The laws of history are as absolute as the laws of physics, and if the probabilities of error are greater, it is only because history does not deal w… - Isaac Asimov

Ellos se extenderán por la Galaxia a un ritmo que irá en aumento, sin la Tierra para mirar con nostalgia, sin la Tierra en forma de un dios, y establecerán un Imperio Galáctico. Era preciso que lo hiciéramos posible. Hizo una pausa, y su voz se debilitó al decir: «Robots e Imperio».

Frustration of my plans to lighten the disaster will convince people that the future holds no promise for them. Already they recall the lives of their grandfathers with envy. They will see that political revolutions and trade stagnations will increase. The feeling will pervade the Galaxy that only what a man can grasp for himself at that moment will be of any account. Ambitious men will not wait and unscrupulous men will not hang back. By their every action they will hasten the decay of the worlds.

It seemed to him <nowiki>[</nowiki>Euphemius<nowiki>]</nowiki> it would be a brilliant notion to call in an outside force to fight on his behalf. This same brilliant notion has occurred to participants in civil wars uncounted times in history and it has ended in catastrophe just about every time, since those called in invariably take over for themselves. Of all history's lessons, this seems to be the plainest, and the most frequently ignored.