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deda036
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One day a tortoise will learn how to fly.
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Terry Pratchett |
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2e942d9
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the food was good solid stuff for a cold morning, all calories and fat and protein and maybe a vitamin crying softly because it was all alone.
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Terry Pratchett |
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359a1b3
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I know that I am a small, weak man, but I have amassed a large library; I dream of dangerous places.
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reading
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Terry Pratchett |
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0f93bec
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I wouldn't trust you with a bucket of water if my knickers were on fire!
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Terry Pratchett |
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3405395
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You get a wonderful view from the point of no return.
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Terry Pratchett |
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d838c1f
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Do you understand what I'm saying?" shouted Moist. "You can't just go around killing people!" "Why Not? You Do." The golem lowered his arm. "What?" snapped Moist. "I do not! Who told you that?" "I Worked It Out. You Have Killed Two Point Three Three Eight People," said the golem calmly. "I have never laid a finger on anyone in my life, Mr Pump. I may be-- all the things you know I am, but I am not a killer! I have never so much as drawn a s..
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death
life
philosophy
wisdom
cruelty
sport
justice
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Terry Pratchett |
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0b19d18
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Oh. I see. People don't want to see what can't possibly exist.
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people
reality
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Terry Pratchett |
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14a17c4
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Take the universe and grind it down to the finest powder and sieve it through the finest sieve and then show me one atom of justice, one molecule of mercy. and yet... and yet you act as if there is some ideal order in the world, as if there is some... some rightness in the universe by which it may be judged.
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Terry Pratchett |
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699529b
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I've seen excitement, and I've seen boredom. And boredom was best.
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Terry Pratchett |
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50bc35b
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It was like being in a Jane Austen novel, but one with far less clothing.
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Terry Pratchett |
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5c4ee49
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We're dealing here," said Vimes, "With a twisted mind." "Oh, no! You think so?" "Yes." "But... no... you can't be right. Because Nobby was with us all the time." "Not Nobby," said Vimes testily. "Whatever he might do to a dragon, I doubt if he'd make it explode. There's stranger people in this world than Corporal Nobbs, my lad." Carrot's expression slid into a rictus of intrigued horror. "Gosh," he said."
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men
arms
at
discworld
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Terry Pratchett |
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8d32a5d
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Wizards don't believe in gods in the same way that most people don't find it necessary to believe in, say, tables. They know they're there, they know they're there for a purpose, they'd probably agree that they have a place in a well-organised universe, but they wouldn't see the point of believing, of going around saying "O great table, without whom we are as naught." Anyway, either the gods are there whether you believe in them or not, or ..
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religion
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Terry Pratchett |
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e394309
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If you don't know when to be a human being, you don't know when to be a witch.
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Terry Pratchett |
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d25f795
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I don't think I've drunk enough beer to understand that.
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Terry Pratchett |
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053d6d0
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Animal minds are simple, and therefore sharp. Animals never spend time dividing experience into little bits and speculating about all the bits they've missed. The whole panoply of the universe has been neatly expressed to them as things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. This frees the mind from unnecessary thoughts and gives it a cutting edge where it matters. Your normal animal, in fact, never tries to walk and c..
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Terry Pratchett |
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e474888
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Strength enough to build a home,
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Terry Pratchett |
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ec9ab2f
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I don't want unnecessary violence, sergeant," said Blouse. "Right you are, sir!" said the sergeant. "Carborundum! First man comes through that door runnin', I want him nailed to the wall!" He caught the lieutenant's eye, and added: "But not too hard!"
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violence
military
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Terry Pratchett |
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2a6d571
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Ankh-Morpork! Pearl of cities! This is not a completely accurate description, of course -- it was not round and shiny -- but even its worst enemies would agree that if you had to liken Ankh-Morpork to anything, then it might as well be a piece of rubbish covered with the diseased secretions of a dying mollusc.
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Terry Pratchett |
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1fe4042
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Mr Horsefry was a youngish man, not simply running to fat but vaulting, leaping and diving towards obesity. He had acquired at thirty an impressive selection of chins, and now they wobbled with angry pride.* * It is wrong to judge by appearances. Despite his expression, which was that of a piglet having a bright idea, and his mode of speech, which might put you in mind of a small, breathless, neurotic but ridiculously expensive dog, Mr H..
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Terry Pratchett |
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6caf495
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Ah," said Mr Pin. "Right. I remember. You are concerned citizens." He knew about concerned citizens. Wherever they were, they all spoke the same private language, where 'traditional values' meant 'hang someone'."
