"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."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Horror authorsPoets from ScotlandNovelists from ScotlandShort story writers from ScotlandScience fiction authors from the United Kingdom
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Chapter 13 (p. 260; ellipsis represents the elision of one sentence of description)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Iain_Banks
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Iain Banks
Iain Menzies Banks (February 16, 1954 – June 9, 2013), officially Iain Banks, was a Scottish writer. As Iain M. Banks he wrote science fiction; as Iain Banks he wrote literary fiction.
306 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Iain Banks →
Related Quotes
"There is a saying that we provide the machines with an end, and they provide us with the means."
"“Tell me, suit, don’t you wonder if it’s all worth it?’ “If what’s all worth what?” it says, and I can hear that cond…"
"I’ve been thinking about the war a lot recently, and I think I’ve decided it’s wrong. We are defeating ourselves in w…"
"We created something a little closer to perfection than ourselves; maybe that’s the only way to progress. Let them tr…"
"“Nothing is sacred to you, Mr. Munro. You base your beliefs on the products of human thought, so it could hardly be o…"
"It’s very nearly 1989 but it’s midnight in the Dark Ages just the thickness of a book away, the thickness of a skull …"
"Reason shapes the future, but superstition infects the present."
"And coincidence convinces the credulous. Two things happen at the same time, or one after another, and we assume ther…"
"Of course they aren’t ready for it, of course we’ll spoil the place. Are they any more ready for World War Three? You…"
"It’s as if I drifted into this situation. I didn’t ever think about fighting or doing anything risky at all, not unti…"