In my considered opinion, the profit to be made by permanent settlement in space is nothing less than the survival of industrial civilization, and therefore the survival of nearly the entire human race, along with such amenities as peace, freedom, enough to eat, and the chance to reach a high age in good health.
Poul AndersonMy knowledge of the human psyche is as yet imperfect. Certain areas won't yield to computation.
Poul AndersonGive fear no hold on you. Keep sinews loose and senses open, ready at every instant to flow with the rush of action.
Poul AndersonColonization means potential immortality for the human genus. Man's safety on Earth was never great, and it dwindles hourly. Disarmament, even world government, will not guarantee survival in an age when population presses natural resources to the limit and when the knowledge of how to work mischief on a planetary scale is ever more widely diffused among peoples who may grow ever more desperate.
Poul Anderson