Of course (said Oryx), having a money value was no substitute for love. Every child should have love, every person should have it. She herself would rather have had her mother’s love – the love she still continued to believe in, the love that had followed her through the jungle in the form of a bird so she would not be too frightened or lonely – but love was undependable, it came and then it went, so it was good to have a money value, because then at least those who wanted to make profit from you would make sure you were fed enough and not damaged too much. Also there were many who had neither love nor a money value, and having one of those things was better than having nothing.
aus: Margaret Atwood, Oryx and Crake.