Why Are We Going
Nicholl: Yes … now that I do not know where I am going, I want to know why I am going.
Michel Ardan: Why? … why? To take possession of the moon in the name of the United States; to add a fortieth State to the Union; to colonize the lunar regions; to cultivate them, to people them, to transport thither all the prodigies of art, of science, and industry; to civilize the Selenites, unless they are more civilized than we are; and to constitute them a republic, if they are not already one!
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Context: Giddy from too much oxygen in the cabin, Nicholl demands to know the purpose of the voyage.
Source: Chapter VII: A Moment of Intoxication