-question-we-are/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) [Explore all 776 Frank Herbert quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) ## More Boredom quotes > [I am fairly tired--bored beyond endurance--by the world we live in, and its ideals, and am ready to say so, not violently, but kindly,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/i-am-fairly-tired-bored-beyond-endurance-by-the-world-we-live-in-and/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [Life is what you make it¦If one refuses to use ones imagination..it will be boring.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-what-you-make-it-if-one-refuses-to-use-ones-imagination-it/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Boredom is vastly underrated. Boredom means that nothing is trying to kill you every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-hobb/boredom-is-vastly-underrated-boredom-means-that-nothing-is-trying-to/) [Robin Hobb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-hobb/) > [I'm bored of being bored because being bored is very boring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sachithra/i-m-bored-of-being-bored-because-being-bored-is-very-boring/) [Sachithra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sachithra/) > [When people look in the mirror, sometimes they see are their shells in the mirror, nothing else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-people-look-in-the-mirror-sometimes-they-see-are-their-shells-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I don't think anyone wants to do the same thing over and over again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bachmann/i-don-t-think-anyone-wants-to-do-the-same-thing-over-and-over-again/) [Eric Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bachmann/) > [“A car is one of the most interesting inventions, but driving is one of the most boring activities.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/a-car-is-one-of-the-most-interesting-inventions-but-driving-is-one-of/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [The most total opposite of pleasure is not pain but boredom, for we are willing to risk pain to make a boring life interesting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-kreeft/the-most-total-opposite-of-pleasure-is-not-pain-but-boredom-for-we/) [Peter Kreeft](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-kreeft/) > [We shop out of boredom, for release, for excitement, for a sense of achievement, for a sense of control over our unruly existences. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-gunn/we-shop-out-of-boredom-for-release-for-excitement-for-a-sense-of/) [Tim Gunn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-gunn/) > [That human life must be some kind of mistake is sufficiently proved by the simple observation that man is a compound of needs which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/that-human-life-must-be-some-kind-of-mistake-is-sufficiently-proved/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) > [Isn’t ‘not to be bored’ one of the principal goals of life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gustave-flaubert/isn-t-not-to-be-bored-one-of-the-principal-goals-of-life/) [Gustave Flaubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gustave-flaubert/) > [The worst sin, the ultimate sin for me, in anything, is to be bored.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/the-worst-sin-the-ultimate-sin-for-me-in-anything-is-to-be-bored/) [Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/) > [Exploitation and manipulation produce boredom and triviality; they cripple man, and all factors that make man into a psychic cripple turn him also into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/exploitation-and-manipulation-produce-boredom-and-triviality-they/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [“To me, at least in retrospect, the really interesting question is why dullness proves to be such a powerful impediment to attention. Why we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-foster-wallace/to-me-at-least-in-retrospect-the-really-interesting-question-is-why/) [David Foster Wallace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-foster-wallace/) > [Listen deeply. Meditate on that which is arising. Even if it's boredom or difficulty or maybe a feeling of being stuck, that in itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rodney-yee/listen-deeply-meditate-on-that-which-is-arising-even-if-it-s-boredom/) [Rodney Yee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rodney-yee/) [Browse all 1,505 Boredom quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/boredom/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of free will.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Frank Herbert" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-that-holy-boredom-is-good-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Boredom" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-that-holy-boredom-is-good-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d2/frank-herbert-262_boredom_it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-tha_824021.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d2/frank-herbert-262_boredom_it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-tha_824021.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/3d2/frank-herbert-262_boredom_it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-tha_824021.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It has occurred to me more than once that holy boredom is good and sufficient reason for the invention of…” — Frank Herbert", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Frank Herbert", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It has occurred to me more...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-that-holy-boredom-is-good-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/it-has-occurred-to-me-more-than-once-that-holy-boredom-is-good-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```