Another line with multiple levels. On one, Nostromo is submitting to the doctor's assertion of universal subjectivity, that every man must choose meaning for himself. To the man who previously lived in an idealized social self, in which he agreed to the meaning assigned to him by everyone else, this is a bitter lesson, emphasized by the touch of his shoulder against cynicism. On this level, Teresa is right in that the fine words of others have no inherent worth.

On another level, Nostromo is saying that it is his "own affair" to see to getting rich, since, as Teresa said, serving the rulers will never accomplish it.