About this quote

Sometimes optimism is just a lack of information. We love to assume that getting through a hard stretch means safety is waiting on the other side. Real life often delivers a fresh, active disaster just as you think you finished the old one. You have to laugh at the sheer absurdity of bad timing. When everything goes sideways at the finish line, stop looking for a deeper lesson and just brace yourself.

When to use it

• You finally launch the software update after working all weekend, only to find out the server host just went bankrupt. It is the perfect moment to share this with your exhausted dev team.
• You finish paying off your car loan, and the very next morning the basement pipes burst. You tell your spouse this to keep from crying while you mop up the water.
• You walk out of your last difficult final exam feeling relieved, then open your email and see a notification for an unexpected makeup test next week. You text this to your classmate.