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8597026
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We sleepwalk through our lives, because how could we live if we were always this awake?
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Terry Pratchett |
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28ac45e
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There was no safety. There was no pride. All there was, was money. Everything became money, and money became everything. Money treated us as if we were things, and we died.
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money
terry-pratchett
greed
life
philosophy-religion
going-postal
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Terry Pratchett |
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ef1769e
|
It's hard to explain," said Brutha. "But I think it's got something to do with how people should behave... you should do things because they're right. Not because gods say so. They might say something different another time."
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Terry Pratchett |
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1342244
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What did they feed the lions and tigers with in the ark, sir?
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Terry Pratchett |
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e7ffd01
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Trouble is, just because things are obvious doesn't mean they're true.
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Terry Pratchett |
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df0d97c
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I'm not a lady, I'm a witch.
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witches
never-been-a-lady
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Terry Pratchett |
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acb3595
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They obeyed, as wise men do when a woman puts her foot down . . .
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Terry Pratchett |
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885e541
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See a pin and pick it up, and, all day long, you'll have a pin.
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paraphrased
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Terry Pratchett |
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c50a6f0
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You know what?' said Vimes aloud. 'This is going to be the world's first democratically killed dragon. One man, one stab.' Then you've got to stop them. You can't let them kill it!' said Lady Ramkin. Vimes blinked at her. Pardon?' he said. It's wounded!' Lady, that was the intention, wasn't it? Anyway, it's only stunned,' said Vimes. I mean you can't let them kill it like ,' said Lady Ramkin insistently. 'Poor thing!' What do you want to d..
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compassion
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Terry Pratchett |
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4a572c2
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Sometimes the crime follows the punishment, which only serves to prove the foresight of the Great God." "That's what my grandmother used to say," said Brutha automatically. "Indeed? I would like to know more about this formidable lady." "She used to give me a thrashing every morning because I would certainly do something to deserve it during the day," said Brutha. "A most complete understanding of the nature of mankind,"
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religion
punishment
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Terry Pratchett |
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38f0f86
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He said that there was death and taxes, and taxes was worse, because at least death didn't happen to you every year.
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taxes
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Terry Pratchett |
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8dee16f
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Murder was in fact a fairly uncommon event in Ankh-Morpork, but there were a lot of suicides. Walking in the night-time alleyways of The Shades was suicide. Asking for a short in a dwarf bar was suicide. Saying 'Got rocks in your head?' to a troll was suicide. You could commit suicide very easily, if you weren't careful.
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suicide
pratchett
discworld
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Terry Pratchett |
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3f8c86c
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The Departure Aria, a very important and romantic song -
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Terry Pratchett |
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a30f544
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It is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done. A person ignorant of the possibility of failure can be a half-brick in the path of the bicycle of history.
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Terry Pratchett |
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16f0dec
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They know that people need witches; they need the unofficial people who understand the difference between right and wrong, and when right is wrong and when wrong is right. The world needs the people who work around the edges. They need the people who can deal with the little bumps and inconveniences. And little problems. After all, we are almost all human. Almost all of the time.
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Terry Pratchett |
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e6b3d3f
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Personal isn't the same as important.
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Terry Pratchett |
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b05389b
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Nor had he, as far as he knew, ever believed in anything. It had been embarrassing, because he quite wanted to believe in something, since he recognized that belief was the lifebelt that got most people through the choppy waters of Life. He'd have liked to believe in a supreme God, although he'd have preferred a half-hour's chat with Him before committing himself, to clear up one or two points. He'd sat in all sorts of churches, waiting for..
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Terry Pratchett |
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3dcaaf9
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Witches were a bit like cats. They didn't much like one another's company but they did like to know where all the other witches were, just in case they needed them. And what you might need them for was to tell you, as a friend, that you were beginning to cackle.
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witches
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Terry Pratchett |
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1a938c7
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But the helmet had gold decoration, and the bespoke armorers had made a new gleaming breastplate with useless gold ornamentation on it. Sam Vimes felt like a class traitor every time he wore it. He hated being thought of as one of those people that wore stupid ornamental armor. It was gilt by association.
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politics
humor
puns
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Terry Pratchett |
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e0f5b64
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Would a minute have mattered? No, probably not, although his young son appeared to have a very accurate internal clock. Possibly even 2 minutes would be okay. Three minutes, even. You could go to five minutes, perhaps. But that was just it. If you could go for five minutes, then you'd go to ten, then half an hour, a couple of hours...and not see your son all evening. So that was that. Six o'clock, prompt. Every day. Read to young Sam. No ex..
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Terry Pratchett |
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60caed6
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They can tak' oour lives but they canna tak' oour troousers!
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Terry Pratchett |
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96403d3
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I never said nothing..." "I know you never! I could hear you not saying anything! You've got the loudest silences I ever did hear from anyone who wasn't dead!"
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humorous
humor
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Terry Pratchett |
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bbb0827
|
The four lesser apocalyptical horsemen of Panic, Bewilderment, Ignorance, and Shouting took control of the room,
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Terry Pratchett |
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af2957f
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Good and bad is tricky," she said. "I ain't too certain about where people stand. P'raps what matters is which way you face."
