Break ups Quote by Iain M. Banks
““You're saying nothing lasts forever, he heard the fellow whine. (Well, pretty trite, he thought.) No, he heard her say. I'm saying with very few exceptions nothing lasts forever, and amongst those exceptions, no work or thought of man is numbered. She went on talking after this, but he homed in on that. That was better, he thought. I liked that.””
About This Quote
Source Novel: The Player of Games, 1988
Even though most things are temporary, some human achievements endure beyond time.
In simple terms: Few things last forever, but some human works are timeless.
Key Takeaway
Value and create lasting contributions.
Themes
longevity
human achievement
philosophy
impermanence
Mood
contemplative
inspirational
Type
philosophical
literary
When to use this quote
- art
- science
- technology
- social movements
Key Concepts
existentialism
cultural legacy
ethics
Questions to Reflect On
- What makes a work endure?
- How do we balance acceptance of impermanence with striving for legacy?
A Different Perspective
Not all works are truly timeless; context changes perception.
![“[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)
