|
|
Post by althea on Aug 8, 2021 9:02:06 GMT
I have been thinking of starting a thread about Terry Pratchett, that wonderfully articulate, clever and funny man.
OOOH, I do miss him.
I occasionally reread one of his books and I always marvel at his skill with words.
So many quotes from his books are worth a mention.
I wonder if we could remember him together and post some of his quotes.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 8, 2021 9:05:34 GMT
This quote from The Hogfather is so profound, I love it.
It's a conversation between DEATH (who speaks in capital letters) and his "daughter" Susan.
“All right," said Susan. "I'm not stupid. You're saying humans need... fantasies to make life bearable."
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
"Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—"
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
"So we can believe the big ones?"
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
"They're not the same at all!"
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME...SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
"Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what's the point—"
MY POINT EXACTLY.
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Aug 8, 2021 9:14:07 GMT
Terry Pratchett, who was brought up in a Church of England family, described himself as atheist and a humanist. He was a Distinguished Supporter of Humanists UK (formerly known as the British Humanist Association) and an Honorary Associate of the National Secular Society.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 8, 2021 10:10:08 GMT
I am a Humanist. Most of my family are. My youngest is flirting with religion at the moment, she goes to one of these modern happy-clappy churches.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 8, 2021 10:10:42 GMT
The revolutionaries' slogan in Night Watch: "Truth, Justice, Reasonably-Priced Love and a Hard Boiled Egg".
|
|
|
|
Post by oldcuriousity on Aug 8, 2021 11:16:21 GMT
I'm an atheist.
I won't get into the many reasons why.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 8, 2021 13:45:46 GMT
"Yes, there are dogs that don't bark like a stuck record, tarts with hearts of gold and solicitors who don't go on holiday in the middle of your complicated house purchase. You just don't meet them every day."
From The Unadulterated Cat.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 8, 2021 13:47:07 GMT
The main difference between Trekkies and Manchester United fans is that Trekkies never trashed a train carriage. So why are the Trekkies the social outcasts?
—Terry Pratchett
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Aug 8, 2021 14:35:32 GMT
The main difference between Trekkies and Manchester United fans is that Trekkies never trashed a train carriage. So why are the Trekkies the social outcasts? —Terry Pratchett I can't recall me nor my children trashing a train. (Must have been the booze) |
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 8, 2021 14:44:40 GMT
He was generalising, of course. He was trying to address the popular opinion that Trekkies are regarded as figures of fun.
A friend I used to know, went to the conventions , or whatever they call them and said everyone he saw was smiling or laughing and enjoying themselves. It takes all sorts................
|
|
|
|
Post by ARENA on Aug 8, 2021 15:59:02 GMT
I know, I'm a big Pratchett fan.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 10, 2021 9:27:03 GMT
‘We’re the most secret society you can imagine.’
‘Really? Who are you, then?’
‘The Monks of History.’
‘Huh? I’ve never heard of you!’
‘See? That’s how good we are.’
from The History Monks.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 11, 2021 11:01:21 GMT
“Pulling together is the aim of despotism and tyranny. Free men pull in all kinds of directions.”
Going Postal.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 11, 2021 11:02:39 GMT
"There are more ways to kill a cat than choking it with pling - always assuming you could get enough pling."
Om.
|
|
|
|
Post by althea on Aug 17, 2021 18:14:01 GMT
“Down there ... are people who will follow any dragon, worship any god, ignore any iniquity. All out of a kind of humdrum, everyday badness. Not the really high, creative loathesomeness of the great sinners, but a sort of mass-produced darkness of the soul. Sin, you might say, without a trace of originality. They accept evil not because they say yes, but because they don't say no."
Guards!Guards!
|
|