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Terry Pratchett |
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1441df7
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The trouble with being a god is that you've got no one to pray to.
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religion
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Terry Pratchett |
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06f0d7b
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If you stopped tellin' people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive.
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humor
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Neil Gaiman Terry Pratchett |
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6750842
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People don't like change. But make the change fast enough and you go from one type of normal to another.
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Terry Pratchett |
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b5f2744
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Time was something that largely happened to other people; he viewed it in the same way that people on the shore viewed the sea. It was big and it was out there, and sometimes it was an invigorating thing to dip a toe into, but you couldn't live in it all the time. Besides, it always made his skin wrinkle.
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Terry Pratchett |
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68c1bef
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Humanity's a nice place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.
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humor
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Terry Pratchett |
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f8e0ee7
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Evil in general does not sleep, and therefore doesn't see why anyone else should.
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sleep
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Terry Pratchett |
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5fe39e4
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FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, said Death, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT. . . .
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Terry Pratchett |
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4b5ccce
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Poets have tried to describe Ankh-Morpork. They have failed. Perhaps it's the sheer zestful vitality of the place, or maybe it's just that a city with a million inhabitants and no sewers is rather robust for poets, who prefer daffodils and no wonder. So let's just say that Ankh-Morpork is as full of life as an old cheese on a hot day, as loud as a curse in a cathedral, as bright as an oil slick, as colourful as a bruise and as full of activ..
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terry-pratchett
mort
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Terry Pratchett |
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797ad27
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They called themselves the Munrungs. It meant The People, or The True Human Beings. It's what most people call themselves, to begin with. And then one day the tribe meets some other People or, if it's not been a good day, The Enemy. If only they'd think up a name like Some More True Human Beings, it'd save a lot of trouble later on
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Terry Pratchett |
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ae03fb4
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One day all of us will die but - and this is the important thing - we are not dead yet.
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Terry Pratchett |
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5e2c18a
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There was no light at the end of the tunnel--or if there was, it was an oncoming train.
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Terry Pratchett |
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0d72bc5
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The shortest unit of time in the multiverse is the New York Second, defined as the period of time between the traffic lights turning green and the cab behind you honking.
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Terry Pratchett |
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e789680
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It's beautiful," said Mort softly. "What is it?" THE SUN IS UNDER THE DISC, said Death. "Is it like this every night?" EVERY NIGHT, said Death. NATURE'S LIKE THAT. "Doesn't anyone know?" ME. YOU. THE GODS. GOOD, ISN'T IT? "Gosh!" Death leaned over the saddle and looked down at the kingdoms of the world. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT YOU, he said, BUT I COULD MURDER A CURRY."
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Terry Pratchett |
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01ae877
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What're quantum mechanics?" "I don't know. People who repair quantums, I suppose."
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Terry Pratchett |
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0b6c655
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Learnin' how not to do things is as hard as learning how to do them.
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learning
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Terry Pratchett |
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d48ec3e
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It's daft, locking us up," said Nanny. "I'd have had us killed." "That's because you're basically good," said Magrat. "The good are innocent and create justice. The bad are guilty, which is why they invent mercy."
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good
philosophy-of-science
ethics
sociology
evil
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Terry Pratchett |
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c32d25e
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You say that you people don't burn folk and sacrifice people anymore, but that's what true faith would mean, y'see? Sacrificin' your own life, one day at a time, to the flame, declarin' the truth of it, workin' for it, breathin' the soul of it. That's religion. Anything else is just . . . is just bein' nice. And a way of keepin' in touch with the neighbors.
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Terry Pratchett |
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00b19f4
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There is no doubt that being human is incredibly difficult and cannot be mastered in one lifetime.
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Terry Pratchett |
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c02fb3c
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The sun is simple. A sword is simple. A storm is simple. Behind everything simple is a huge tail of complicated.
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life
truth
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Terry Pratchett |
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4390ab3
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Good or bad, do it as you. Too many lies and there's no truth to go back to.
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Terry Pratchett |
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1ae9f98
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If Not You, Who Else?
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Terry Pratchett |
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5291138
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Mere animals couldn't possibly manage to act like this. You need to be a human being to be really stupid.
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Terry Pratchett |
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37d0d88
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You know how to pray, don't you? Just put your hands together and hope.
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Terry Pratchett |
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e18d124
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The disc, being flat, has no real horizon. Any adventurous sailor who got funny ideas from staring at eggs and oranges for too long and set out for the antipodes soon learned that the reason why distant ships sometimes looked as though they were disappearing over the edge of the world was that they were disappearing over the edge of the world.
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Terry Pratchett |