“These tools we love so much have burrowed under our skin like parasites...Making us smarter and stronger and always, always more dependent.”

“It's the one thing we do better than any other animal.We communicate, cooperate, and make tools to extend our reach. Every new tool changes us...The old fears the new, and the two threaten destroy each other.Our technology is what makes us strong. And it's what makes us dangerous.”

“Look at us. Amps. We're morons smarter than Lucifer. Cripples stronger than gravity. A bunch of broke-ass motherfuckers stinking rich with potential. This is our army. Our people. Strong and hurt. We're the wounded supermen of tomorrow, Gray. It's time you got yourself healed. New world ain't gonna build itself. And the old world don't want to go without a fight.”

“The human beings who appear in the data, survivors or not, are grouped under one machine designated classification:Hero.These damn machines knew us and loved us, even while they were tearing our civilization to shreds.”

“People need meaning as much as they need air. Lucky for us, we can give meaning to each other for free. Just by being alive.”

“You humans are biological machines designed to create ever more intelligent tools. You have reached the pinnacle of your species. All your ancestors’ lives, the rise and fall of your nations, every pink and squirming baby—they have all led you here, to this moment, where you have fulfilled the destiny of humankind and created your successor. You have expired. You have accomplished what you were designed to do.”

“Science fiction inspires scientists, but it doesn't exist to dictate what our future should look like. Great science fiction is fun to read and it makes you think, period. Claiming anything more than that is dicey. Grand visions of the future were more prevalent in the golden-age science fiction, but all fiction is a reflection of the current times. As science moves more quickly, the horizon of science fiction tends to recede closer to the present.”