“[N]ow we have a clearer idea what this story is all about: The world was made for man, and man was made to rule it.”

“Ocean, n. A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man — who has no gills.”

“Man's destiny was to conquer and rule the world, and this is what he's done.. almost. He hasn't quite made it, and it looks as though this may be his undoing. The problem is that man's conquest of the world has itself devastated the world. And in spite of all the mastery we've attained, we don't have enough mastery to stop devastating the world.. or to repair the devastation we've already wrought.”

“The world, we are told, was made especially for man — a presumption not supported by all the facts.”

“You have a choice in this world, I believe, about how to tell sad stories, and we made the funny choice.”

“It is a rule of this world that people are considerate of those they love and unfeeling toward those they do not love, but this man had a heart that made no such distinctions.”