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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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reading
books
interest
dragons
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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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universe
thoughful
reflection
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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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7d03e99
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A foot on the neck is nine points of the law.
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Terry Pratchett |
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1360dd7
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You see, evil alwys contains the seeds of its own destruction' said the angel said, 'It is ultimately negative, and therefore encompasses its downfall even at its moment of apparent triumph. No matter how grandiose, how well-planned, how apparently foolproof an evil plan, the inherent sinfulness will by definition rebound upon its instigators. No matter how apparently successful it may seem upon the way, at the end it will wreck itself. It ..
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Terry Pratchett |
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ab5ab52
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They put it like that?' said Glenda, wide-eyed. 'Oh, you know the sort of thing if you read the papers a lot,' said Ponder. 'I seriously think they think that it is their job to calm people down by first of all explaining why they should be overexcited and very worried.
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the-press
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Terry Pratchett |
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511c95e
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How many books are there?" said Masklin. "Hundreds! Thousands!" "Do you know what they're all about?" Gurder looked at him blankly. "Do you know what you're saying?" he said. "No. But I want to find out." "They're about everything! You'd never believe it! They're full of words even I don't understand!" "Can you find a book which tells you how to understand words you don't understand?" said Masklin. Gurder hesitated. "It's an intriguing thou..
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reading
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Terry Pratchett |
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2cdec39
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They say this fruit be like unto the world / So sweet. Or like, say I, the heart of man / So red without and yet within, unclue'd / We find the worm, the rot, the flaw. / However glows his bloom the bite / Proves many a man be rotten at the core.
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Terry Pratchett |
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31626c9
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The trouble is, you see, that if you do know Right from Wrong, you can't choose Wrong. You just can't do it and live.
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Terry Pratchett |
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12802ff
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Gods didn't mind atheists, if they were deep, hot, fiery, atheists like Simony, who spend their whole life hating gods for not existing. That sort of atheism was a rock. It was nearly belief ...
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terry-pratchett
religion
small-gods
belief
discworld
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Terry Pratchett |
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9fd6ee5
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She waited with Billy Slick while Carrot went on the errand, and for something to say, she said, 'Billy Slick doesn't sound much like a goblin name?' Billy made a face. 'Too right! Granny calls me Of the Wind Regretfully Blown. What kind of name is that, I ask you? Who's going to take you seriously with a name like that? This is modern times, right?' He looked at her defiantly, and she thought: and so one at a time we all become human - h..
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Terry Pratchett |
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e608948
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The point I'm making," said Yo-Less, "is that you've got to help your friends, right?" He turned to Johnny. "Now, personally, I think you're very nearly totally disturbed and suffering from psychosomatica and hearing voices and seeing delusions," he said "and probably ought to be locked up in one of those white jackets with the stylish long sleeves. But that doesn't matter, 'cause we're friends."
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Terry Pratchett |
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ee9756b
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Everyone should occasionally break the law in some small and delightful way, Drumknott. It's good for the hygiene of the brain.
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Terry Pratchett |
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91b0cfb
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Ahahahahaha! Ahahahaha! Aahahaha! BEWARE!!!!! Yrs Sincerely, The Opera Ghost
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Terry Pratchett |
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3a3609c
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Sergeant Colon was lost in admiration. He'd seen people bluff on a bad hand, but he'd never seen anyone bluff with no cards.
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humour
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Terry Pratchett |
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c90e276
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That was a !" he said. "An evil spirit! The peasants down in the valleys hang up charms against them! But I thought they were just a superstition!" "No, they're a substition," said Susan. "I mean they're real, but hardly anyone really believes them. Mostly everyone believes in things that aren't real. Something very strange is going on. Those things are all over the place, and they've got . That's not right. We've got to find the person w..
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humourous
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Terry Pratchett |
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3a4b3ae
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The new captain looked up. Oh, good grief, Vimes thought. It's bloody Rust this time round! And it was indeed the Hon. Ronald Rust, the god's gift to the enemy, any enemy, and a walking encouragement to desertion. The Rust family had produced great soldiers, by the undemanding standards of 'Deduct your own casualties from those of the enemy, and if the answer is a positive number, it was a glorious victory' school of applied warfare. But Ru..
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Terry Pratchett |
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f2380a2
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The real world was far too real to leave neat little hints. It was full of too many things. It wasn't by eliminating the impossible that you got at the truth, however improbable; it was by the much harder process of eliminating the possibilities.
