Chapter 4, “Events During Wartime” (p. 277)
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The sheer wastefulness of it all distressed him. He was older and wiser now and more used to the way that things really worked being more important than the way they appeared to (unless you were talking about public perception, of course, when it was the other way around).
— Iain Banks
What It Means
This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "The sheer wastefulness of it all distressed him. He was older and wiser now and more used to the way that things really worked being more important than the way they appeared to (unless you were talking about public perception, of course, when it was the other way around)." in the context of "Chapter 4, “Events During Wartime” (p. 277)" to mean that wisdom is timeless.
Source: Wikiquote: "Iain Banks" (Quotes, Non-Culture Novels, The Algebraist (2004): All page numbers are from the trade paperback edition published by Night Shade Books, , in 2006
All spelling 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
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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.
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.
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