“Quettil, it doesn’t matter,” the King said airily, waving one hand. “I prefer accuracy to flattery.”

— Iain Banks , Culture series

Source: Culture series, Inversions (1998), Chapter 9 (p. 158)

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Iain Banks 139

Scottish writer 1954–2013

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“The king said that mankind must not work for themselves. The priest said that mankind must not think for themselves. One forged chains for the hands, the other for the soul.”

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All the altars and all the thrones united to arrest the forward march of the human race. The king said that mankind must not work for themselves. The priest said that mankind must not think for themselves. One forged chains for the hands, the other for the soul.

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“Not one word is said here of acausality, wave mechanics, indeterminacy relations, complementarity, … etc. Why doesn’t he talk about what he knows instead of trespassing on the professional philosopher’s preserves? Ne sutor supra crepidam.”

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“Quettil, it doesn’t matter,” the King said airily, waving one hand. “I prefer accuracy to flattery.”

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Iain Banks 139

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