Background Image
...
Destiny Is Important, See, But People Go Wrong When They Think It Controls Them. It's The Other Way Around.
-Terry Pratchett
...
Please Wait....
Translating....

Destiny Is Important, See,

Terry Pratchett
...
Destiny Is Important, See, But People Go Wrong When They Think It Controls Them. It's The Other Way Around.

Understanding the Quote: "destiny is important, see, but people go wrong when they think it..."

This quote by Terry Pratchett reflects deeply on the theme of destiny. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Destiny, Thinking, People, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Terry Pratchett interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett is celebrated for insightful thoughts on destiny and thinking. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

Views: 8
Topic
Destiny
Thinking
People
More From Terry Pratchett
Who'd Want A Pony When You Could Have The Whole Universe? It Was Far More Interesting And You Didn't Have To Muck It Out Once A Week.
Interesting
Ponies
Want
Insanity Is Catching.
Insanity
Catching
I Like Being A Writer.
But Of Course, What The Eagle Does Not Realize Is That It Is Participating In A Very Crude Form Of Natural Selection.one Day A Tortoise Will Learn How To Fly.
Eagles
One Day
Doe
But Here's Some Advice, Boy. Don't Put Your Trust In Revolutions. They Always Come Around Again. That's Why They're Called Revolutions.
Boys
Advice
Revolution
People Like That Don't Need A Reason Apart From "because I Can". They Have A Nightmare And Try To Make It Happen.
People
Trying
Needs
Humans Had Built A World Inside The World, Which Reflected It In Pretty Much The Same Way As A Drop Of Water Reflected The Landscape. And Yet ... And Yet ... Inside This Little World They Had Taken Pains To Put All The Things You Might Think They Would Want To Escape From - Hatred, Fear, Tyranny, And So Forth. Death Was Intrigued. They Thought They Wanted To Be Taken Out Of Themselves, And Every Art Humans Dreamt Up Took Them Further In. He Was Fascinated.
Art
Pain
Taken
On The Disc, The Gods Aren't So Much Worshipped, As They Are Blamed.
Discs
They May Be Called The Palace Guard, The City Guard, Or The Patrol. Whatever The Name, Their Purpose In Any Work Of Heroic Fantasy Is Identical: It Is, Round About Chapter Three (or Ten Minutes Into The Film) To Rush Into The Room, Attack The Hero One At A Time, And Be Slaughtered. No One Ever Asks Them If They Want To. This Book Is Dedicated To Those Fine Men.
Book
Hero
Men
The Figures Looked More Or Less Human. And They Were Engaged In Religion. You Could Tell By The Knives (it's Not Murder If You Do It For A God).
Knives
Murder
Discworld
It Was Also A Room Full Of Books And Made Of Books. There Was No Actual Furniture; This Is To Say, The Desk And Chairs Were Shaped Out Of Books. It Looked As Though Many Of Them Were Frequently Referred To, Because They Lay Open With Other Books Used As Bookmarks.
Book
Rooms
Furniture
Just Because You've Got A Mind Like A Hammer Doesn't Mean You Have To Treat Everyone Else Like A Nail
Mean
Mind
Nails
It Was A Backwards Memory Of An Event In His Future So Terrifying That It Had Generated Harmonics Of Fear All The Way Along His Lifeline.
Memories
Way
Events
She Was Convinced That She Was Anorexic, Because Every Time She Looked In The Mirror She Did Indeed See A Fat Person.
Mirrors
Fats
Persons
Aziraphale Collected Books. If He Were Totally Honest With Himself He Would Have To Have Admitted That His Bookshop Was Simply Somewhere To Store Them. He Was Not Unusual In This. In Order To Maintain His Cover As A Typical Second-hand Book Seller, He Used Every Means Short Of Actual Physical Violence To Prevent Customers From Making A Purchase. Unpleasant Damp Smells, Glowering Looks, Erratic Opening Hours - He Was Incredibly Good At It.
Book
Mean
Hands
People Couldn't Become Truly Holy, He Said, Unless They Also Had The Opportunity To Be Definitively Wicked.
Opportunity
People
Temptation
Once You Gave A Thing A Name, You Gave It Life.
Names
There's That Lovely Thing For The First Month Or Two Of Writing A New Book: Ok, I Don't Know What That Character's Going To Do, But We'll Find Out Later. After About Three Or Four Months You Come To That Bit Where You've Got To Put Some Plot In Before It's Too Late, And You Have To Go Back And Start Inserting Plot, And, Ooh, I've Left Out The Literature, Ok, Lets Put Some In.
Book
Writing
Character
They Felt, In Fact, Tremendously Bucked-up, Which Was How Lady Ramkin Would Almost Certainly Have Put It And Which Was Definitely Several Letters Of The Alphabet Away From How They Normally Felt.
Letters
Alphabet
Facts
‎no One Remembers The Singer. The Song Remains.
Song
Singers
Remember
You Must Learn The Compassion Proper To Your Trade" "and What's That?" "a Sharp Edge.
Compassion
Trade
Sharp Edges
I Taught Myself More In The Library Than School Taught Me.