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truth
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Terry Pratchett |
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6f49ff9
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Swing, though, started in the wrong place. He didn't look around, and watch and learn, and then say, 'This is how people are, how do we deal with it?' No, he sat and thought: This is how the people ought to be, how do we change them?' And that was a good enough thought for a priest but not for a copper, because Swing's patient, pedantic way of operating had turned policing on its head.
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Terry Pratchett |
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bdd2510
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They weren't looking at him as if he was their only hope. They were looking at him as if he was their Certainty.
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Terry Pratchett |
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f02a960
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An hour ago Cutwell had thumbed through the index of The Monster Fun Grimoire and had cautiously assembled a number of common household ingredients and put a match to them. Funny thing about eyebrows, he mused. You never really noticed them until they'd gone.
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humour
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Terry Pratchett |
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33d4a45
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Carrot started to clap. It wasn't the clap used by middlings to encourage underlings to applaud overlings. It had genuine enthusiasm behind it which was, somehow, worse.
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Terry Pratchett |
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b2afbc9
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You don't understand!" screamed the tourist, above the terrible noise of the wingbeats. "All my life I've wanted to see dragons!" "From the inside?" shouted Rincewind. "Shut up and ride!"
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Terry Pratchett |
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b8729ca
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It was no use getting angry with Wullie; he lived in a Wullie-shaped world of his own. You had to think diagonally.
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Terry Pratchett |
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2245a36
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This is Lancre we're talkin' about. If we was men, we'd be talking about layin' down our lives for the country. As women, we can talk about laying down.
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Terry Pratchett |
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d8eb0ec
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Right,' he said uncertainty. His mind was grinding through the problem. She was a witch. Just lately there'd been a lot of gossip about witches being bad for your health. He'd been told not to let witches pass, but no one had said anything about apple sellers. Apple sellers were not a problem. It was witches that were the problem. She'd said she was an apple seller and he wasn't about to doubt a witch's word.
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Terry Pratchett |
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7bec315
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The Great God Om waxed wroth, or at least made a spirited attempt. There is a limit to the amount of wroth that can be waxed one inch from the ground, and he was right up against it.
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humor
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Terry Pratchett |
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0213266
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Perhaps that's why men did it. You didn't do it to save duchesses, or countries. You killed the enemy to stop him killing your mates, that they in turn might save you ...
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Terry Pratchett |
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27826df
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There were times when you could feel that the world would be a better place if Annagramma got the occasional slap around the ear. The silly unthinking insults, her huge lack of interest in anyone other than herself, the way she treated everyone as if they were slightly deaf and a bit stupid...it could make your blood boil. But you put up with it because every once in a while you saw through it all. Inside there was this worried, frantic lit..
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reminding
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Terry Pratchett |
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ee1fcc0
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And visitors say: how does such a big city exist? What keeps it going? Since it's got a river you can chew, where does the drinking water come from? What is, in fact, the basis of its civic economy? How come it, against all probability, ? Actually, visitors don't often say this. They usually say things like, "Which way to the, you know, the...er...you know, the young ladies, right?"
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Terry Pratchett |
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01e7f90
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Now, as Crowley would be the first to protest, most demons weren't deep down evil. In the great cosmic game they felt they occupied the same position as tax inspectors--doing an unpopular job, maybe, but essential to the overall operation of the whole thing. If it came to that, some angels weren't paragons of virtue; Crowley had met one or two who, when it came to righteously smiting the ungodly, smote a good deal harder than was strictly n..
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Terry Pratchett |
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5fc19b9
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In fact no gods anywhere play chess. They haven't got the imagination. Gods prefer simple, vicious games, where you Do Not Achieve Transcendence but Go Straight To Oblivion; a key to the understanding of all religion is that a god's idea of amusement is Snakes and Ladders with greased rungs.
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Terry Pratchett |
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b1fb815
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He reflected briefly that someone up there was watching over him. 'Thanks a lot,' he said bitterly.
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Terry Pratchett |
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e3b7165
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Death's pale horse looked up from its oats and gave a little whinny of greeting. The horse's name was Binky. He was a real horse. Death had tried fiery steeds and skeletal horses in the past, and found them impractical, especially the fiery ones, which tended to set light to their own bedding and stand in the middle of it looking embarrassed.
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Terry Pratchett |