A lot of what the 'Culture' is about is a reaction to all the science fiction I was reading in my very early teens.

The History Of The Universe In Three Words CHAPTER ONE Bang! CHAPTER TWO sssss CHAPTER THREE crunch. THE END

One should never mistake pattern for meaning.

Mr Blawke always reminded me of a heron; I'm not sure why. Something to do with a sense of rapacious stillness, perhaps, and also the aura of one who knows time is on his side.

A guilty system recognizes no innocents.

It gripped her hand gently. 'Regret is for humans,' it said. She laughed. 'Really?' The machine shrugged and let go of her hand. 'Oh, no. It's just something we tell ourselves.

There's an old Sysan saying that the soup of life is salty enough without adding tears to it.