First Speaker, the Seldon Plan is meaningless! - Isaac Asimov

We cannot afford enemies any more... Within a generation or two human society will be in total destructive disarray. Heaven knows how bad it will be. The most optimistic view I can take is this: Things will get so bad within a dozen years that it will become obvious ... that we must, whether were like each other or not, work together. We have no choice in the matter. ... Technologically, we can stop overpopulation, but we have to persuade people to accept the technology. ... Babies are the enemies of the human race ... Let's consider it this way: by the time the world doubles its population, the amount of energy we will be using will be increased sevenfold which means probably the amount of pollution that we are producing will also be increased sevenfold. If we are now threatened by pollution at the present rate, how will we be threatened with sevenfold pollution by, say, 2010 A.D., distributed among twice the population? We'll be having to grow twice the food out of soil that is being poisoned at seven times the rate.

sincere friendship through trade will be many times better than an insecure overlordship,

En toda la Historia humana, ninguna otra inteligencia nos ha amenazado, que nosotros sepamos. Bastaría con que esto continuase durante unos pocos siglos, tal vez poco más de una milésima del tiempo que llevamos de civilización, para que estuviésemos a salvo. A fin de cuentas –y aquí sintió Trevize una súbita aprensión que se obligó a pasar por alto– no es como si ya tuviésemos al enemigo entre nosotros. Y no bajó la mirada para no encontrarse con los ojos reflexivos de Fallom (hermafrodita, transductora, diferente) que le estaban mirando, fijos, insondables.