--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is always meaning. Or at least all…" description: "\"“There is always meaning. Or at least all things show a disturbing tendency to have meaning ascribed to them when intelligent creatures are present. It..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/830/iain-m-banks-3729_quote_there-is-always-meaning-or-at-least-all_1362973.jpg" --- # There is always meaning. Or at least all things show a… ![“There is always meaning. Or at least all things show a disturbing tendency to have meaning ascribed to them when intelligent creatures are present. It’s just that there’s no final Meaning, with a capital M. Though the illusion that there might be is comforting for a certain class of mind.” quote by Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/830/iain-m-banks-3729_quote_there-is-always-meaning-or-at-least-all_1362973.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/830/iain-m-banks-3729_quote_there-is-always-meaning-or-at-least-all_1362973.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/830/iain-m-banks-3729_quote_there-is-always-meaning-or-at-least-all_1362973.jpg) > ““There is always meaning. Or at least all things show a disturbing tendency to have meaning ascribed to them when intelligent creatures are present. It’s just that there’s no final Meaning, with a capital M. Though the illusion that there might be is comforting for a certain class of mind.”” [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Intelligent beings tend to assign meaning, but there is no ultimate, absolute meaning. **In simple terms:** We create meaning, but none is ultimate. Key Takeaway Accept uncertainty while finding personal purpose. Themes philosophy existentialism psychology Mood reflective thought‑provoking Type philosophical literary When to use this quote - daily life - artistic creation - scientific inquiry - personal crises Key Concepts meaning-making subjectivity comfort in belief Questions to Reflect On - Do you seek meaning or comfort? - How does belief shape your actions? A Different Perspective Overemphasis on comfort may ignore nihilistic insights. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Final Meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/final-meaning-2876618/) [Intelligent Creatures](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intelligent-creatures-1072191/) [Meaning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning/) [Meaning Capital](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning-capital-4670300/) [Meaning Things](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/meaning-things-927666/) ## Related quotes > [“To invoke an analogy, consider a movie: it consists of thousands upon thousands of individual pictures, and each of them makes sense and carries…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/to-invoke-an-analogy-consider-a-movie-it-consists-of-thousands-upon/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [And this is the final meaning of work: the extension of human consciousness. The lesser meaning of work is the achieving of self-preservation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/and-this-is-the-final-meaning-of-work-the-extension-of-human/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [Consider a movie: it consists of thousands upon thousands of individual pictures, and each of them makes sense and carries a meaning, yet the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/viktor-e-frankl/consider-a-movie-it-consists-of-thousands-upon-thousands-of/) [Viktor E. Frankl](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/viktor-e-frankl/) > [There is meaning in all things. 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Banks > [“It never ceased to amaze him how quickly a small child's face could turn from peach to beetroot.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/it-never-ceased-to-amaze-him-how-quickly-a-small-child-s-face-could/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“There's something very... I don't know; primitive, perhaps, about you, Gurgeh. You've never changed sex, have you?' He shook his head. 'Or slept with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/there-s-something-very-i-don-t-know-primitive-perhaps-about-you/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [ “\[I\]t was really only in the generation or two before hers that the idea had started to traverse the spectrum of likelihood in the… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/i-t-was-really-only-in-the-generation-or-two-before-hers-that-the/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Some problems were generational; you just had to wait for the relevant elders to die off and be replaced with more progressive types.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/some-problems-were-generational-you-just-had-to-wait-for-the-relevant/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“I can understand that people want to feel special and important and so on, but that self-obsession seems a bit pathetic somehow. Not being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/i-can-understand-that-people-want-to-feel-special-and-important-and/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“We always want more, he thought, we always take our past successes for granted and assume they point the way to future success. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/we-always-want-more-he-thought-we-always-take-our-past-successes-for/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“just one more species, which would grow and expand and then, finding the plateau phase all non-suicidal species eventually arrived at, settle down.