School
Library
Taught
She'd Stopped Reading The Kind Of Women's Magazine That Talked About Romance And Knitting And Started Reading The Kind Of Women's Magazine That Talked About Orgasms, But Apart From Making A Mental Note To Have One If Ever The Occasion Presented Itsel
Reading
Knitting
Romance
When All Else Failed, She Tried Being Reasonable.
Reasonable
If Per Capita Was A Problem, Decapita Could Be Arranged.
Problem
Dark Humor
Ifs
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.
Talking
Glasses
People
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.
Nice
Mean
Sacrifice
Death: Human Beings Make Life So Interesting. Do You Know, That In A Universe So Full Of Wonders, They Have Managed To Invent Boredom.
Interesting
Boredom
Apathy
This, Milord, Is My Family's Axe. We Have Owned It For Almost Nine Hundred Years, See. Of Course, Sometimes It Needed A New Blade. And Sometimes It Has Required A New Handle, New Designs On The Metalwork, A Little Refreshing Of The Ornamentation . . . But Is This Not The Nine Hundred-year-old Axe Of My Family? And Because It Has Changed Gently Over Time, It Is Still A Pretty Good Axe, Y'know. Pretty Good.
Years
Design
Littles
The Librarians Were Mysterious. It Was Said They Could Tell What Book You Needed Just By Looking At You, And They Could Take Your Voice Away With A Word.
Book
Voice
Mysterious
People Look Down On Stuff Like Geography And Meteorology, And Not Only Because They're Standing On One And Being Soaked By The Other. They Don't Look Quite Like Real Science. But Geography Is Only Physics Slowed Down And With A Few Trees Stuck On It, And Meteorology Is Full Of Excitingly Fashionable Chaos And Complexity. And Summer Isn't A Time. It's A Place As Well. Summer Is A Moving Creature And Likes To Go South For The Winter.
Summer
Real
Moving
I Think What Drove Me Away From Being A Reporter Was An Inability To Accept That The World Came In Neat Stories. Every Story You Have To Report Is Just Part Of Something Bigger. The News Isn't What Happened Last Night - It's Some Cumulative Thing That's Happened Over Centuries. I Found It Hard To Think Of One Event And Drag It Out Of A Bubbling Pot And Present It As The Story That Explains It All.
Night
Thinking
Events
Most Species Do Their Own Evolving, Making It Up As They Go Along, Which Is The Way Nature Intended.
Moral Fiber
Evolution Of Man
Trial And Error
I Once Absent-mindedly Ordered Three Mile Island Dressing In A Restaurant And, With Great Presence Of Mind, They Brought Thousand Island Dressing And A Bottle Of Chili Sauce.
Presence Of Mind
Islands
Bottles
I Can't Be Talking To A Tree. If I Was Talking To A Tree I'd Be Mad, And I'm Not Mad, So Trees Can't Talk.
Talking
Tree
Sane
Either Dragons Should Exist Completely Or Fail To Exist At All, He Felt. A Dragon Only Half-existing Was Worse Than The Extremes.
Dragons
Half
Failing
You Fear To Die? "it's Not That I Don't Want... I Mean, I've Always...it's Just That Life Is A Habit That's Hard To Break.
Life
Mean
Want
One Day All Of Us Will Die But - And This Is The Important Thing - We Are Not Dead Yet.
Important
One Day
Dies
Christ Managed To Boil Down An Awful Lot Of Commandments To A Few Very Simple Rules For Living. It's When You Go Backwards Through The 'begats' And The Garden Of Eden, And You Start Thinking, 'hang On, That's A Big Punishment For Eating One Lousy Apple... There's A Human-rights Issue.'
Simple
Garden
Thinking
Sometimes It Is Better To Light A Flamethrower Than Curse The Darkness.
Light
Darkness
Ankh
I Was A Very Keen Reader Of Science Fiction, And During The Time I Was Going To Libraries, It Was Good, Written By People Who Knew Their Science.
People
Library
Fiction
Divide By Cucumber Error. Please Reinstall Universe And Reboot.
Errors
Cucumbers
Discworld
Taxation Is Just A Sophisticated Way Of Demanding Money With Menaces.
Taxation
Way
Sophisticated
5.buggre Alle This For A Larke I Amme Sick To Mye Hart Of Typefetinge. Master Biltonn If No Gentelmann, And Master Scagges Now More That A Tighte Fisted Southwarke Knobbefticke. I Telle You, Onne A Daye Laike Thif Ennywone Withe Half And Oz Of Sense Shoulde Bee Oute In The Suneshain, Ane Nott Stucke Here Alle The Lielong Dale Inn Thif Mowldey Olde By-our-lady Workefhoppe *ae@;i*
Sick
Half
Bees
Have A Bit More Patience With Newbies. Of Course Some Of Them Act Dumb - They're Often Students, For Heaven's Sake.
Heaven
Dumb
Sake
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.
Differences
People
Needs
Seeing Things A Human Shouldn't Have To See Makes Us Human.
Humans
Seeing
Anyway, Just Because You're Sworn Enemies Doesn't Mean You Can't Be Friends, Does It?
