airplanesy,
That makes sense, but it's not necessarily so.
What a higher glide ratio, or flatter glide does for you is allow you a wider range of options in the event you must glide. It doesn't mean you must maintain that rate of descent for the entire descent, or even that descent angle.
Think of it this way; you can always increase the descent rate or angle with a slip, with flaps, with spoilers, or simply by flying a different angle of attack (airspeed), by putting out gear, and so forth. You can make an airplane with a significant glide ratio descend steeper...but you really can't make an airplane with a poor glide ratio go flatter or farther.
The landing distance is a function of approach speed, weight, configuration, and pilot technique. The slower you approach, the shorter the landing distance. Putting the airplane down where you want in order to make the most of the available space is pilot technique. A lighter airplane is easier to get stopped than a heavy airplane, to a point, and the way you configure (flaps, etc) and the way you use that configuration makes a big difference.
An airplane that's a great glider can still be set down just like any spot landing; thats up to you. You can always slip.
An airplane with a very limited glide ratio can't be upgraded...you can pitch up, increase angle of attack, and sacrifice airspeed and energy a brief decrease in descent rate...but that's about it. It's never really going to get better. An airplane with a higher glide ratio can always be degraded to get down, and if you find you've misjudged and you're slipping to make your landing spot, you can always stop slipping and readjust your landing point. If you've misjudged in the airplane with the lower glide ratio, you're out of luck.
It's for that reason that being high is better than being low during a forced landing. No matter what the glide ratio. You can always do more to get down...but if you're truly on your way earthward, you can't do a lot to go back up unless you're in a sailplane, have ridge lift, or you can find some lift along the way. Erring on the side of safety by staying a little high and bleeding it off with flaps or a slip or other means is better than finding one's self short and low and slow and having no way to recitify the situation.
Be on speed and in practice...it's the best defense against calamity in a forced landing. A prepared state of mind is much more important than how far you can glide; prepare mentally and prepare physically (keep forced landing sites available) is the key.