Culture Quote by Iain M. Banks
““She'd asked him what it was like to be in there, doing nothing but then being woken up to speak to somebody you couldn't see. He'd said that it was like being woken from a deep and satisfying sleep, to be asked questions while you kept your eyes closed. He was quite happy. Sight was over-rated anyway.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: Player of Games, Iain M. Banks, 1988
Being asked to speak while still half-asleep feels like being jolted from a deep, contented sleep to answer questions with eyes closed, highlighting the paradox of awareness and perception.
In simple terms: Answering while half-asleep feels like waking from a satisfying sleep to answer questions, showing awareness paradox.
Key Takeaway
Embrace moments of unexpected awareness.
Themes
perception
consciousness
communication
Mood
reflective
curious
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- creative writing
- psychological introspection
- public speaking
- mindfulness
Key Concepts
existentialism
subjective experience
Questions to Reflect On
- How do you respond when caught off-guard?
- What does “sight is over‑rated” mean to you?
A Different Perspective
The analogy may oversimplify complex cognitive states.
![“[I]t was really only in the generation or two before hers that the idea had started to traverse the spectrum of likelihood in the popular imagination, beginning at unthinkable, progressing to absurd, then going from possible but unlikely to probable and likely, before eventually arriving – round…” quote by Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/e3b/iain-m-banks-3729_ideas_i-t-was-really-only-in-the-generation-or_47398.jpg)
