From Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy

Whatever in creation exists without my knowledge exists without my consent...only when the existence of each last entity is routed out and made to stand naked before him will he be properly suzerain of the earth...The judge placed his hands on the ground. He looked at his inquisitor. This is my claim, he said. And yet everywhere upon it are pockets of autonomous life. Autonomous. In order for it to be mine, nothing must be permitted to occur on it save by my dispensation...The man who believes that the secrets of the world are forever hidden lives in mystery and fear. Superstition will drag him down. The rain will erode the deeds of his life. But that man who sets himself to the task of singling out the thread of order from the tapestry will by the decision alone have taken charge of the world and it is only by the such taking charge that he will effect a way to dictate the terms of his own fate.