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67a59e2
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A voice said: One. One. One, two. One, two. Then the footsteps went back into the distance. After a while, another voice said: One, two, three, four- And the universe came into being. It was wrong to call it a big bang. That would just be noise, and all that noise could create is more noise and a cosmos full of random particles. Matter exploded into being, apparently as chaos, but in fact as a chord. The ultimate power chord. Everything, al..
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chord
music
noise
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Terry Pratchett |
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7babe07
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I'm just saying man is naturally a mythopoeic creature." "What's that mean?" said the Senior Wrangler. "Means we make things up as we go along," said the Dean, not looking up."
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Terry Pratchett |
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4001615
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The Nac Mac Feegle (also called Pictsies, The Wee Free Men, The Little Men, and "Person or Persons Unknown, Believed to be Armed")"
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Terry Pratchett |
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d1b633c
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There are those who believe knowledge is something that is acquired - a precious ore hacked, as it were, from the grey strata of ignorance. There are those who believe that knowledge can only be recalled, that there was some Golden Age in the distant past when everything was known and the stones fitted together so you could hardly put a knife between them, you know, and it's obvious they had flying machines, right, because of the way the ea..
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Terry Pratchett |
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ca43b3f
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The light was misty and actinic, the sort of light to make Steven Spielberg reach for his copyright lawyer.
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Terry Pratchett |
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2bb2d3e
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Oh, no," said the Lecturer in Recent Runes, pushing his chair back. "Not that. That's meddling with things you don't understand." "Well, we are wizards," said Ridcully. "We're supposed to meddle in things we don't understand. If we hung around waitin' till we understood things we'd never get anything done." --
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Terry Pratchett |
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e13cc52
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people went looking to find themselves and what they found was somebody else.
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Terry Pratchett |
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61c0bbd
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People are content to wait a long time for salvation, but expect dinner to turn up within the hour.
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revolution
salvation
vimes
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Terry Pratchett |
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f1bf3da
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I let you sleep, Sam," said Lady Sybil. "You didn't get in this morning until after three." "Everyone's double-shifting, dear," said Sam, daring Carrot and Sally to even think about telling anyone they'd seen the boss wearing a blue shawl covered in ducks. "I've got to set a good example." "I'm sure you intend to, Sam, but you like a horrible warning," said Sybil."
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Terry Pratchett |
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958a5e9
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You won't enjoy it," sighed Crowley. "It's been in the car for more than a fortnight." A heavy bass beat began to thump through the Bentley as they sped past Heathrow. Aziraphale's brow furrowed. "I don't recognize this," he said. "What is it?" "It's Tchaikovsky's 'Another One Bites the Dust'," said Crowley, closing his eyes as they went through Slough. To while away the time as they crossed the sleeping Chilterns, they also listened to Wil..
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music
queen
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Terry Pratchett |
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3ce05a0
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Twoflower didn't just look at the world through rose-tinted spectacles, Rincewind knew--he looked at it through a rose-tinted brain, too, and heard it through rose-tinted ears.
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twoflower
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Terry Pratchett |
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0f61539
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The gods help those who help themselves, and my word, didn't I help myself.
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Terry Pratchett |
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9ae4c51
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The three thieves looked around. As their eyes grew accustomed to the gloom, they received a general impression of armourality, with strong overtones of helmetness.
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humourous
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Terry Pratchett |
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a0f6cfd
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More than half the skill of writing lies in tricking the book out of your own head.
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Terry Pratchett |
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7d6d6fe
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To his mild surprise, the men were still out in the yard. Someone had even hung up the swordsmanship targets, which would certainly be helpful if the watch-men were faced with an enemy who was armless and tied to a pole.
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Terry Pratchett |
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3d4ebb7
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She is standing just behind you. Just behind your right shoulder." In the silence of the woods, Polly turned. "I can't see her," she said. "I am happy for you," said Wazzer, handing her the empty mug. "But I didn't see anything," said Polly. "No," said Wazzer. "But you turned around..."
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Terry Pratchett |
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c6bba63
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It's a metaphor of human bloody existence, a dragon. And if that wasn't bad enough, it's also a bloody great hot flying thing.
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Terry Pratchett |
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365d72f
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I'm sure it's all journalism [...] It means it's true enough for now.
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journalism
news
newspapers
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Terry Pratchett |
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17eb265
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The only hat worth wearing was the one you made for yourself, not one you bought, not one you were given. Your own hat, for your own head. Your own future, not someone else's.
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Terry Pratchett |
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d491044
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And personalities define themselves in terms of other personalities.
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Terry Pratchett |
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9971654
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They'd come here to spoon and, on one memorable occasion, fork.
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Terry Pratchett |
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0cd9c7e
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A city like Ankh-Morpork was only two meals away from chaos at the best of times.
