“But "borderland" can also mean the antithesis of fecundity; it often signifies a lonely outpost and carries with it an end-of-the-world connotation. The thick web of a dynamic civilization wears thin as it disperses into the hinterlands. Not much happens where the waning edge of one civilization meets the waxing edge of another. Borders are nonproductive.” End Of The WorldCiviilization Book:Into the Deep Source: Into the Deep
“Of course there is no veneer, the process is one of growth, and primitiveness and civilization are degrees of the same thing. If civilization has an opposite, it is war.” WarPeaceSocietyPrimitivenessCiviilization Book:The Left Hand of Darkness Source: The Left Hand of Darkness