Paul closed his eyes, hoping to make the incomprehensible Universe disappear into the vacuum from which it had sprung. - Stephen Baxter

It’s all a bit anarchic, I suppose, but it’s also highly effective. Flexible, responsive, mobile, heuristic, with intelligence distributed to the lowest level...A bit like an ideal human society, I suppose; free individuals seeking out ways to advance the common good.

All the tabloid-fed hysteria, the religious ravings, the pompous and hostile commentaries, made no sense, of course. If to abandon ten or a thousand sentient squid was a crime, so was abandoning one.
But when, she thought sourly, had sense and rationality been a predominant element in public debate on science and technology?

For what goal is there for intelligent creatures, but to gather and store all available information?