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Terry Pratchett |
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5a99a8d
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Because some stories end, but old stories go on, and you gotta dance to the music if you want to stay ahead
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Terry Pratchett |
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e1283dc
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Pollution removed his helmet and shook out his long white hair. He had taken over when Pestilence, muttering about penicillin, had retired in 1936.
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Terry Pratchett |
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ce364b5
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Racism was not a problem on the Discworld, because--what with trolls and dwarfs and so on--speciesism was more interesting. Black and white lived in perfect harmony and ganged up on green.
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racism
humour
speciesism
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Terry Pratchett |
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ac55903
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Things are not as they seem. They are what they are.
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Terry Pratchett |
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3bcc5e9
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Last hopeless chances have got to work. Nothing makes sense otherwise. You might as well not be alive.
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life
sublime
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Terry Pratchett |
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82b4eab
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Don't tell me from genetics. What've they got to do with it?" said Crowley. "Look at Satan. Created as an angel, grows up to be the Great Adversary. Hey, if you're going to go on about genetics, you might as well say the kid will grow up to be an angel. After all, his father was really big in Heaven in the old days. Saying he'll grow up to be a demon just because his dad _became_ one is like saying a mouse with its tail cut off will give bi..
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lamarckian-evolution
nature-vs-nurture
satan
genetics
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Terry Pratchett |
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d43fc74
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She had heard it said that, before you could understand anybody, you needed to walk a mile in their shoes, which did not make a whole lot of sense, because probably AFTER you had walked a mile in their shoes, you would understand that they were chasing you and accusing you of the theft of a pair of shoes--although, of course, you could probably outrun them, owing to their lack of footwear.
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Terry Pratchett |
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958f49f
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Any true wizard, faced with a sign like 'Do not open this door. Really. We mean it. We're not kidding. Opening this door will mean the end of the universe,' would automatically open the door in order to see what all the fuss is about. This made signs rather a waste of time, but at least it meant that when you handed what was left of the wizard to his grieving relatives you could say, as they grasped the jar, 'We told him not to.
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Terry Pratchett |
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9f937a1
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I don't know what to do," he said. "No harm in that. I've never known what to do," said Rincewind with hollow cheerfulness. "Been completely at a loss my whole life." He hesitated. "I think it's called being human, or something."
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human
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Terry Pratchett |
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457bb65
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Thinking. This book contains some. Whether you try it at home is up to you.
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Terry Pratchett |
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38dac33
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There was a man and he had eight sons. Apart from that, he was nothing more than a comma on the page of History. It's sad, but that's all you can say about some people.
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Terry Pratchett |
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f483675
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Hat = wizard, wizard = hat. Everything else is frippery.
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Terry Pratchett |
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d3530a9
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Winder's mind felt even fuzzier than it had done over the past few years, but he was certain about cake. He'd been eating cake, and now there wasn't any. Through the mists he saw it, apparently close but, when he tried to reach it, a long way away. A certain realization dawned on him. "Oh," he said. YES, said Death. "Not even time to finish my cake?" NO. THERE IS NO MORE TIME, EVEN FOR CAKE. FOR YOU, THE CAKE IS OVER. YOU HAVE REACHED THE ..
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humourous
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Terry Pratchett |
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141d014
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Was that what it was really like to be alive? The feeling of darkness dragging you forward? How could they live with it? And yet they did, and even seemed to find enjoyment in it, when surely the only sensible course would be to despair. Amazing. To feel you were a tiny living thing, sandwiched between two cliffs of darkness. How could they stand to be alive?
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death
life
despair
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Terry Pratchett |
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1bc64e6
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Don't do anything I wouldn't do, if you ever find anything I wouldn't do.
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Terry Pratchett |
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08f9f5e
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Because no man wants to be a coward in front of a cheese.
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Terry Pratchett |
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29f30ee
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He'd heard that writers spent all day in their dressing gowns drinking champagne. This is, of course, absolutely true.
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Terry Pratchett |
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a18376a
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Who knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men? A copper, that's who. (...)You saw how close men lived to the beast. You realized that people like Carcer were not mad. They were incredibily sane. They were simply men without a shield. They'd looked at the world and realized that all the rules didn't have to apply to them, not if they didn't want them to. They weren't fooled by all the little stories. They shook hands with the beast.
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terry-pratchett
inspirational
night-watch
life-philosophy
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Terry Pratchett |
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fc82d55
|
Have - have you got an appointment?' he said. 'I don't know,' said Carrot. 'Have we got an appointment?' 'I've got an iron ball with spikes on,' Nobby volunteered. 'That's a morningstar, Nobby.' 'Is it?' 'Yes,' said Carrot. 'An appointment is an engagement to see someone, while a morningstar is a large lump of metal used for viciously crushing skulls. It is important not to confuse the two, isn't it, Mr-?' He raised his eyebrows. 'Boffo, si..
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terry-pratchett
carrot-ironfoundersson
corporal-carrot
men-at-arms
pratchett
discworld
|
Terry Pratchett |
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7914e85
|
It's quite easy to accidentally overhear people talking downstairs if you hold an upturned glass to the floorboards and accidentally put your ear to it.
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Terry Pratchett |