--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It was as if some magnetic repulsion…" description: "\"“It was as if some magnetic repulsion, which before had kept our two carriages from meeting and passing, had now been reversed, and so sucked me inexor..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/iain-banks-3752_abyss_it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-whi_2190241.jpg" --- # It was as if some magnetic repulsion, which before had… ![“It was as if some magnetic repulsion, which before had kept our two carriages from meeting and passing, had now been reversed, and so sucked me inexorably forward, drawing me towards something my heart made clear I feared - or should fear - utterly, in the way some people are fatally attracted…” quote by Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/iain-banks-3752_abyss_it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-whi_2190241.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/iain-banks-3752_abyss_it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-whi_2190241.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/iain-banks-3752_abyss_it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-whi_2190241.jpg) > ““It was as if some magnetic repulsion, which before had kept our two carriages from meeting and passing, had now been reversed, and so sucked me inexorably forward, drawing me towards something my heart made clear I feared - or should fear - utterly, in the way some people are fatally attracted towards an abyss while standing on its very edge.”” [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A magnetic force draws the narrator toward a terrifying, inevitable fate, reflecting deep fear of confronting the unknown. **In simple terms:** Fear pulls us toward dangerous unknowns. Key Takeaway Recognize and confront hidden fears. Themes fear destiny psychology Mood anxious intense reflective Type literary psychological When to use this quote - personal crisis - relationship tension - self‑discovery - overcoming dread Key Concepts magnetism inevitable attraction psychic pull Questions to Reflect On - What unseen forces drive your anxieties? - How can you face fear without being overwhelmed? A Different Perspective The metaphor may exaggerate emotional intensity, obscuring practical coping steps. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) [Attracted Abyss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attracted-abyss-4767416/) [Fatally Attracted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fatally-attracted-2950340/) [Magnetic Repulsion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/magnetic-repulsion-4767415/) [Repulsion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repulsion/) [Repulsion Kept](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repulsion-kept-4767417/) ## Related quotes > [I am fatally attracted to all bookstores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-buzbee/i-am-fatally-attracted-to-all-bookstores/) [Lewis Buzbee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-buzbee/) > [ Anthropology has always struggled with an intense, fascinated repulsion towards its subject… \[The anthropologist\] submits himself to the exotic to confirm his own inner… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-sontag/anthropology-has-always-struggled-with-an-intense-fascinated/) [Susan Sontag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-sontag/) > [Love is always mutual and reflective. You may hate me, and if I want to love you, you repulse me. But if I persist,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/love-is-always-mutual-and-reflective-you-may-hate-me-and-if-i-want-to/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [The more one studies the harmony of music, and then studies human nature, how people agree and how they disagree, how there is attraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hazrat-inayat-khan/the-more-one-studies-the-harmony-of-music-and-then-studies-human/) [Hazrat Inayat Khan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hazrat-inayat-khan/) > [“What would it be like to live as a butterfly, being admired by the world for your color and beauty and grace? What would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richelle-e-goodrich/what-would-it-be-like-to-live-as-a-butterfly-being-admired-by-the/) [Richelle E. Goodrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richelle-e-goodrich/) > [Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic uninterestingness as an intellectual position.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-has-been-its-drastic/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) > [Suicide: It's so hard and at the same time so easy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/suicide-it-s-so-hard-and-at-the-same-time-so-easy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Your mind is turbulent because you're filled with desires, frustrations. You want too many things. You are afraid of too many things. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/your-mind-is-turbulent-because-you-re-filled-with-desires/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The satirist is prevented by repulsion from gaining a better knowledge of the world he is attracted to, yet he is forced by attraction…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/italo-calvino/the-satirist-is-prevented-by-repulsion-from-gaining-a-better/) [Italo Calvino](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/italo-calvino/) > [Culture is the suggestion, from certain best thoughts, that a man has a range of affinities through which he can modulate the violence of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/culture-is-the-suggestion-from-certain-best-thoughts-that-a-man-has-a/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“The feeling of intense repulsion, which had begun to oppress and torture his heart while he was on his way to the old