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/just-one-more-species-which-would-grow-and-expand-and-then-finding/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Darkness came like a black flag waved over the canyon, drawing back the grayness from the shores of the city, then pushing forward the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/darkness-came-like-a-black-flag-waved-over-the-canyon-drawing-back/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Then the machine started to reel off infant-mortality rates and life-expectancy figures, sex ratios, types of diseases and their prevalence in the various strata…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/then-the-machine-started-to-reel-off-infant-mortality-rates-and-life/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“he saw that which cannot be seen; a concept; the adaptive, self-seeking urge to survive, to bend everything that can be reached to that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/he-saw-that-which-cannot-be-seen-a-concept-the-adaptive-self-seeking/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Their history wasn’t so far off the mean track, they were going through what a thousand other civilizations had gone through, and no doubt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/their-history-wasn-t-so-far-off-the-mean-track-they-were-going/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Tell me, what is happiness?” “Happiness? Happiness... is to wake up, on a bright spring morning, after an exhausting first night spent with a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/tell-me-what-is-happiness-happiness-happiness-is-to-wake-up-on-a/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Most people are not prepared to have their minds changed," he said. "And I think they know in their hearts that other people are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/most-people-are-not-prepared-to-have-their-minds-changed-he-said-and/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“Once one survives the trough that comes with the understanding that people are going to go on being stupid and cruel to each other…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/once-one-survives-the-trough-that-comes-with-the-understanding-that/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) > [“God, what did any of it matter, in the end? You lived; you died. You were as indistinguishable from a distance as one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/iain-m-banks/god-what-did-any-of-it-matter-in-the-end-you-lived-you-died-you-were/) [Iain M. Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) [Explore all 122 Iain M. Banks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/iain-m-banks/) ## More Meaning quotes > [Without meaning to sound anti-men, ghastly women are the closest you get to a male role.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-burke/without-meaning-to-sound-anti-men-ghastly-women-are-the-closest-you/) [Kathy Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathy-burke/) > [When you find your purpose in life, nurture it and make it grow so that when you look back you will not regret living…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-m/when-you-find-your-purpose-in-life-nurture-it-and-make-it-grow-so/) [Pamela M](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-m/) > [“When we learn to attribute meaning to the events in our lives, we connect with our Higher Purpose, Higher Wisdom, or Source; we become…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-barbara-apollon/when-we-learn-to-attribute-meaning-to-the-events-in-our-lives-we/) [Susan Barbara Apollon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-barbara-apollon/) > [That's the meaning of 'The Revenant': It's a return from death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ryuichi-sakamoto/that-s-the-meaning-of-the-revenant-it-s-a-return-from-death/) [Ryuichi Sakamoto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ryuichi-sakamoto/) > [When I was a little boy, I was reading Dante and I was saying to myself 'Bravo, Dante, Bravo.' It's so beautiful, the music,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roberto-benigni/when-i-was-a-little-boy-i-was-reading-dante-and-i-was-saying-to/) [Roberto Benigni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roberto-benigni/) > [Without meaning to sound crass, I've never had any psychological... help. It's because I feel my work is so revealing about who I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-lepage/without-meaning-to-sound-crass-i-ve-never-had-any-psychological-help/) [Robert Lepage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-lepage/) > [“You can drink your soup ice-cold, but it's no longer soup; you can do eccentric things in life, but if you haven't been able…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mehmet-murat-ildan/you-can-drink-your-soup-ice-cold-but-it-s-no-longer-soup-you-can-do/) [Mehmet Murat ildan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mehmet-murat-ildan/) > [“Buy calmly and with meaning.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sophie-kinsella/buy-calmly-and-with-meaning/) [Sophie Kinsella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sophie-kinsella/) > [There is a grand design hidden behind the obstacles , they are inevitable in everybodys life, they are not without purpose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/senora-roy/there-is-a-grand-design-hidden-behind-the-obstacles-they-are/) [Senora Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/senora-roy/) > [“Meaning - this is perhaps the common note, the bane I am seeking. What is the Meaning of this book, this event in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ursula-k-le-guin/meaning-this-is-perhaps-the-common-note-the-bane-i-am-seeking-what-is/) [Ursula K. Le Guin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ursula-k-le-guin/) > [The meaning of this is, that whomsoever we love, in him we find our own soul in the highest sense. 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