“Survival is the ability to swim in strange water.”

“The flesh surrenders itself. Eternity takes back its own. Our bodies stirred these waters briefly, danced with a certain intoxication before the love of life and self, dealt with a few strange ideas, then submitted to the instruments of Time. What can we say of this? I occurred. I am not...yet, I occurred.”

“Survival is staying alive one breath at a time. p. 251”

“It's a beautiful morning, Sire," the guard said"Yes, it is."The Duke nodded, thinking: Perhaps this planet could grow on one. Perhaps it could ba a good home for my son.Then he saw the human figures moving into the flower fields, sweeping with them strange scythe-like devices--dew gatherers. Water so precious here that even the dew must be collected.And it could be a hideous place, the Duke thought.”

“For what do you hunger, Lord?” Moneo ventured.“For a humankind which can make truly long-term decisions. Do you know the key to that ability, Moneo?”“You have said it many times, Lord. It is the ability to change your mind.”

“Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who so survive.”

“A man's flesh is his own; the water belongs to the tribe.”