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pratchettquotes · 5 days

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"Carrot! Don't you remember last night? Didn't you wonder what I might become? Didn't you worry about the future?"

"No."

"Why the hell not?"

"It hasn't happened yet. Shall we get back? It'll be dark soon."

Terry Pratchett, The Fifth Elephant

#angua von uberwald #carrot ironfoundersson #the fifth elephant #discworld #terry pratchett #werewolves #dating #relationships #fighting #existential crisis #logic #memory #past #present #future #worry #why not #it hasn't happened yet #what i might become

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pratchettquotes · 10 days

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A thought in her head said No. It was overruled. She'd made up her mind.

Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

#polly perks #monstrous regiment #discworld #terry pratchett #uncertainty #certainty #internal dialogue #overruled #decision making #she'd made up her mind

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pratchettquotes · 12 days

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One of Rincewind's tutors had said of him that "to call his understanding of magical theory abysmal is to leave no suitable word to describe his grasp of its practice." This had always puzzled him. He objected to the fact that you had to be good at magic to be a wizard. He knew he was a wizard, deep in his head. Being good at magic didn't have anything to do with it. That was just an extra, it didn't actually define someone.

Terry Pratchett, Sourcery

#rincewind #sourcery #discworld #terry pratchett #character description #wizards #magic #theory and practice #identity #self identification #ability #understanding #competency #performance review #definition #just an extra #abysmal

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pratchettquotes · 15 days

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Frantic signals from outlying portions of her mind began to break down her iron-hard conviction that bad things only happen to bad people.

Terry Pratchett, Wyrd Sisters

#magrat garlick #wyrd sisters #discworld #terry pratchett #witches #morality #worldview #threat #danger #fear #conviction #causality #what goes around comes around #bad things #bad people #changing your mind #frantic signals

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pratchettquotes · 22 days

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Miss Flitworth didn't appear to hear him. She kept turning her hand backward and forward, as if she'd never seen it before.

"I see you made a few changes, Bill Door," she said.

NO. IT IS LIFE THAT MAKES MANY CHANGES.

"I mean that I appear to be younger."

THAT'S WHAT I MEANT ALSO.

Terry Pratchett, Reaper Man

#DEATH #bill door #miss flitworth #reaper man #discworld #terry pratchett #afterlife #life #youth #age #experience #wisdom #time #changes #aging #same thing #life makes many changes

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pratchettquotes · 24 days

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Detritus stamped to attention beside Vimes and his salute clanged smartly off his helmet.

"What we doin' now, sir?"

"We can pack up now, I think. All the lads have joined up?"

"Yessir!"

"You told them it wasn't compulsory?"

"Yessir! I said, 'It ain't compuls'ry, you just gotta,' sir."

"Detritus, I wanted volunteers."

"'sright, sir. They volunteered all right, I saw to that."

Terry Pratchett, Jingo

#detritus #samuel vimes #sam vimes #jingo #discworld #terry pratchett #the watch #recruitment #peer pressure #volunteers #following orders #compulsory #joining up #you just gotta #they volunteered all right

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pratchettquotes · 25 days

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"But since you raise the subject, Moist, what were you doing with your life before the citizens of Ankh-Morpork greeted you with open palms?"

"Surviving," said Moist. "In Uberwald the old empire was breaking up. It was not unusual for a government to change twice over lunch. I worked at anything I could to make a living. By the way, I think you meant 'arms' back there."

"And when you got here you impressed the gods so much that they led you to a treasure trove so that you could rebuild our post office."

"I'm very humble about that," said Moist, trying to look it.

Terry Pratchett, Making Money

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pratchettquotes · 27 days

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Vimes' meeting with the Patrician ended as all such meetings did, with the guest going away in possession of an unfocused yet nagging suspicion that he'd only just escaped with his life.

Terry Pratchett, Men at Arms

#samuel vimes #sam vimes #havelock vetinari #men at arms #discworld #terry pratchett #meetings #tyrant #boss #suspicion #intuition #threat #only just escaped with his life

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pratchettquotes · 29 days

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Nine-tenths of the universe, in fact, is the paperwork.

Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

#DEATH #thief of time #discworld #terry pratchett #the universe #reality #paperwork #bureaucracy #in fact #nine tenths

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pratchettquotes · 1 month

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One of the recurring philosophical questions is:

"Does a falling tree in the forest make a sound when there is no one to hear?"

