How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
[Paul] looked at his hand. How inadequate it appeared when measured against such creatures as that worm. (27.244)
Dune often reminds us that size and power do not go hand in hand (sorry about that). We see the turnaround later in the novel when Paul uses his hands—and a maker hook—to ride the worm.
Quote #8
"Men and their works have been a disease on the surface of their planets before now," [Kynes's] father said. "Nature tends to compensate for diseases, to remove or encapsulate them, to incorporate them into the system in her own way." (30.51)
Often in Dune, it seems as if the environment is at the mercy of the people living in it. But here, Kynes's father hints that the environment may have the most precious power there is: time, and plenty of it. Nature just plays the waiting game and works us into her own system.
Quote #9
Superb accuracy in water measurement, Jessica thought. And she noted that the walls of the meter trough held no trace of moisture after the water's passage. The water flowed off those walls without binding tension. She saw a profound clue to Fremen technology in the simple fact: they were perfectionists. (34.141)
Power in perfection: we see it in writers who work their hardest to find the perfect word, in scientists who make sure their formulas are perfect, and, of course, in water hoarders in the desert. All tend to become the best in their particular field.