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Against a Dark Background - Bilingual quotes that celebrate the beauty of language, showcasing meaningful expressions in two unique perspectives.

Against a Dark Background - Bilingual quotes that celebrate the beauty of language, showcasing meaningful expressions in two unique perspectives.

"Against a Dark Background" is a science fiction novel by Iain M. Banks, set in a complex universe filled with intriguing political machinations and diverse cultures. The story follows the protagonist, a wealthy and disillusioned woman named Hadhya, as she embarks on a journey to recover a lost artifact of immense significance, the "Skin." This quest takes her through a universe that is both beautiful and dangerous, reflecting on themes of power, morality, and personal agency.

As Hadhya assembles a group of eclectic companions to aid her, the narrative delves into their backgrounds and motivations. Each character introduces unique perspectives on the challenges they face, touching on loyalty, betrayal, and the struggle for identity amid chaos. Through these interactions, Banks weaves a rich tapestry of relationships and moral dilemmas that complicate Hadhya's journey.

The novel is noted for its vivid world-building and complex societal structures, which serve as a backdrop for Hadhya’s inner and outer conflicts. It probes deeper existential questions and reflects on the idea of heritage and the burden of legacy. Overall, "Against a Dark Background" offers a thought-provoking exploration of humanity against a starkly imagined universe.

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Taffy. He thinks about taffy. He thinks it would take his teeth out now, but he would eat it anyhow, if it meant eating it with her.
by Mitch Albom
All our human endeavours are like that, she reflected, and it is only because we are too ignorant to realize it, or are too forgetful to remember it, that we have the confidence to build something that is meant to last.
by Alexander McCall Smith
In fact, none of us knows how he ever managed to get his LLB in the first place. Maybe they're putting law degrees in cornflakes boxes these days.
by Alexander McCall Smith
The value of money is subjective, depending on age. At the age of one, one multiplies the actual sum by 145,000, making one pound seem like 145,000 pounds to a one-year-old. At seven – Bertie's age – the multiplier is 24, so that five pounds seems like 120 pounds. At the age of twenty four, five pounds is five pounds; at forty five it is divided by 5, so that it seems like one pound and one pound seems like twenty pence. {All figures courtesy of Scottish Government Advice Leaflet: Handling your Money.}
by Alexander McCall Smith
Look, if you say that science will eventually prove there is no God, on that I must differ. No matter how small they take it back, to a tadpole, to an atom, there is always something they can't explain, something that created it all at the end of the search. And no matter how far they try to go the other way – to extend life, play around with the genes, clone this, clone that, live to one hundred and fifty – at some point, life is over. And then what happens? When the life comes to an end? I shrugged. You see? He leaned back. He smiled. When you come to the end, that's where God begins.
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Small towns are like metronomes; with the slightest flick, the beat changes.
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You say you should have died instead of me. But during my time on earth, people died instead of me, too. It happens every day. When lightning strikes a minute after you are gone, or an airplane crashes that you might have been on. When your colleague falls ill and you do not. We think such things are random. But there is a balance to it all. One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.
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we get so many lives between birth and death. A life to be a child. A life to come of age. A life to wander, to settle, to fall in love, to parent, to test our promise, to realize our mortality-and, in some lucky cases, to do something after that realization.
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Where there's bluster, thinks Luisa, there's duplicity
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I have the tendency to be nervous at the sight of trouble looming. As the danger draws near, I become less nervous. When the peril is at hand, I swell with fierceness. As I grapple with my assailant, I am without fear and fight to the finish with little thought of injury.
by Jean Sasson
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