Which says something about the nature of philosophers, because there is always someone in a forest. It may only be a badger, wondering what that cracking noise was, or a squirrel a bit puzzled by all the scenery going upwards, but someone. At the very least, if it was deep enough in the forest, millions of small gods would have heard it.

Things just happen, one after another. They don't care who knows. But history...ah, history is different. History has to be observed. Otherwise it's not history. It's just...well, things happening one after another.

Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

#history monks #small gods #discworld #terry pratchett #history #causality #events #meaning #philosophy #philosophers #observation #reality #perception #knowledge #squirrels #badgers #the nature of philosophers #things just happen #if a tree falls in a forest

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pratchettquotes · 1 month

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Ponder knew he should have never let Ridcully look at the invisible writings. Wasn't it a basic principle never to let your employer know what it is you actually do all day?

But no matter what precautions you took, sooner or later the boss was bound to come in and poke around and say things like, "Is this where you work, then?" and "I thought I sent a memo out about people bringing in potted plants," and "What d'you call that thing with the keyboard?"

And this had been particularly problematical for Ponder, because reading the invisible writings was a delicate and meticulous job, suited to the kind of temperament that follows Grand Prix Continental Drift and keeps bonsai mountains as a hobby or even drives a Volvo. It needed painstaking care. It needed a mind that could enjoy doing jigsaw puzzles in a dark room. It did not need Mustrum Ridcully.

Terry Pratchett, The Last Continent

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pratchettquotes · 1 month

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Nothing's louder than the end of a song that's always been there.

Terry Pratchett, The Wee Free Men

#tiffany aching #the wee free men #discworld #terry pratchett #the chalk #awareness #contrast #reality shifting #familiarity #fear #songs #the end #always been there

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pratchettquotes · 1 month

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"Anyway, it'll be int'resting to see if it works."

"Yes, but it's wrong," said Granny.

"Not for these parts, it seems," said Nanny.

"Besides," said Magrat virtuously, "it can't be bad if we're doing it. We're the good ones."

"Oh yes, so we is," said Granny, "and there was me forgetting it for a minute there."

Terry Pratchett, Witches Abroad

#granny weatherwax #esme weatherwax #nanny ogg #magrat garlick #witches abroad #discworld #terry pratchett #witches #ethics #morals #context #local #negotiation #good and bad #justification #we're the good ones #forgetting

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pratchettquotes · 1 month

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People expected all kinds of things from coppers, but there was one thing that sooner or later they all wanted: make this not be happening.

Terry Pratchett, Night Watch

#sam vimes #samuel vimes #night watch #discworld #terry pratchett #police #law enforcement #cops #the watch #expectations #job description #protection #prevention #what we want #make this not be happening

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pratchettquotes · 2 months

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Victor stared helplessly at the city of lights. "Why us?" he said. "Why is it happening to us?" "Everything has to happen to someone," said Ginger.

Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

#victor tugelbend #ginger withel #moving pictures #discworld #terry pratchett #fate #resigned #causality #helpless #why #chance #pragmatism #why me #everything has to happen to someone

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pratchettquotes · 2 months

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"Smeems says he keeps himself to himself. He says he thinks the boy is cunning."

"Oh, good," said Vetinari, still seeming to find something totally engrossing in the layout of playing pieces.

"Good?"

"We need cunning people in Ankh-Morpork. We have a Street of Cunning Artificers, do we not?"

"Well, yes, but--"

"Ah, then it is context that has power," said Vetinari, turning around with a look of unmasked delight. "Did I say that I am a politician? Cunning: artful, sly, deceptive, shrewd, astute, cute, on the ball, and, indeed, arch. A word for any praise and every prejudice. Cunning...is a cunning word."

Terry Pratchett, Unseen Academicals

#havelock vetinari #mustrum ridcully #nutt #natchbull smeems #character description #self awareness #cunning #intelligence #politics #word games #word play #definitions #etymology #context #street of cunning artificers #any praise and every prejudice #a cunning word

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pratchettquotes · 2 months

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"Er...you don't like me very much, do you," said Oats.

"I've hardly met you." [...]

"A lot of people don't like me as soon as they've met me," said Oats.

"I suppose that saves time," said Agnes, and cursed. Perdita had got through on that one, but Oats didn't seem to have noticed.

Terry Pratchett, Carpe Jugulum

#agnes nitt #perdita #mightily oats #carpe jugulum #discworld #terry pratchett #first impressions #strangers #people person #internal monologue #split personality #saves time #a lot of people do

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