I suppose you burned the library—barbarians always do. - James Blish

It is written:
That given any one of a thousand million possible paths, life will take them all;
That worlds which will support life will give birth to it;
That worlds which cannot support intelligent life will be colonized;
And that where both can take place, both will take place.
It is written that this is what the vast, unknowing interstellar stage is for: To be given consciousness and purpose while its gift of existence lasts.
It is written:
That this is a random process;
That in the end all will be darkness and silence again;
But that while it lasts, life spreads through it, to make it aware of its own vastness and beauty, which otherwise it can never have known.
This is a gift; but the Giver is unknown.
That too is written.

You may as well go, Maurice. You can’t undo what you’ve done in any case, nor can I expect to talk to you out of whatever it is you’re planning. But I will tell you this: Your sanity is dubious.

Impossible!" Father Domenico cried, though choking with the dust of the exploded crucifix. "It is written that in that war you will at last nature conquered and chained!