It seems to me, Golan, that the advance of civilization is nothing but an exercise in the limiting of privacy.

Isaac Asimov Foundation's Edge (1982), chapter 6, “Earth”, section 1, p. 100 Verified source · How we source quotes

Where this quote comes from

The line comes from Foundation's Edge, the 1982 novel in which Isaac Asimov returned to his Foundation series about three decades after the original trilogy. It appears in chapter 6, titled "Earth", and is addressed to Golan Trevize, the councilman whose search drives the story. The claim is that every gain in organized society is paid for with a smaller private life.

Source: Foundation's Edge (1982), chapter 6, “Earth”, section 1, p. 100

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