woman,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fyodor-dostoyevsky/the-feeling-of-intense-repulsion-which-had-begun-to-oppress-and/) [Fyodor Dostoyevsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fyodor-dostoyevsky/) > [A man and a woman are new to one another throughout a life-time, in the rhythm of marriage that matches the rhythm of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-and-a-woman-are-new-to-one-another-throughout-a-life-time-in/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Even when your body does nothing, sin can be active in your mind. When your soul inwardly repulses the evil one's attack by means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gregory-palamas/even-when-your-body-does-nothing-sin-can-be-active-in-your-mind-when/) [Gregory Palamas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gregory-palamas/) > [All of my work is meant to evoke a whole bunch of different layers of discord between the attraction and repulsion that we feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-jordan/all-of-my-work-is-meant-to-evoke-a-whole-bunch-of-different-layers-of/) [Chris Jordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-jordan/) > [Among the repulsions of atheism for me has been its drastic un-interestingness as an intellectual position. Where was the ingenuity, the ambiguity, the humanity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/among-the-repulsions-of-atheism-for-me-has-been-its-drastic-un/) [John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/) ## More by Iain Banks > [I'm not a great believer in awards-of course the fact that I've never won one has nothing to do with it at all!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/i-m-not-a-great-believer-in-awards-of-course-the-fact-that-i-ve-never/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [“Looking at me, you'd never guess I'd killed three people. It isn't fair.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/looking-at-me-you-d-never-guess-i-d-killed-three-people-it-isn-t-fair/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [One should never mistake pattern for meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/one-should-never-mistake-pattern-for-meaning/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [I'm a devoted husband. That must strike you as totally deviant.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/i-m-a-devoted-husband-that-must-strike-you-as-totally-deviant/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [“The flames had passed over those flattened blades and consumed their heather neighbours on either side while they themselves had remained, made proof against…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/the-flames-had-passed-over-those-flattened-blades-and-consumed-their/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [All you ever were was a little bit of the universe, thinking to itself. Very specific; this bit, here, right now. All the rest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/all-you-ever-were-was-a-little-bit-of-the-universe-thinking-to-itself/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [“We're not in prison, we're not junkies and we're not Young Tories...it's no small achievement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/we-re-not-in-prison-we-re-not-junkies-and-we-re-not-young-tories-it-s/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [Torture is such a slippery slope; as soon as you allow a society or any legal system to do that, almost instantly you get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/torture-is-such-a-slippery-slope-as-soon-as-you-allow-a-society-or/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [“Two years after I killed Blyth I murdered my young brother Paul, for quite different reasons than I'd disposed of Blyth, and then a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/two-years-after-i-killed-blyth-i-murdered-my-young-brother-paul-for/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [If you have any helpful suggestions I'd be pleased to hear them. If all you can do is make snide insinuations then it would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/if-you-have-any-helpful-suggestions-i-d-be-pleased-to-hear-them-if/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [“He hit and fatally injured my innocent and unfortunate uncle whose muttered last words in hospital, before his coma became a full stop, were:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/he-hit-and-fatally-injured-my-innocent-and-unfortunate-uncle-whose/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [A guilty system recognizes no innocents.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/a-guilty-system-recognizes-no-innocents/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [“All reality is a game.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/all-reality-is-a-game/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [There has seldom if ever a shortage of eager young males prepared to kill and die to preserve the security, comfort and prejudices of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/there-has-seldom-if-ever-a-shortage-of-eager-young-males-prepared-to/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) > [Escape is a consumer goods like another](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/escape-is-a-consumer-goods-like-another/) [Iain Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) [Explore all 123 Iain Banks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/) ## More Abyss quotes > [We never think that our mothers will die. It was like suddenly an abyss opened at my feet - I was standing on nothing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-okri/we-never-think-that-our-mothers-will-die-it-was-like-suddenly-an/) [Ben Okri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-okri/) > [Early on a difficult climb, especially a solo climb, you’re hyper-aware of the abyss pulling at