Really we’re no better—you’re no better—than the savages. They always find excuses to justify their crimes, too. The point is not to commit them in t… - Iain Banks

Perhaps it was simply bad luck, but despite the fact the sheer capability of the Guns ought to have ensured their owner could effectively become ruler of the entire system, the weapons had invariably been the downfall of whoever had come into possession of them.

Is all she says true?" Asura whispered.
"Ah," Pieter said, smiling. "Now, that is a question. Let's say it is all based on truth, but the facts are open to different interpretations from the one she supplies.

In life you hoped to do what you could but mostly you did what you were told and that was the end of it.