Mean
Enemy
Doe
Rincewind Had Always Been Happy To Think Of Himself As A Racist. The One Hundred Meters, The Mile, The Marathon -- He'd Run Them All.
Running
Thinking
Racist
Never Trust A Species That Grins All The Time. It’s Up To Something.
Trust
Pyramids
Smirk
I Found While Driving In Wyoming That Wearing A Stetson And Driving A Beat-up Pickup Meant You Could Go As Fast As You Like, While The Police Picked Up Californian Winnebagos That Went One Mph Over 55. After All, They Wanted To Bring Money Into The State, Not Merely Circulate It.
Mph
Wyoming
Police
The Oldest Fan Letter I've Had Is From Someone Aged Eighty-five.
Fans
Letters
Five
Inside Every Sane Person There's A Madman Struggling To Get Out," Said The Shopkeeper. "that's What I've Always Thought. No One Goes Mad Quicker Than A Totally Sane Person.
Struggle
Mad
Sanity
I Don’t Think It's Weak To Admit You Made A Mistake. That Takes Strength, If You Ask Me.
Mistake
Thinking
Weakness
And Sam Vimes Thought: Why Is Young Sam's Nursery Full Of Farmyard Animals Anyway? Why Are His Books Full Of Moo-cows And Baa-lambs? He Is Growing Up In The City. He Will Only See Them On A Plate! They Go Sizzle!
Growing Up
Book
Animal
It Was All Very Well Going On About Pure Logic And How The Universe Was Ruled By Logic And The Harmony Of Numbers, But The Plain Fact Of The Matter Was That The Disc Was Manifestly Traversing Space On The Back Of A Giant Turtle And The Gods Had A Habit Of Going Round To Atheists' Houses And Smashing Their Windows.
Atheist
Turtles
Numbers
Nanny Ogg Could See The Future In The Froth On A Beer Mug. It Invariably Showed That She Was Going To Enjoy A Refreshing Drink Which She Almost Certainly Was Not Going To Pay For.
Beer
Nannies
Pay
It's Still Magic Even If You Know How It's Done.
Technology
Magic
Done
I Must Confess The Activities Of The Uk Governments For The Past Couple Of Years Have Been Watched With Frank Admiration And Amazement By Lord Vetinari. Outright Theft As A Policy Had Never Occurred To Him.
Couple
Past
Government
Here's What I Suggest," He Said. "you Pretend That Rats Can Think, And I'll Promise To Pretend That Humans Can Think, Too.
Thinking
Promise
Rats
Well, Basically There Are Two Sorts Of Opera," Said Nanny, Who Also Had The True Witch's Ability To Be Confidently Expert On The Basis Of No Experience Whatsoever. "there's Your Heavy Opera, Where Basically People Sing Foreign And It Goes Like "oh Oh Oh, I Am Dyin', Oh I Am Dyin', Oh Oh Oh, That's What I'm Doin'", And There's Your Light Opera, Where They Sing In Foreign And It Basically Goes "beer! Beer! Beer! Beer! I Like To Drink Lots Of Beer!", Although Sometimes They Drink Champagne Instead. That's Basically All Of Opera, Reely.
Beer
Light
Two
There Are Some People Who Hate My Guts. But That Goes With The Territory.
Hate
People
Territory
We Live And Learn, Or, Perhaps More Importantly We Learn And Live.
Live And Learn
The First Draft Is Just You Telling Yourself The Story.
Writing
Stories
Firsts
In My Experience, What Every True Artist Wants, Really Wants, Is To Be Paid.
Artist
Want
Very True
Balance. It Was All About Balance. That Had Been One Of The First Things That She Had Learned: The Centre Of The Seesaw Has Neither Up Nor Down, But Upness And Downness Flow Through It While It Remains Unmoved. You Had To Be The Centre Of The Seesaw So The Pain Flowed Through You, Not Into You. It Was Very Hard. But She Could Do It!
Pain
Balance
Firsts
It Was Long After Midnight And The Stars Looked Damp And Chilly; The Air Was Full Of The Busy Silence Of The Night, Which Is Created By Hundreds Of Small Furry Things Treading Very Carefully In The Hope Of Finding Dinner While Avoiding Being The Main Course.
Stars
Night
Air
Million-to-one Chances...crop Up Nine Times Out Of Ten.
Luck
Nine
Chance
Don't You Understand?" Snarled Rincewind. "we Are Going Over The Edge, Godsdammit!" "can't We Do Anything About It?" "no!" "then I Can't See The Sense In Panicking," Said Twoflower Calmly.
Said
Over The Edge
Edges
Sheep Are Stupid, And Have To Be Driven. But Goats Are Intelligent, And Need To Be Led.
Funny
Stupid
Animal
I Try To Make Computers Say Things Like You Have 60 Seconds To Achieve Safe Distance.
Distance
Trying
Safe
There Are, Almost By Definition, An Unlimited Number Of Hells - Potentially At Least A Personal One For Every Living Sapient Being.
