The Lost Colony Quotes

“You know it’s a messed-up world when you can go away for twenty years and come back to find that people are even dumber and more antiquated than when you left.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“The data archive from Earth contains every work ever published, and free access to that is a dream come true for some of the colonists, people whose only desire is a quiet corner of the universe where they can do an honest day’s work and read themselves to sleep.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“The laws of physics—as we understand them—depend on constants. If those constants were even slightly different, this universe would not exist—or would be of a different nature completely. For example, omega, the name the humans used for the universal density parameter, governs gravity and the expansion energy in the universe. The value of omega is one. If it were any stronger, the universe would have collapsed before life could have evolved. Alternatively, a lower value would have resulted in weaker gravity, potentially preventing stars from being formed. “The same is true for epsilon—the measure of the efficiency of fusion of helium from hydrogen. It’s also true for lambda—the cosmological constant. Most alarmingly, D, the number of spatial dimensions in spacetime, is three. If D were a different number—that is, if the spacetime we experience were defined by two or four dimensions, or any other number—the universe would be a radically different place.” “What are you telling me?” “It is highly probable that the grid we created isn’t the first one ever created.” “You believe this universe is a grid virtualization instance?” “I believe those are the terms we have that best describe it. However, it’s likely that the true nature of the universe is something else entirely, a reality we are unable to fully understand”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“and gin blossoms sprouting from his nose.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“the idea that there is something larger going on in this universe makes far more sense than there being nothing.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“to make you better than I was. I tried to give you what I didn’t have: a mind without the darkness. But I also gave you a distinctly human gift: the ability to create—to try to leave the world with something better than you are.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“There’s something about coming home at the end of a hard day of work, of being proud of what you’ve done, and feeling like you’re part of something.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“There are few agonies worse than grasping about for a new career in a world where you seem to have no place. It’s as though I’m the odd man out in a game of duck-duck-goose, watching people settle into their lives, happy as a clam, while I stand here with no place and no prospects. It hits a person at their core.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“I want to build things. Health care is, at its core, about repair and maintenance. It’s a noble endeavor, but one I’ll never excel at—and won’t be happy doing.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“My brain feels as sharp as the plastic cup I’m holding.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“That is the true human challenge: to have faith that the end is only a beginning we can’t understand.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“time is the most valuable thing we have.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“Well let’s just agree to disagree on calling the humans advanced.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“All I can do is make the best decisions I can in the moment and prepare myself to make better decisions in the future. Agonizing about them after the fact accomplishes nothing.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“What is art anyway? I think it’s an expression of your beliefs, how you see the world. What if this colony is a work of art? This planet is our canvas and what we’re creating is a reflection of the human condition—a place with a dark side that’s uninhabitable and a light side that’s also uninhabitable, a place where you can only survive in the sliver of space in between and only if you know yourself and your own limits and live within them.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“If you’re right about something, that gives you the authority to act on it, to stand and not back down. The consequences don’t matter—the world will catch up eventually.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“Your paranoia is forcing me to try to solve a complex physics equation that will answer the ultimate question of the fate of the universe… on a chalkboard that’s two inches by two inches. Oh, and there’s no chalk.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“This is the life humans want, whether they know it or not—a life where they do something they think matters, something that helps their family, neighbors, and friends, work they take pride in”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“We’re like two puzzle pieces that looked like they would fit but, once brought together, didn’t snap into place instantly. We both have rough edges that weren’t apparent at first glance. Where those rough edges meet, there’s been friction. In a way we’ve sort of filed away at ourselves, giving and taking to make our lives fit together. I think doing that has been worth it. With a tighter fit, the pieces are likely to stay together longer.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“But the thing that’s truly different about the two of them is that when our life hit a fork in the road, Olivia ran away—whereas Emma grabbed my hand.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“to deal with these uncertain times isn’t the issue. It’s how we keep ourselves sane while we deal with these uncertain times.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“Health care is, at its core, about repair and maintenance.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“Life is comfortable, and as long as it doesn’t get worse, no one tries to make it any better.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“Our brains crave certainty because only in certainty can we know that we are safe and that those we love will be safe. In times of great uncertainty, that survival instinct drives us to achieve certainty. In doing so, the brain can overreact. It can malfunction. It can drive us to act, even in times when the right thing to do is wait.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“the worst flu strain in history. It also featured an abnormally long asymptomatic period—a period in which the host is also contagious.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“It’s only when we turn against each other—when we abandon our friends and neighbors—that we fail.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“I think the best gift a person can receive is one they can use to achieve happiness for themselves year after year.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“We all share a common affliction. It affects some of us more than others. From birth, our brains are wired with this defect—and for one good reason: it increases our chances of survival. The problem is uncertainty, and specifically how our brains deal with it. Our brains crave certainty because only in certainty can we know that we are safe and that those we love will be safe. In times of great uncertainty, that survival instinct drives us to achieve certainty. In doing so, the brain can overreact. It can malfunction. It can drive us to act, even in times when the right thing to do is wait.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“Only a friend who knows me in the way Oscar did would have thought of this. I think the best gift a person can receive is one they can use to achieve happiness for themselves year after year. In another life, these were the tools of my life’s work. I used these to build homes for my family and friends, homes that changed their lives, saw them through the darkness and the light, gave them refuge in the winters and summers of their lives.”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony

“They will face it with their eyes wide open. That is the true human challenge: to have faith that the end is only a beginning we can’t understand.” Oscar”
― A.G. Riddle, The Lost Colony