“Men had suddenly become a scarce commodity, if not quite as sought after as rice.”

“Every given commodity fights for itself, cannot acknowledge the others, and attempts to impose itself everywhere as if it were the only one. The spectacle, then is the epic poem of this struggle, an epic which cannot be concluded by the fall of any Troy. The spectacle does not sign the praises of men and their weapons, but of commodities and their passions. In this blind struggle every commodity, pursuing its passion, unconsciously realizes something higher: the becoming-world of the commodity, which is also the becoming-commodity of the world. Thus, by means of a ruse of commodity logic, what's specific in the commodity wears itself out in the fight while the commodity-form moves toward its absolute realization.”

“Quality wine, Scotch, and coffee had been the three irreplaceable commodities after the death of Old Earth.”

“... perhaps the clock hands had become so tired of going in the same direction year after year that they had suddenly begun to go the opposite way instead...”

“Always valuable, your attention has now also become one of your most insecure assets and most-sought-after possessions.”

“What would men be without women? Scarce, sir...mighty scarce.”