Numbers
Definitions
Hell
Behind Him The Master Of Ceremonies Cleared His Throat. His Eyes Took On A Distant, Glazed Look.the Stealer Of Souls, He Said In The Faraway Voice Of One Whose Ears Aren't Hearing What His Mouth Is Saying, Defeater Of Empires, Swallower Of Oceans, Thief Of Years, The Ultimate Reality, Harvester Of Mankind, The-all Right, All Right. I Can See Myself In.
Ocean
Eye
Reality
The Dwarfs Can Turn Lead Into Gold... It Reached The Pointy Ears Of The Dwarfs. -can We? -damned If I Know. I Can't. -yeah, But If You Could, You Wouldn't Say. I Wouldn't Say, If I Could. -can You? -no! -ah-ha!
Gold
Ears
Yeah
I Would Like Permission To Fetch A Note From My Mother, Sir' Ridcully Sighed. 'rincewind, You Once Informed Me, To My Everlasting Puzzlement, That You Never Knew Your Mother Because She Ran Away Before You Were Born. Distinctly Remember Writing It Down In My Diary. Would You Like Another Try?' 'permission To Go And Find My Mother?'
Mother
Writing
Trying
There Is No Doubt That Being Human Is Incredibly Difficult And Cannot Be Mastered In One Lifetime.
Doubt
Lifetime
Being Human
A Bad Hunter Chases. A Good Hunter Waits.
Waiting
Hunters
If I Were You, I'd Sue My Face For Slander.
Faces
Vetinari
Slander
She Wore So Much Thick White Makeup In Order To Conceal Her Naturally Rosy Complexion That If She Turned Around Suddenly Her Face Would Probably End Up On The Back Of Her Head.
Makeup
Order
White
In Ancient Times Cats Were Worshiped As Gods; They Have Not Forgotten This.
Inspirational
Motivational
Cat
Little Crimes Breed Big Crimes. You Smile At Little Crimes And Then Big Crimes Blow Your Head Off.
Blow
Littles
Crime
By The Time You Write The Last Page You Have Done Half The Book. The Other Half Tends To Get Done In About Five Weeks; I Do Several Drafts, Very, Very Furiously Rewriting. I Literally Do More Or Less Nothing Else And I Stick With It And Go Through It And I Begin To Hate It.
Hate
Book
Writing
No One Thinks That Young Adults Read Hooks For Young Adults, Books For Young Adults Are Read By Kids.
Book
Kids
Thinking
Truth! Freedom! Justice! And A Hard-boiled Egg!
Eggs
Justice
Boiled Eggs
What're Quantum Mechanics?" "i Don't Know. People Who Repair Quantums, I Suppose.
People
Mechanic
Discworld
Now He Knew: They Were Real. Who’d Make Up A Thing Like This? Okay, One Of Them Was A Cheese That Rolled Around Of Its Own Accord, But Nobody Was Perfect.
Real
Perfect
Cheese
Last Night There Seemed To Be A Chance. Anything Was Possible Last Night. That Was The Trouble With Last Nights. They Were Always Followed By This Mornings.
Morning
Night
Lasts
I Do Note With Interest That Old Women In My Books Become Young Women On The Covers... This Is Discrimination Against The Chronologically Gifted.
Book
Aging
Discrimination
What Is A Fantasy Map But A Space Beyond Which There Be Dragons?
Dragons
Space
Maps
Any Wizard Bright Enough To Survive For Five Minutes Was Also Bright Enough To Realize That If There Was Any Power In Demonology, Then It Lay With The Demons. Using It For Your Own Purposes Would Be Like Trying To Beat Mice To Death With A Rattlesnake.
Trying
Wizards
Would Be
Just To Keep Bad Dreams At Bay, She Took A Swig Out Of A Bottle That Smelled Of Apples And Happy Brain-death.
Dream
Apples
Brain
If Complete And Utter Chaos Was Lightning, Then He'd Be The Sort To Stand On A Hilltop In A Thunderstorm Wearing Wet Copper Armour And Shouting 'all Gods Are Bastards!
Stupid
Religion
Lightning
The More You Think About It, The More Amazing The Everyday World Of Human Beings Becomes: Most Of It Doesn't Actually Exist At All.
Thinking
Everyday
World
People's Whole Lives Do Pass In Front Of Their Eye Before They Die. The Process Is Called "living".
Eye
People
Dying
You Know What I'd Really, Really Like? What I'd Pay Money For? A Zx81 With A Disc Drive. I Understood The Zx81. It Was So Easy To Interface Stuff To It.
Pay
Stuff
Easy
They Were Also Slightly Less Intelligent Than He Was. This Is A Quality You Should Always Pray For In Your Would-be Murderer.
Intelligent
Quality
Would Be
Now That Their Long War Was Over, They Could Get On With The Proper Concern Of All Civilised Nations, Which Is To Prepare For The Next One.
War
Long
History
Knowing Things Is Magical, If Other People Don't Know Them.
Knowing
People
Knows
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
Good Day
Thinking
Names
There Are Plenty Of People Who Believe That Elvis Is Alive, Or That Aliens Occasionally Land Here To Do Highly Personal Things To People, Or That The Whole Idea Of Evolution Is A Conspiracy Of Godless Scientists. Almost All Of These People Can Vote And Some Of Them Have Got Guns.
