Look at the pattern this seashell makes. The dappled whorl, curving inward to infinity. That's the shape of the universe itself. There's constant pressure, pushing towards pattern. A tendency in matter to evolve into ever more complex forms. It's a kind of pattern gravity, a holy greening power we call 'Viriditas' and it is the driving force in the cosmos. Life, you see.
Kim Stanley Robinson (2003). “Green Mars”, p.19, Spectra
![Look at the pattern this seashell makes. The dappled whorl, curving inward to infinity. That's the shape of the universe itself. There's constant pressure, pushing towards pattern. A tendency in matter to evolve into](http://cdn.myquotes.org/images/kim-stanley-robinson/look-at-the-pattern-this-seashell-makes-the-dappled-whorl-curving-inward-to-infinity-thats-the-shape-of-the-universe.jpg)