The Windup Girl

by Paolo Bacigalupi

Who remembers their obligations when money comes surging in as strong and deep as the ocean against the seawalls?” She grimaces. “We are not fighting the rising waters. We are fighting money.”

“We are nature. Our every tinkering is nature, our every biological striving. We are what we are, and the world is ours. We are its gods. Your only difficulty is your unwillingness to unleash your potential fully upon it.”