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Terry Pratchett |
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bcd5335
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There should be a word for the microscopic spark of hope that you dare not entertain in case the mere act of acknowledging it will cause it to vanish, like trying to look at a photon. You can only sidle up to it, lookong past it, walking past it, waiting for it to get big enough to face the world
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Terry Pratchett |
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2be7e23
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The young man is also an idealist. He has yet to find out that what's in the public interest is not what the public is interested in.
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Terry Pratchett |
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f896dac
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And he read all morning, but just to make it interesting, he put lots of dragons in it.
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books
dragons
interest
reading
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Terry Pratchett |
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01e067f
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A mirror can contain the reflection of the whole universe, a whole skyful of stars in a piece of silvered glass no thicker than a breath.
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reflection
thoughful
universe
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Terry Pratchett |
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73e478c
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Uncertainty is always uncertain, but the difficulty with people who rely on systems is that they begin to believe that nearly everything is in some way a system and therefore, sooner or later, they become bureaucrats.
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Terry Pratchett |
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0ae50e3
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Vetinari gave him a look that did not actually employ a raised eyebrow but which implied that one might be forthcoming if the recipient of the look pushed his luck.
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Terry Pratchett |
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ff04c2c
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These are the Things that Make a Man Iron enough to make a nail, Lime enough to paint a wall, Water enough to drown a dog, Sulphur enough to stop the fleas, Potash enough to wash a shirt, Gold enough to buy a bean, Silver enough to coat a pin, Lead enough to ballast a bird, Phosphor enough to light the town, Poison enough to kill a cow, Strength enough to build a home, Time enough to hold a child, Love enough to break a heart.
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Terry Pratchett |
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dbc5ec4
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And in this doleful mood he ventured to wonder if they ever thought back to when things were just old-fangled or not fangled at all as against the modern day when fangled had reached its apogee. Fangling was indeed, he thought, here to stay. Then he wondered: had anyone ever thought of themselves as a fangler?
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raising-steam
vetinari
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Terry Pratchett |
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59fd3cd
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they believed that for a thing to exist it had to have a position in time and space. Humanity had arrived as a nasty shock. Humanity practically was things that didn't have a position in time and space, such as imagination, pity, hope, history, and belief. Take those away and all you had was an ape that fell out of trees a lot.
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Terry Pratchett |
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20447b4
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You know, I never imagined there were he-dryads. Not even in an oak tree." One of the giants grinned at him. Druellae snorted. "Stupid! Where do you think acorns come from?"
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Terry Pratchett |
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6aed555
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Can you swim?" said Victor. One of the cavern's rotting pillars crashed down behind them. From the pit itself came a terrible wailing. "Not very well," said Ginger. "Me neither," he said. The commotion behind them was getting worse. "Still," he said, taking her hand. "We could look on this as a great opportunity to improve really quickly."
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swimming
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Terry Pratchett |
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84ca2ef
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It was always cheaper to build a new 33-MegaLith circle than upgrade an old slow one.
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Terry Pratchett |
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49bf0bd
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The figure stopped to cough long and hard, making a noise like a wall being hit repeatedly with a bag of rocks. Moist saw that it had a beard of the short bristled type that suggested that its owner had been interrupted halfway through eating a hedgehog.
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Terry Pratchett |
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d849791
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Greebo had spent an irritating two minutes in that box. Technically, a cat locked in a box may be alive or it may be dead. You never know until you look. In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of the cat, although in this case there were three determinate states the cat could be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious.
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Terry Pratchett |
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f57895c
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Old terror crouched in the shadows. It was one of the most ancient terrors, the one that meant that no sooner had mankind learned to walk on two legs than it dropped to its knees. It was the terror of impermanence, the knowledge that all this would pass away, that a beautiful voice or a wonderful figure was something whose arrival you couldn't control and whose departure you couldn't delay.
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time
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Terry Pratchett |
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41692fc
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The Tezuman Empire in the jungle valleys of central Klatch is known for it organic market gardens, its exquisite craftsmanship in obsidian, feathers and jade, and its mass human sacrifices in honor of Quezovercoatl, the Feathered Boa, god of mass human sacrifices.
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religion
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Terry Pratchett |
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e75f3b1
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There's always the dwarf bread.
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Terry Pratchett |
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ba33118
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Well, I think," said Nobby, "that when you rule out the impossible, whatever is left, however improbable, ain't worth hanging around for on a cold night wonderin' about when you could be getting on the outside of a big drink."
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Terry Pratchett |
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d1f0232
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and all those frogs going 'Rabbit, rabbit'..." "I think, sir, that it was 'Ribbit, ribbit'..." "So, what goes 'Rabbit, rabbit'?" "Rabbits, I think. All the time..."
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Terry Pratchett |
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aa93db7
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The Librarian liked being best man. You were allowed to kiss bridesmaids, and they weren't allowed to run away.
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Terry Pratchett |
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f9bc468
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Red sky at night, the city's alight.
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Terry Pratchett |
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3279394
|
Gossiping's part of witchcraft,' said Tiffany. 'They're checking to see if they've gone batty yet.
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humor
sanity
witches
women
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Terry Pratchett |