your back, constantly feeling its call, its immense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-krakauer/early-on-a-difficult-climb-especially-a-solo-climb-you-re-hyper-aware/) [Jon Krakauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-krakauer/) > [“The whole organization seemed to be in free fall, indulging in a collective fantasy in which experienced colleagues refused to admit that their every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-whole-organization-seemed-to-be-in-free-fall-indulging-in-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Adam became so proud that he wished to become God and died for his pride; the Son of God humbled Himself unto death, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/adam-became-so-proud-that-he-wished-to-become-god-and-died-for-his/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vladimir-nabokov/the-cradle-rocks-above-an-abyss-and-common-sense-tells-us-that-our/) [Vladimir Nabokov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vladimir-nabokov/) > [In the end things must be as they are and have always been--the great things remain for the great, the abysses for the profound,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/in-the-end-things-must-be-as-they-are-and-have-always-been-the-great/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [I admire the Elsie Tanners and Barbara Windsors of the world: people who have crawled back from the abyss. I'm quite camp in that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-eclair/i-admire-the-elsie-tanners-and-barbara-windsors-of-the-world-people/) [Jenny Eclair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-eclair/) > [I've been to unpretty places with the roles I've played, and I'm attracted to reckless abandon. I like being taken to the edge of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rhys-ifans/i-ve-been-to-unpretty-places-with-the-roles-i-ve-played-and-i-m/) [Rhys Ifans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rhys-ifans/) > [I look into my heart and see the abyss looking back at me.' 'I won't let you fall.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nalini-singh/i-look-into-my-heart-and-see-the-abyss-looking-back-at-me-i-won-t-let/) [Nalini Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nalini-singh/) > [There is no drop of water in the ocean, not even in the deepest parts of the abyss, that does not know and respond…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-carson/there-is-no-drop-of-water-in-the-ocean-not-even-in-the-deepest-parts/) [Rachel Carson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-carson/) > [“But first whom shall we send In search of this new world, whom shall we find Sufficient? Who shall tempt, with wand'ring feet The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-milton/but-first-whom-shall-we-send-in-search-of-this-new-world-whom-shall/) [John Milton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-milton/) > [Many women don’t know what orgasm is. Many men don’t know was total orgasm is. Many only achieve a local orgasm, a genital orgasm;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/many-women-don-t-know-what-orgasm-is-many-men-don-t-know-was-total/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Fear not. For fear itself is fed by fear, and all fears pass. Did no one tell you so? Come take my hand, my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/fear-not-for-fear-itself-is-fed-by-fear-and-all-fears-pass-did-no-one/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [God gave the sea the danger and the abyss, but it was in it that He mirrored the sky.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/god-gave-the-sea-the-danger-and-the-abyss-but-it-was-in-it-that-he/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [We belong to an age where apocalypse is our daily bread, coffee's black, and we know we're part of the abyss. Red Spider White…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-aldiss/we-belong-to-an-age-where-apocalypse-is-our-daily-bread-coffee-s/) [Brian Aldiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-aldiss/) [Browse all 625 Abyss quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abyss/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“It was as if some magnetic repulsion, which before had kept our two carriages from meeting and passing, had now been reversed, and so sucked me inexorably forward, drawing me towards something my heart made clear I feared - or should fear - utterly, in the way some people are fatally attracted towards an abyss while standing on its very edge.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Iain Banks" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-which-before-had-kept-our-two/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Abyss" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-which-before-had-kept-our-two/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/iain-banks-3752_abyss_it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-whi_2190241.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/iain-banks-3752_abyss_it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-whi_2190241.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e3d/iain-banks-3752_abyss_it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-whi_2190241.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“It was as if some magnetic repulsion, which before had kept our two carriages from meeting and passing, had…” — Iain Banks", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Iain Banks", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-banks/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“It was as if some magnetic...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-which-before-had-kept-our-two/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-banks/it-was-as-if-some-magnetic-repulsion-which-before-had-kept-our-two/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```