How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #7
The nebula expanded. Now the individual stars were rushing past, appearing and vanishing as swiftly as sparks from a forge. And each of those transient sparks was a sun, with who knew how many circling worlds….
"In this galaxy of ours," murmured Karellen, "there are eighty-seven thousand million suns. Even that figure gives only a faint idea of the immensity of space. In challenging it, you would be like ants attempting to label and classify all the grains of sand in all the deserts of the world." (14.30-31)
The universe is big. Like really big. And compared to it, we're small. Like really small. But we owe our small existence to the evolution and interworking of that vast, mysterious place.
Quote #8
The decline had barely started, yet the first symptoms of decay were not hard to discover. Salomon was no artist, but he had an acute appreciation of art and knew that his age could not match the achievements of previous centuries in any single field. (15.48)
For Salomon, art is a necessary part of life—without it, life can keep on going, but it won't be worth living and it will lack the ability to grow into something new. As we'll see with the Overlords, Salomon is pretty spot on.
Quote #9
"It seems," said Karellen, "that you scientists have not been as thorough as you had believed. If those—patterns—are intelligent, the problem of communication will be interesting. I wonder if they have any knowledge of the third dimension?" (18.45)
The themes of science and life come together in this quote. The thing about both of these themes is that there is always something new to discover and learn.