Quotes by Terry Pratchett

A lie can run round the world before the truth has got its boots on.

Truth! Freedom! Justice! And a hard-boiled egg!

I should have learned this, she thought. I wanted to learn fire, and pain, but I should have learned people.

When people say things are a lot more complicated than that, they means theyre getting worried that they wont like the truth.

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 dont know what it is. These times are not necessarily good, and not necessarily bad. In fact, what they are depends on what *we* are.

WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of the potato. SQUEAK, he said.Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE.

Just because you can explain it doesnt mean its not still a miracle.

This was not the time to say “I don’t know.” The brothers had begging, hungry looks, like dogs waiting to be fed. They wanted an answer. It would be nice if it was the right answer, but if it couldn’t be, then any answer would do, because then we would stop being worried...and then his mind caught alight.That’s what the gods are! An answer that will do! Because there’s food to be caught and babies to be born and life to be lived and so there is no time for big, complicated, and worrying answers! Please give us a simple answer, so that we don’t have to think, because if we think, we might find answers that don’t fit the way we want the world to be.

God does not play games with His loyal servants, said the Metatron, but in a worried tone of voice.Whoopee, said Crowley.

When in doubt, choose to live.

In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of thecat, although in this case there were three determinate states the catcould be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious.

Wisdom is one of the few things that looks bigger the further away it is.

And, as always happens, and happens far too soon, the strange and wonderful becomes a memory and a memory becomes a dream. Tomorrow its gone.

Anyone with half a mind could see that, said Tiffany.Miss Tick sighed. Yes. But sometimes its so hard to find half a mind when you need one.

I wonder if its like this for mountain climbers, he thought. You climb bigger and bigger mountains and you know that one day one of them is going to be just that bit too steep. But you go on doing it, because it’s so-o good when you breathe the air up there. And you know youll die falling.

No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away...

Some pirates achieved immortality by great deeds of cruelty or derring-do. Some achieved immortality by amassing great wealth. But the captain had long ago decided that he would, on the whole, prefer to achieve immortality by not dying.

I DONT HOLD WITH CRUELTY TO CATS.

Do you not know that a man is not dead while his name is still spoken?

Thats a nice song, said young Sam, and Vimes remembered that he was hearing it for the first time. Its an old soldiers song, he said. Really, sarge? But its about angels. Yes, thought Vimes, and its amazing what bits those angels cause to rise up as the song progresses. Its a real soldiers song: sentimental, with dirty bits. As I recall, they used to sing it after battles,’ he said. Ive seen old men cry when they sing it,’ he added. Why? It sounds cheerful. They were remembering who they were not singing it with, thought Vimes. Youll learn. I know you will.