"Humans can be better than they are, so let’s do that."
This quote is a thesis on the human race. No matter the situation they find themselves in, humans can always be better than they are. Humans can invariably improve themselves and improve the human race more broadly, which is important to ensuring the vitality of the human race. And humans should strive to always be bettering themselves.
"I can’t fight pirates without coffee."
Although this quote is intended to be humorous, it reveals something crucial about the culture of the future: that humans are still addicted to coffee. And without it, humans are not nearly as productive and energetic and lively.
"Every empire grows until its reach exceeds its grasp."
This quote reveals an important truth about every empire in the history of the world, including the current human empire ruled by the United Nations which controls much of the solar system. The Roman Empire continued to grow and prosper until it tried to bite off more than it could chew. The same happened with the German Empire. There are many instances in which empires grew too fast and exceeded its grasp. That, the narrator of the novel fears, is the biggest risk for the current human empire. If they exceed its reach, then it is bound to fail and will fail fairly quickly.
