{
  "type": "quote",
  "site": {
    "name": "Leafy Quotes",
    "language": "en",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com"
  },
  "formats": "Every page has two versions with the same data: JSON (the page address + .json) and markdown (the page address + .md). Append .json or .md to any `url` in this document.",
  "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/transcendence/once-you-were",
  "json": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/transcendence/once-you-were.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/transcendence/once-you-were.md",
  "id": "4538043e-6a23-4775-a2e1-6b2e4cd398fe",
  "slug": "once-you-were",
  "text": "Once you were committed to a course of action, you didn’t waste your time looking back and second-guessing the decision, because every action in life was taken on the basis of incomplete information. You looked at what you had, and you did all you could to improve the odds; but at some point you had to roll the dice—and live or die with whatever you had thrown.",
  "language": "en",
  "author": {
    "name": "Charles Sheffield",
    "slug": "charles-sheffield",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield"
  },
  "book": {
    "title": "Transcendence",
    "slug": "transcendence",
    "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/transcendence"
  },
  "character": null,
  "chapter": null,
  "chapter_parent": null,
  "page": 91,
  "verified": false,
  "original": null,
  "other_languages": [],
  "topics": [
    {
      "name": "choices",
      "slug": "choices",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/choices"
    },
    {
      "name": "risk",
      "slug": "risk",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/risk"
    }
  ],
  "source": {
    "name": "Wikiquote",
    "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Transcendence_(1992)",
    "license": {
      "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
      "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
    }
  },
  "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:33",
  "more_from_book": [
    {
      "id": "f5ac4a6b-81f7-416a-b958-30d0ca58fe8b",
      "slug": "what-i-found",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/transcendence/what-i-found",
      "text": "What I found was worse than diversity—it was insanity.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 188,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "madness",
          "slug": "madness",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/madness"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Transcendence_(1992)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:33"
    },
    {
      "id": "f57b6551-406d-4057-9ae2-289854f3d24b",
      "slug": "the-answers-come",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/transcendence/the-answers-come",
      "text": "The answers come pat and fast. You see, what the downsiders want isn’t an explanation; it’s a catchphrase they can use instead of an explanation.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 101,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "words",
          "slug": "words",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/words"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Transcendence_(1992)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:33"
    },
    {
      "id": "ed0940a8-6e26-48c0-b5d3-bbc5e59ffaa6",
      "slug": "if-you-win",
      "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/charles-sheffield/transcendence/if-you-win",
      "text": "If you win too easy, better ask what’s going on that you don’t know about.",
      "language": "en",
      "character": null,
      "chapter": null,
      "chapter_parent": null,
      "page": 125,
      "verified": false,
      "original": null,
      "other_languages": [],
      "topics": [
        {
          "name": "success and failure",
          "slug": "success-and-failure",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/success-and-failure"
        },
        {
          "name": "suspicion",
          "slug": "suspicion",
          "url": "https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/suspicion"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "name": "Wikiquote",
        "url": "https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Charles_Sheffield#Transcendence_(1992)",
        "license": {
          "label": "CC BY-SA 4.0",
          "url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/"
        }
      },
      "added_at": "2026-09-25T23:02:33"
    }
  ]
}