Believe
Gun
Land
Voodoo Is A Very Interesting Religion For The Whole Family, Even Those Members Of It Who Are Dead.
Interesting
Good Omens
Whole Family
They Always Gives Me Bath Salts," Complained Nobby. "and Bath Soap And Bubble Bath And Herbal Bath Lumps And Tons Of Bath Stuff And I Can't Think Why, 'cos It's Not As If I Hardly Ever Has A Bath. You'd Think They'd Take The Hint, Wouldn't You?
Thinking
Giving
Hints
Destiny Is Important, See, But People Go Wrong When They Think It Controls Them. It's The Other Way Around.
Destiny
Thinking
People
It Was Like Being In A Jane Austen Novel, But One With Far Less Clothing.
Novel
Austen
Clothings
The Kraken Stirs. And Ten Billion Sushi Dinners Cry Out For Vengeance.
Kraken
Dinner
Sushi
The People Who Guard The Rainbow Don't Like Those Who Get In The Way Of The Sun.
People
Rainbow
Way
Just Because Someone's A Member Of An Ethnic Minority Doesn't Mean They're Not A Nasty Small-minded Little Jerk [...]
Mean
Minorities
Littles
People Aren't Just People, They Are People Surrounded By Circumstances.
People
Circumstances
There Are, It Has Been Said, Two Types Of People In The World. There Are Those Who, When Presented With A Glass That Is Exactly Half Full, Say: This Glass Is Half Full. And Then There Are Those Who Say: This Glass Is Half Empty. The World Belongs, However, To Those Who Can Look At The Glass And Say: What's Up With This Glass? Excuse Me? Excuse Me? This Is My Glass? I Don't Think So. My Glass Was Full! And It Was A Bigger Glass! Who's Been Pinching My Beer?
Truth
Food
Beer
People Needed To Believe In Gods, If Only Because It Was So Hard To Believe In People.
Believe
People
Needed
The Consensus Seemed To Be That If Really Large Numbers Of Men Were Sent To Storm The Mountain, Then Enough Might Survive The Rocks To Take The Citadel. This Is Essentially The Basis Of All Military Thinking.
Peace
Military
War
Escapism Isn't Good Or Bad In Itself. What Is Important Is What You Are Escaping From And Where You Are Escaping To.
Escaping
Important
Where You Are
...inside Every Old Person Is A Young Person Wondering What Happened.
Birthday
Death
Suicide
I Became A Journalist At 17. A Few Hours Later, I Saw My First Dead Body, Which Was Somewhat... Colourful. That's When I Learned You Can Go On Throwing Up After You Run Out Of Things To Throw Up.
Running
Body
Saws
The Truth May Be Out There, But Lies Are Inside Your Head.
Fake People
Lying
Humor
Correct Observation Followed By Meticulous Deduction And The Precise Visualization Of Goals Is Vital To The Success Of Any Enterprise.
Goal
Meticulous
Observation
Veil, You See, If I Vas To Say Something Portentous Like "zer Dark Eyes Of Zer Mind" Back Home In Uberwald, Zer Would Be A Sudden Crash Of Thunder,' Said Otto. 'and If I Vas To Point At A Castle On A Towering Crag And Say "yonder Is . . . Zer Castle" A Volf Would Be Bound To Howl Mournfully.' He Sighed. 'in Zer Old Country, Zer Scenery Is Psychotropic And Knows Vot Is Expected Of It. Here, Alas, People Just Look At You In A Funny Vay.
Country
Home
Eye
The Point Of Page One Is To Make People Turn To Page Two And If At The End Of The Book People Think That The Book Was Good Value For Money, You Have Achieved Something, Because If You Haven't Achieved Those Things You're Not Going To Achieve The Other Thing.
Book
Thinking
Two
'don't Think Of It As Dying,' Said Death. 'just Think Of It As Leaving Early To Avoid The Rush.'
Funny
Thinking
Leaving
When People Say "how Do You Write A Book, How Does It All Happen?" I Say, You Line Things Up, And You Line Them Up As Actually As You Possibly Can, But Sooner Or Later The Book Has Got Momentum And It's Moving Along Under That Momentum. It's Like A Sculpture, If You're Working With The Grain Of The Wood, The Wood Will Start Defining What Shape It's Going To Become.
Moving
Book
Writing
I Know It’s Not The Right Thing To Say To A Lady, Miss, But You Are Sweating Like A Pig!" "my Mother Always Said That Horses Sweat, Men Perspire, And Ladies Merely Glow…" "is That So? Well, Miss, You Are Glowing Like A Pig!
Mother
Horse
Men
In The First Book Of My Discworld Series, Published More Than 26 Years Ago, I Introduced Death As A Character; There Was Nothing Particularly New About This - Death Has Featured In Art And Literature Since Medieval Times, And For Centuries We Have Had A Fascination With The Grim Reaper.
Art
Book
Character
Your Average Witch Is Not, By Nature, A Social Animal.... The Natural Size Of A Coven Is One. Witches Only Get Together When They Can't Avoid It.
