# Quote — Paolo Bacigalupi, The Windup Girl

> All life produces waste. The act of living produces costs, hazards and disposal questions, and so the (Environment) Ministry has found itself in the center of all life, mitigating, guiding and policing the detritus of the average person along with investigating the infractions of the greedy and short-sighted, the ones who wish to make quick profits and trade on others’ lives for it.

- Author: [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi.md)
- Book: [The Windup Girl](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi/the-windup-girl.md)
- Page: 121
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Paolo_Bacigalupi#The_Windup_Girl_(2009)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi/the-windup-girl/all-life-produces

## More from this book

> Every time he makes plans for his future, he seems to fail. Every time he reaches forward, the world leans against him, pressing him down.

p. 77 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi/the-windup-girl/every-time-he-makes.md)

> The symbol for the Environment Ministry is the eye of a tortoise, for the long view—the understanding that nothing comes cheap or quickly without a hidden cost.

p. 121 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi/the-windup-girl/the-symbol-for.md)

> If you act like a servant, you will die like a dog.

p. 159 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/paolo-bacigalupi/the-windup-girl/if-you-act.md)