# Quote — Richard Morgan, Altered Carbon

> “You’re an Envoy, Kovacs. You live by manipulation. We all do. We all live in the great manipulation matrix, and it’s just one big struggle to stay on top.”
>
> I shook my head. “I didn’t ask to be dealt in.”
>
> “Kovacs, Kovacs.” Kawahara’s expression was suddenly almost tender. “None of us ask to be dealt in. You think I asked to be born in Fission City, with a web-fingered dwarf for a father and a psychotic whore for a mother? You think I asked for that? We’re not dealt in, we’re thrown in, and after that it’s just about keeping your head above water.”

- Author: [Richard Morgan](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-morgan.md)
- Book: [Altered Carbon](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-morgan/altered-carbon.md)
- Page: 484
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Richard_Morgan#Altered_Carbon_(2002)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-morgan/altered-carbon/youre-an-envoy