We ignore the blackness of outer space and pay attention to the stars, especially
if they seem to order themselves into constellations. “Common as the air”
meant something worthless, but Hackworth knew that every breath of air that
Fiona drew, lying in her little bed at night, just a silver flow in the moonlight,
was used by her body to make skin and hair and bones. The air became Fiona,
and deserving—no, demanding—of love. Ordering matter was the sole endeavor
of Life, whether it was a jumble of self-replicating molecules in the primordial
ocean, or a steam-powered English mill turning weeds into clothing, or Fiona
lying in her bed turning air into Fiona.
- Neal Stephenson, The Diamond Age: Or, a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer
