Chapter 16 “Seed Drill” (p. 292)

Really we’re no better—you’re no better—than the savages. They always find excuses to justify their crimes, too. The point is not to commit them in the first place.

— Iain Banks

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Really we’re no better—you’re no better—than the savages. They always find excuses to justify their crimes, too. The point is not to commit them in the first place." in the context of "Chapter 16 “Seed Drill” (p. 292)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.

Source: Wikiquote: "Iain Banks" (Quotes, Culture series, Matter (2008): All page numbers are from the February 2009 first trade paperback edition published by Orbit , 2nd printing All spelling, italics, and punctuation as in the book ) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
Iain Banks

About 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.