Speaker for the Dead by Orson Scott Card

Page xvi
“Not only did they have no parents, few science fiction heroes seemed to marry and have kids. In short, the heroes of most science fiction novels were perpetual adolescents, lone rangers who wandered the universe avoiding commitments…He belongs to no community; he is wandering from place to place, doing good (as he sees it), but then moving on. This is the life of the adolescent, full of passion, intensity magic, and infinite possibility; but lacking responsibility, rarely expecting to have to stay and bear the consequences of error. Only when the loneliness becomes unbearable do adolescents root themselves or try to root themselves. In may or may not be in the community of their childhood, and it may or may not be their childhood identity and connections that they resume upon entering adulthood. And, in fact, many fail at adulthood and constantly reach backward for the freedom and passion of adolescence. But those who achieve it are the ones who create civilization.”
Page 15 [on Novinha wanting to become a scientist]
“I don’t care whether you [Novinha] love us or not. What i have to know is what you really want. Why you’re so passionate to do this…Every person is defined by the communities she belongs to and the ones she doesn’t belong to…But before I let you take [the test] I have to know: Who will you become when you pass? What do you believe in, what are you a part of, what do you care about, what do you love?”
Page 152
“Why is marriage necessary for anyone? Fools say, Why should we marry? Love is the only bond my lover and I need. To them I say, Marriage is not a covenant between a man and woman; even the beasts cleave together and produce their young. Marriage is a covenant between a man and woman on the one side and their community on the other. To marry according to the law of the community is to become a full citizen; to refuse marriage is to be a stranger, a child, an outlaw, a slave, or a traitor. The one constant in every society of humankind is that only those who obey the laws, taboos, and customs of marriage are true adults.”