Animal
Average
Together
All Things That Are, Are Ours. But We Must Care. For If We Do Not Care, We Do Not Exist. If We Do Not Exist, Then There Is Nothing But Blind Oblivion. And Even Oblivion Must End Someday. Lord, Will You Grant Me Just A Little Time? For The Proper Balance Of Things. To Return What Was Given. For The Sake Of Prisoners And The Flight Of Birds. Death Took A Step Backwards. It Was Impossible To Read Expression In Azrael's Features. Death Glanced Sideways At The Servants. Lord, What Can The Harvest Hope For, If Not For The Care Of The Reaper Man?
Men
Expression
Bird
A Lot Hinges On The Fact That, In Most Circumstances, People Are Not Allowed To Hit You With A Mallet. They Put Up All Kinds Of Visible And Invisible Signs That Say, 'do Not Do This' In The Hope That It'll Work, But If It Doesn't, Then They Shrug, Because There Is, Really, No Real Mallet At All.
Real
People
Facts
Mind You, The Elizabethans Had So Many Words For The Female Genitals That It Is Quite Hard To Speak A Sentence Of Modern English Without Inadvertently Mentioning At Least Three Of Them.
Mind
Female
Three
They Say That There Can Never Be Two Snowflakes That Are Exactly Alike, But Has Anyone Checked Lately?
Two
Snowflake
Studies Have Shown That An Ant Can Carry One Hundred Times Its Own Weight, But There Is No Known Limit To The Lifting Power Of The Average Tiny Eighty-year-old Spanish Peasant Grandmother.
Grandmother
Average
Years
Particles Of Raw Inspiration Sleet Through The Universe All The Time. Every Once In A While One Of Them Hits A Receptive Mind, Which Then Invents Dna Or The Flute Sonata Form Or A Way Of Making Light Bulbs Wear Out In Half The Time. But Most Of Them Miss. Most People Go Through Their Lives Without Being Hit By Even One.
Inspiration
Light
Dna
Zoology, Eh? That's A Big Word, Isn't It." "no, Actually It Isn't," Said Tiffany. "patronizing Is A Big Word. Zoology Is Really Quite Short.
Hedgehogs
Bigs
Said
Granny Weatherwax Was Firmly Against Fiction. Life Was Hard Enough Without Lies Floating Around And Changing The Way People Thought.
Lying
People
Floating
Moist Was Sure Doctors Keep Skeletons Around To Cow Patients. Nyer, Nyer, We Know What You Look Underneath.
Skeletons
Doctors
Looks
Sometimes The Only Thing You Could Do For People Was To Be There.
People
Support
Sometimes
No Matter What She Did With Her Hair It Took About Three Minutes For It To Tangle Itself Up Again, Like A Garden Hosepipe In A Shed [which, No Matter How Carefully Coiled, Will Always Uncoil Overnight And Tie The Lawnmower To The Bicycles].
Garden
Hair
Ties
Historical Re-creation, He Thought Glumly, As They Picked Their Way Across, Under, Over Or Through The Boulders And Insect-buzzing Heaps Of Splintered Timber, With Streamlets Running Everywhere. Only We Do It With People Dressing Up And Running Around With Blunt Weapons, And People Selling Hot Dogs, And The Girls All Miserable Because They Can Only Dress Up As Wenches, Wenching Being The Only Job Available To Women In The Olden Days.
Girl
Running
Dog
I Know That I Am A Small, Weak Man, But I Have Amassed A Large Library; I Dream Of Dangerous Places.
Dream
Men
Weak Man
...no-one Is Finally Dead Until The Ripples They Cause In The World Die Away... The Span Of Someone's Life, They Say, Is Only The Core Of Their Actual Existence.
World
Causes
Existence
This Is A Lovely Party," Said The Bursar To A Chair, "i Wish I Was Here.
Party
Lovely
Wish
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.
Running
Animal
Rocks
All Property Is Theft, Except Mine.
Theft
Property
Mines
Did I Do Anything Last Night That Suggested I Was Sane?
Night
Lasts
Discworld
(about A Cookbook...) - What About This One? Maids Of Honor? - Weeelll, They Starts Out As Maids Of Honor...but They Ends Up Tarts.
Honor
Maids
Ends
When I Was A Kid, I Read The Science-fiction Shelves, And I Read The Fantasy Shelves.
Kids
Fiction
Fantasy
In Fact, Very Few People On The Face Of The Planet Know That The Very Shape Of The M25 Forms The Sigil *odegra* In The Language Of The Black Priesthood Of Ancient Mu, And Means 'hail The Great Beast, Devourer Of Worlds'.
Mean
People
Black
Grinning Like A Necrophiliac In A Morgue.
Grinning
Morgues
Simile
Just Because Something Is A Metaphor Doesn't Mean It Can't Be Real.
Real
Mean
Being Real
I'm Referred To, I See, As 'the Biggest Banker In Modern Publishing'. Now There's A Line That Needed The Celebrated Guardian Proof-reading.
