Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Iain Banks

Quote by Iain Banks

“Empires are synonymous with centralized if occasionally schismatized hierarchical power structures in which influence is restricted to an economically privileged class retaining its advantages through usually a judicious use of oppression and skilled manipulation of both the society's information dissemination systems and its lesser as a rule nominally independent power systems. In short, it's all about dominance.”

Quote by Iain Banks

Work

The Player Of Games: A Culture Novel

In this novel, the protagonist is an expert gamer who is offered a unique challenge by a mysterious employer. The story delves into the complexities of a distant civilization's culture and their sophisticated gaming system, providing a thought-provoking exploration of human nature and societal structures. more

Author

Iain Banks
Iain Banks

Iain Banks, born Alexander Robertson MacIntosh on February 16, 1954, in Scotland, was a renowned British author. Known for his science fiction and literary novels, his most famous works include the 'Culture' series and the 'Civilization' series. Banks' writing spanned multiple literary genres, including science fiction, fantasy, literary, and crime novels. He passed away on June 9, 2013, due to cancer. Iain Banks is celebrated for his science fiction novels, which are praised for their unique worldviews and profound philosophical insights. He also penned a series of literary novels that delve into complex human issues. Banks' work has had a significant impact on contemporary literature, with his intricate narrative structures and imaginative storytelling inspiring future writers and readers. more

You May Also Like

“"I think I know the real reason." "Which is?" "Alcohol in the dust clouds. Goddamn stuff is everywhere. Any lousy species ever invents the telescope and the spectroscope and starts looking in between the stars, what do they find?" He knocked the glass on the table. "Loads of stuff, but much of it alcohol." He drank from the glass. "Humanoids are the galaxy's way of trying to get rid of all that alcohol."”

“However accurate or inaccurate the agency's numbers may be, tax law explicitly presumes that the IRS is always right -- and implicitly presumes that the taxpayer is always wrong -- in any dispute with the government. In many cases, the IRS introduces no evidence whatsoever of its charges; it merely asserts that a taxpayer had a certain amount of unreported income and therefore owes a proportionate amount in taxes, plus interest and penalties.”

“No-knock police raids destroy Americans' right to privacy and safety. People's lives are being ruined or ended as a result of unsubstantiated assertions by anonymous government informants. ... Unfortunately, no-knock raids are becoming more common as federal, state, and local politicians and law enforcement agencies decide that the war on drugs justified nullifying the Fourth Amendment. ... No-knock raids in response to alleged narcotics violations presume that the government should have practically unlimited power to endanger some people's lives in order to control what others ingest.”

“Its contempt for citizens ... is so routine, and so unlimited, that the agency has become a kind of Frankenstein, running wild and terrorizing Americans at will. The IRS hypocritically requires mistake-free returns when its own books are in shambles. It demands exorbitant sums of money without regard to the accuracy of its claims. It doesn't hesitate to use every possible maneuver to get what it wants, sometimes destroying businesses -- and lives -- in the process.”