Quotes by Terry Pratchett

The public thinks big, sensible, measured thoughts while people run around doing silly things

The wizards were civilized men of considerable education and culture. When faced with being inadvertently marooned on a desert island they understood immediately that the first thing to do was place the blame

...Granny Weatherwax, who had walked nightly without fear in the bandit-haunted forests of the mountains all her life in the certain knowledge that the darkness held nothing more terrible than she was...

I don’t think its weak to admit you made a mistake. That takes strength, if you ask me.

Were living in science fiction, but we dont realize it.

I really should talk to him. Hes had a near-death experience!”We all have. Its called living.(Hogfather)

Everybody has somebody. It could be a friend, a lover, a spouse, a writing partner, or even That One Person You See At The Coffee Shop each day. Sometimes they exist to comfort you. Sometimes they exist to drive you absolutely mad. Be open to either as a form of self-improvement.

You mean its my destiny? she said at last.Granny shrugged. Something like that. Probably. Who knows?

You mean its my destiny? she said at last.Granny shrugged. “Something like that. Probably. Who knows?

Destiny was funny stuff, he knew. You couldn’t trust it. Often you couldn’t even see it. Just when you knew you had it cornered, it turned out to be something else—coincidence, maybe, or providence. You barred the door against it, and it was standing behind you. Then just when you thought you had it nailed down it walked away with the hammer.

The beagle and the kobold approached, walking out of the dusty distance.

Plans can break down. You cannot plan the future. Only presumptuous fools plan. The wise man steers.

And the people of Ankh-Morpork are so thirsty for novelty that the whole city is, you might say, hurrying the future along for the sheer joy of watching its progress.

I dont hold with paddlin with the occult, said Granny firmly. Once you start paddlin with the occult you start believing in spirits, and when you start believing in spirits you start believing in demons, and then before you know where you are youre believing in gods. And then youre in trouble.But all them things exist, said Nanny Ogg.Thats no call to go around believing in them. It only encourages em.

ITS THE EXPRESSION ON THEIR LITTLE FACES I LIKE, said the Hogfather. You mean sort of fear and awe and not knowing whether to laugh or cry or wet their pants? YES. NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL BELIEF.

There’s no point in believing in things that exist.

WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED IF YOU HADNT SAVED HIM?Yes! The sun would have risen just the same, yes?NOOh, come on. You cant expect me to believe that. Its an astronomical fact.THE SUN WOULD NOT HAVE RISEN....Really? Then what would have happened, pray?A MERE BALL OF FLAMING GAS WOULD HAVE ILLUMINATED THE WORLD.

Belief is one of the most powerful organic forces in the multiverse. It may not be able to move mountains, exactly. But it can create someone who can.People get exactly the wrong idea about belief. They think it works back to front. They think the sequence is, first object, then belief. In fact, it works the other way.

But all them things exist, said Nanny Ogg. Thats no call to go around believing in them. It only encourages em.

Polly? Said Wazzer. Yes?You dont believe in The Duchess, do you? I mean the real Duchess, not your inn.Polly looked into the small, pinched, intense face. Well I mean, they say shes dead, and I prayed to her when I was small, but since you asked I dont exactly, um, believe as- She gabbled.She is standing just behind you. Just behind your right shoulder.In the silence of the wood, Polly turned. I cant see her, she said.I am happy for you, said Wazzer, handing her the empty mug.But I didnt see anything, said Polly.No, said Wazzer. But you turned around.