--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We know this moment of supreme power…" description: "\"“We know this moment of supreme power contained Failure. There can only be one answer. That completely accurate and total prediction is lethal.”\" — Fra..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/frank-herbert-262_failure_we-know-this-moment-of-supreme-power-con_840213.jpg" --- # We know this moment of supreme power contained Failure… ![“We know this moment of supreme power contained Failure. There can only be one answer. That completely accurate and total prediction is lethal.” quote by Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/frank-herbert-262_failure_we-know-this-moment-of-supreme-power-con_840213.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/frank-herbert-262_failure_we-know-this-moment-of-supreme-power-con_840213.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/208/frank-herbert-262_failure_we-know-this-moment-of-supreme-power-con_840213.jpg) > ““We know this moment of supreme power contained Failure. There can only be one answer. That completely accurate and total prediction is lethal.”” [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. The ultimate, precise prediction can be dangerous, as it may eliminate uncertainty and agency. **In simple terms:** Exact foresight can be harmful. Key Takeaway Beware of over‑reliance on certainty. Themes prediction power uncertainty Mood cautious analytical Type philosophical strategic When to use this quote - strategic planning - risk assessment - policy making Key Concepts determinism free will Questions to Reflect On - What risks arise from seeking total certainty? - How do you maintain flexibility under pressure? A Different Perspective Prediction may stifle creativity and adaptability. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Supreme power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/supreme-power/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) ## Related quotes > [“completely accurate and total prediction is lethal.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/completely-accurate-and-total-prediction-is-lethal/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [If you can look at your failure and answer yes to the questions, "Did I give it my absolute best effort?" and "Have I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-anthony-dale/if-you-can-look-at-your-failure-and-answer-yes-to-the-questions-did-i/) [Ian Anthony Dale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-anthony-dale/) > [The moment is supreme.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/franz-schubert/the-moment-is-supreme/) [Franz Schubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/franz-schubert/) > [We cannot overstate our debt to the Past, but the moment has the supreme claim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/we-cannot-overstate-our-debt-to-the-past-but-the-moment-has-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [If you look at the architecture of Washington, D.C., it is not by mistake that the dome over the Capitol is the very center…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers/if-you-look-at-the-architecture-of-washington-d-c-it-is-not-by/) [Cathy McMorris Rodgers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cathy-mcmorris-rodgers/) > [“Do you know what frees one from this captivity? It is every deep serious affection. Being friends, being brothers, love, these open the prison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vincent-van-gogh/do-you-know-what-frees-one-from-this-captivity-it-is-every-deep/) [Vincent van Gogh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vincent-van-gogh/) > [There is a supreme power and ruling force which pervades and rules the boundless universe. You are a part of this power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/prentice-mulford/there-is-a-supreme-power-and-ruling-force-which-pervades-and-rules/) [Prentice Mulford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/prentice-mulford/) > [It is a misnomer to call a government republican in which a branch of the supreme power is independent of the nation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/it-is-a-misnomer-to-call-a-government-republican-in-which-a-branch-of/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) > [We are all agents of the same supreme power, the people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-webster/we-are-all-agents-of-the-same-supreme-power-the-people/) [Daniel Webster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-webster/) > [How does a pansy, for example, select the ingredients from soil to get the right colors for the flower? Now there's a great miracle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clyde-tombaugh/how-does-a-pansy-for-example-select-the-ingredients-from-soil-to-get/) [Clyde Tombaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clyde-tombaugh/) > [“Men, discouraged by their failure to accomplish exactly what they desire, often speak of their lives as purposeless, but it is idle talk, for,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-a-widtsoe/men-discouraged-by-their-failure-to-accomplish-exactly-what-they/) [John A. Widtsoe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-a-widtsoe/) > [“The secret of imagining is the greatest of all problems to the solution of which the mystic aspires. Supreme power, supreme wisdom, supreme delight…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-fawcett/the-secret-of-imagining-is-the-greatest-of-all-problems-to-the/) Douglas Fawcett > [“God is the most supreme. His power is without comparism. He is the impossibility specialist. All glory to him. Amen”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chinyere-nwakwue/god-is-the-most-supreme-his-power-is-without-comparism-he-is-the/) Chinyere Nwakwue > [“Now, perhaps nowhere as poignantly as in the omnipresent theme of Christ dying on the cross, the central image of art is no longer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riane-eisler/now-perhaps-nowhere-as-poignantly-as-in-the-omnipresent-theme-of/) [Riane Eisler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riane-eisler/) > [“...those impious epicures, libertines, atheists, hypocrites, infidels, worldly, secure, impenitent, unthankful, and carnal-minded men, that attribute all to natural causes, that will acknowledge no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-burton/those-impious-epicures-libertines-atheists-hypocrites-infidels/) [Robert Burton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-burton/) ## 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 Failure quotes > [When you do things they're absolutely right at that time for you and it can always teach you something about yourself. You can take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kym-marsh/when-you-do-things-they-re-absolutely-right-at-that-time-for-you-and/) [Kym Marsh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kym-marsh/) > [Failures happen. You can't cry over them. You just take it in your stride because you know that you have done your best... Sometimes,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/divya-dutta/failures-happen-you-can-t-cry-over-them-you-just-take-it-in-your/) [Divya Dutta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/divya-dutta/) > [No one is completely unhappy at the failure of his best friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/groucho-marx/no-one-is-completely-unhappy-at-the-failure-of-his-best-friend/) [Groucho Marx](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/groucho-marx/) > [“Rhiannon's Law #28: If you're going to fuck up, be sure to fuck up good and proper. Nothing makes failure acceptable, so you might…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/rhiannon-s-law-28-if-you-re-going-to-fuck-up-be-sure-to-fuck-up-good/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Failure is a part of life and you have to learn to deal with it. Failure is something that is part of life's cycle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-powell/failure-is-a-part-of-life-and-you-have-to-learn-to-deal-with-it/) [Colin Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-powell/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [First action was a mistake. What about the second? third? fourth and fifth?...Mehn you are bad...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/first-action-was-a-mistake-what-about-the-second-third-fourth-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [God's love never fail :)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/god-s-love-never-fail/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Don’t you just hate nights like that, when you think over every mistake you’ve made, every hurt you’ve received, every bit of meanness you’ve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlaine-harris/don-t-you-just-hate-nights-like-that-when-you-think-over-every/) [Charlaine Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlaine-harris/) > [“Our failure to understand another being's inner reality doesn't make that reality any less real, or any less valuable to that being. (p.255)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/our-failure-to-understand-another-being-s-inner-reality-doesn-t-make/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [I hope that the Palestinians don't make the mistake of unleashing a new intifada. They've tried it twice before, and the consequences were bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-segev/i-hope-that-the-palestinians-don-t-make-the-mistake-of-unleashing-a/) [Tom Segev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-segev/) > [Don't take too much comfort in the fact that you're successful today because tomorrow could bring failure. There's no surety in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-savage/don-t-take-too-much-comfort-in-the-fact-that-you-re-successful-today/) [Michael Savage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-savage/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [failure in the theater is more public, more brilliant, more unreal than in any other field.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lillian-hellman/failure-in-the-theater-is-more-public-more-brilliant-more-unreal-than/) [Lillian Hellman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lillian-hellman/) > [As we are coming to the end of the year, I want you to forget about the past, the failure, the negative thoughts or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-we-are-coming-to-the-end-of-the-year-i-want-you-to-forget-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 27,498 Failure quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“We know this moment of supreme power contained Failure. 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