Dr. Liet-Kynes Character Analysis

I must rule with eye and claw—as the the hawk among lesser birds.

Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. 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.

“I’ve heard you have a saying,” Paul said, “that polish comes from the cities, wisdom from the desert.”

“No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero” his father said.

I must rule with eye and claw—as the the hawk among lesser birds.

Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never consistent. It depends in part upon the myth-making imagination of humankind. 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.

“I’ve heard you have a saying,” Paul said, “that polish comes from the cities, wisdom from the desert.”

“No more terrible disaster could befall your people than for them to fall into the hands of a Hero” his father said.