# Quote — Iain M. Banks, Surface Detail

> Most species capable of forming an opinion on the subject had a pretty high opinion of themselves, and most individuals in such species tended to think it was a matter of some considerable importance whether they personally survived or not. Faced with the inevitable struggles and iniquities attendant upon a primitive life, it could be argued that it was an either very gloomy, unimaginative, breathtakingly stoic or just plain dim species that didn’t come up with the idea that what could feel like an appallingly short, brutal and terrifying life was somehow not all there was to existence, and that a better one awaited them, personally and collectively – allowing for certain eligibility requirements – after death.

- Author: [Iain M. Banks](https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks.md)
- Book: [Surface Detail](https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/surface-detail.md)
- Page: 122
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks#Surface_Detail_(2010)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/surface-detail/most-species-capable

## More from this book

> I’m negotiating a tricky course between the minefield of personal honesty on one side and the rocky coast of operational security on the other.

p. 292 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/surface-detail/im-negotiating-a-tricky.md)

> Filhyn smiled. “Is it not always better to tell the truth though, Representative?”
>
> Errun looked at her, shook his head. “The truth? No matter what? For good or ill? Are you mad? I do hope you’re having a joke with me here, young lady….Don’t pretend you are so naive, Filhyn. The truth is not always useful, not always good. It’s like putting your faith in water. Yes, we need the rain, but too much can sweep you away in a flood and drown you. Like all great natural, elemental forces, the truth needs to be channelled, managed, controlled and intelligently, morally allocated.” He glared at her. “You are having a joke with me, aren’t you?”
>
> I might as well be, she thought. She wondered if she would finally be a real politician when she agreed with what Errun was saying.

p. 260 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/surface-detail/filhyn-smiled-is-it-not.md)

> “I hear what you say,” Prin told him, keeping calm.… “It’s nonsense, of course, but it is interesting to know that you hold such views.”

p. 446 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/iain-m-banks/surface-detail/i-hear-what.md)