People are always asking me why I've devoted my life to such a horrible period of history, and it's not much of answer to say that there were even wo… - Arthur C. Clarke

Utopia was here at last: its novelty had not yet been assailed by the supreme enemy of all Utopias — boredom.

There was nothing left of Earth. They had leeched away the last atoms of its substance. It had nourished them, through the fierce moments of their inconceivable metamorphosis, as the food stored in a grain of wheat feeds the infant plant while it climbs towards the Sun.

He was alone in an airless, partially disabled ship, all communication with Earth cut off. There was not another human being within half a billion miles. And yet, in one very real sense, he was not alone. Before he could be safe, he must be lonelier still.