# Quote — Alastair Reynolds, Poseidon's Wake

> You wish things were different from the way they are. That’s a refrain as old as time. I’ve lived a long and strange sort of life, Kanu, and I’ve known that feeling a few times. Generally it’s best to accept that things are exactly as bad as they look. At least that way you know it’s time to start digging your way out.

- Author: [Alastair Reynolds](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds.md)
- Book: [Poseidon's Wake](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/poseidons-wake.md)
- Page: 605
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Alastair_Reynolds#Poseidon's_Wake_(2015)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/poseidons-wake/you-wish-things

## More from this book

> Believe me, Kanu—the one thing you don’t do in emergencies is think things through. Thinking things through gets you a headstone and a nice epitaph. She thought things through. See how that worked out for her.

p. 601 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/poseidons-wake/believe-me-kanu-the.md)

> We have all made mistakes. The mark of intelligence is to learn from them, and not be bound by the errors of the past.

p. 437 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/poseidons-wake/we-have-all.md)

> “And when do we abandon negotiation and start hitting each other with increasingly large sticks?” Ru said.
>
> “Only when we’ve exhausted all the other options,” Vasin said.

p. 453 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/alastair-reynolds/poseidons-wake/and-when-do-we-abandon.md)