Reading
Bankers
Lines
At Such Times The Universe Gets A Little Closer To Us. They Are Strange Times, Times Of Beginnings And Endings. Dangerous And Powerful. And We Feel It Even If We Don't Know What It Is. These Times Are Not Necessarily Good, And Not Necessarily Bad. In Fact, What They Are Depends On What *we* Are.
Powerful
Facts
Strange Times
Priests Were Metal-reinforced Overshoes. They Saved Your Soles. This Is An Assassin Joke.
Assassins
Priests
Metals
I Have A Living Will And I Have Friends, And I Have Money And I Have Hope.
Having Hope
Sometimes You Had To Take A Look At Yourself And Then Look Away.
Looks
Sometimes
Look At Yourself
Questions Don't Have To Make Sense, Vincent," Said Miss Susan. "but Answers Do.
Missing
Answers
Said
Real Education Happens When You Pick Up A Fact Here, And Another Fact There, And Put Them Together And Get An Insight.
Real
Together
Facts
Too Much Magic Could Wrap Time And Space Around Itself, And That Wasn't Good News For The Kind Of Person Who Had Grown Used To Things Like Effects Following Things Like Causes.
Space
Magic
News
When Mister Safety Catch Is Not On, Mister Crossbow Is Not Your Friend.
Safety
Crossbows
The Universe Clearly Operates For The Benefit Of Humanity. This Can Be Readily Seen From The Convenient Way The Sun Comes Up In The Morning, When People Are Ready To Start The Day.
Morning
People
Humanity
His Parents Called Him Youngster. They Did This In The Subconcious Hope That He Might Take The Hint. Wensleydale Gave The Impression Of Having Been Born With A Mental Age Of 47.
Parent
Age
Hints
Making Money Isn't Something To Be Ashamed Of. There's A Feeling Now That If You Have Money You Must Have Got It By Some Kind Of Shady Dealing Or Being An Mp.
Mps
Feelings
Kind
The Point Is That If A Book That Had Been Published Three Years Ago Started To Sell Twice As Many All Of A Sudden It Probably Wouldn't Even Get No­ticed. People Wouldn't Be Tracking It. The System Has Cleaned Up Its Act An Awful Lot But The Best-seller List System Is Not An Entirely Foolproof Thing.
Book
Years
People
But What's Worth More Than Gold?" "practically Everything. You, For Example. Gold Is Heavy. Your Weight In Gold Is Not Very Much Gold At All. Aren't You Worth More Than That?
Gold
Example
Weight
The Intelligence Of The Creature Known As A Crowd, Is The Square Root Of The Number Of People In It.
Squares
Roots
Numbers
As We All Know, The Discworld Is A Flat Planet - Like A Geological Pizza, But Without The Anchovies.
Discworld
Planets
Flats
This Looks Like A Job For Inadvisably Applied Magic If Ever I Saw One.
Jobs
Magic
Looks
In The End The Problem Isn't That You Have The Wrong Sort Of Government For The People, But That You Have The Wrong Sort Of People.
Government
People
Problem
An Assassin, A Real Assassin Had To Look Like One-black Clothes, Hood, Boots, And All. If They Could Wear Any Clothes, Any Disguise, Then What Could Anyone Do But Spend All Day In A Small Room With A Loaded Crossbow Pointed At The Door?
Real
Doors
Small Rooms
The People Who Really Run Organizations Are Usually Found Several Levels Down, Where It Is Still Possible To Get Things Done.
Running
Organization
People
Oh, My Dear Vimes, History Changes All The Time. It Is Constantly Being Re-examined And Re-evaluated, Otherwise How Would We Be Able To Keep Historians Occupied? We Can't Possibly Allow People With Their Sort Of Minds To Walk Around With Time On Their Hands.
Hands
People
Mind
It Was One Of Those Problematic Occasions With Long Silences, Sporadic Coughs, And People Saying Isolated Things Like, "well, Isn't This Nice.
Nice
Long
People
Writing, For Me, Is A Little Like Wood Carving. You Find The Lump Of Tree (the Big Central Theme That Gets You Started), And You Start Cutting The Shape That You Think You Want It To Be. But You Find, If You Do It Right, That The Wood Has A Grain Of Its Own (characters Develop And Present New Insights, Concentrated Thinking About The Story Opens New Avenues). If You're Sensible, You Work With The Grain And, If You Come Across A Knot Hole, You Incorporate That Into The Design. This Is Not The Same As 'making It Up As You Go Along'; It's A Very Careful Process Of Control.
Character
Writing
Cutting
The Three Rules Of The Librarians Of Time And Space Are: 1) Silence; 2) Books Must Be Returned By No Later Than The Date Shown; And 3) Do Not Interfere With The Nature Of Causality.
Book
Space
Silence
Gravity Is A Habit That Is Hard To Shake Off.
Dignity
Habit
Discworld
I Keep Vaguely Wondering What Macs Are Like, But The Ones I've Seen Spend Too Much Time Being Friendly.
Friendly
Too Much
Wonder
Night Poured Over The Desert. It Came Suddenly, In Purple. In The Clear Air, The Stars Drilled Down Out Of The Sky, Reminding Any Thoughtful Watcher That It Is In The Deserts And High Places That Religions Are Generated. When Men See Nothing But Bottomless Infinity Over Their Heads They Have Always Had A Driving And Desperate Urge To Find Someone To Put In The Way.
Stars
Thoughtful
Night
I Intend, Before The Endgame Looms, To Die Sitting In A Chair In My Own Garden With A Glass Of Brandy In My Hand And Thomas Tallis On The Ipod. Oh, And Since This Is England, I Had Better Add, "if Wet, In The Library." Who Could Say That This Is Bad?
Garden
Glasses
Hands
I Can See We're Going To Get Along Like A House On Fire," Said Miss Tick. "there May Be No Survivors.
Fire
Missing
House
My Agent Pointed Out One Day That I Had Been Quoted By A Columnist In Some American Newspaper, And He Noted With Some Glee That They Simply Identified Me By Name Without Reminding People Who I Was, Apparently In The Clear Expectation That Their Readers Would Know Who I Am.
Who I Am
Names
People
And So The Children Of The Revolution Were Faced With The Age-old Problem: It Wasn't That You Had The Wrong Kind Of Government, Which Was Obvious, But That You Had The Wrong Kind Of People. As Soon As You Saw People As Things To Be Measured, They Didn't Measure Up.
Children
Government
People
When A Man Is Tired Of Ankh-morpork, He Is Tired Of Ankle-deep Slurry.
Tired
Men
Ankles
Freedom Without Limits Is Just A Word.
Limits
Most Gods Throw Dice, But Fate Plays Chess, And You Don't Find Out Til Too Late That He's Been Playing With Two Queens All Along.
Queens
Fate
Play
Science Fiction Is Fantasy With Bolts Painted On Outside.
Fiction
Fantasy
Science Fiction
...and The Funny Thing Was That People Who Weren't Entirely Certain They Were Right Always Argued Much Louder Than Other People, As If The Main Person They Were Trying To Convince Were Themselves.
Funny
Humorous
People
The Sign, Which Says: "do Not, Under Any Circumstances, Open This Door!" - Of Course, I've Read It. Why Do You Think I Want It Opened?.. To See Why They Wanted It Shut, Of Course. This Exchange Contains Almost All You Need To Know About Human Civilization. At Least, Those Bits Of It That Are Now Under The Sea, Fenced Off Or Still Smoking.
Thinking
Sea
Civilization
Granny Weatherwax Was Not Lost. She Wasn't The Kind Of Person Who Ever Became Lost. It Was Just That, At The Moment, While She Knew Exactly Where She Was, She Didn't Know The Position Of Anywhere Else.
Kind
Moments
Lost
It's Actually True That I Keep Myself Going By Constantly Promising Myself That In Response For The Hard Work I Will Be Allowed To Do Some More Hard Work Later On.
Hard Work
Response
Hard
The Sun Rose Slowly, As If It Wasn't Sure It Was Worth All The Effort.
Rose
Effort
Sun
It's A Sword. Said The Hogfather. They're Not Meant To Be Safe.
Safe
Said
Meant To Be
Evil In General Does Not Sleep, And Therefore Doesn't See Why Anyone Else Should.
Sleep
Evil
Doe
Sister Mary Was A Nurse And Nurses, Whatever Their Creed, Are Primarily Nurses, Which Had A Lot To Do With Wearing Your Watch Upside Down, Keeping Calm In Emergencies, And Dying For A Cup Of Tea.
Nurse
Tea
Dying
There's No Point In Killing An Opponent... There's No Triumph Over A Corpse, But A Beaten Opponent, Who Will Remain Beaten Every Day Of The Remainder Of Their Sad And Wretched Life, Is Something To Treasure.
Treasure
Opponents
Triumph
I Have No Use For People Who Have Learned The Limits Of The Possible.
People
Use
Limits
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!
Wall
Eye
Men
Real Children Do Not Go Hoppity Skip Unless They Are On Drugs.
Children
Real
Drug
And Our Lady Friend, She Thinks Life Works Like A Fairy Tale.' Well, That’s Harmless, Isn’t It?' Yeah, But In Fairy Tales, When Someone Dies... It’s Just A Word.
Thinking
Fairy Tale
Yeah
But Then Science Is Nothing But A Series Of Questions That Lead To More Questions.
Series
And Gears," Said Anathema. "my Bike Didn't Have Gears. I'm Sure My Bike Didn't Have Gears." Crowley Leaned Over To The Angel. "oh Lord, Heal This Bike," He Whispered Sarcastically. "i'm Sorry, I Just Got Carried Away," Hissed Aziraphale.
Sorry
Angel
Gears
Some People Think 'coven' Is A Word For A Group Of Witches, And It's True That's What The Dictionary Says. But The Real Word For A Group Of Witches Is 'an Argument'.
Real
Thinking
People
I Don't Think A Baker Reads An Awful Lot About Bread.
Thinking
Bakers
Awful
Yes, But People Have Got To Believe That, Or What's The Point My Point Exactly.
Truth
Believe
People
Their Families Cordially Detested One Another.
Trending Author
Samantha Power
Paul Coffey
Darrell Hammond
Bobby Fischer
Grenville Kleiser
Robin Hayes
Category
Information