Most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally evil, but by people being fundamentally people. Terry Pratchett More Quotes by Terry Pratchett More Quotes From Terry Pratchett Monsters are getting more uppity, too (...) I heard where this guy, he killed this monster in this lake, no problem, stuck its arm up over the door (...) and you know what? Its mum come and complained. Its actual mum come right down to the hall next day and complained. Actually complained. That's the respect you get. Terry Pratchett next-daylakesdoors The phrase "may you live in interesting times" is the lowest in a trilogy of Chinese curses that continue "may you come to the attention of those in authority" and finish with "may the gods give you everything you ask for." I have no idea about its authenticity. Terry Pratchett givingideasinteresting Be careful what you wish for. You never know who will be listening. Terry Pratchett be-carefulwishlistening She was not, herself, hugely in favour of motherhood in general. Obviously it was necessary, but it wasn't exactly difficult. Even cats managed it. But women acted as if they'd been given a medal that entitled them to boss people around. It was as if, just because they'd got the label which said "mother," everyone else got a tiny part of the label that said "child". Terry Pratchett catmotherchildren The Four Horsemen whose Ride presages the end of the world are known to be Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence. But even less significant events have their own Horsemen. For example, the Four Horsemen of the Common Cold are Sniffles, Chesty, Nostril, and Lack of Tissues; the Four Horsemen whose appearance foreshadows any public holiday are Storm, Gales, Sleet, and Contra-flow. Terry Pratchett stormholidaywar Things that try to look like things often do look more like things than things. Terry Pratchett tryinglooks 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. Terry Pratchett momentskindlost So much universe, and so little time. Terry Pratchett little-timeuniverselittles She was beautiful, but she was beautiful in the way a forest fire was beautiful: something to be admired from a distance, not up close. Terry Pratchett distancefirebeautiful There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write. Terry Pratchett californiablockwriting It was sad music. But it waved its sadness like a battle flag. It said the universe had done all it could, but you were still alive. Terry Pratchett sad-musicsadnessbattle Everywhere's been where it is ever since it was first put there. It's called geography. Terry Pratchett geographyfirsts We are here and it is now. The way I see it is, after that, everything tends towards guesswork. Terry Pratchett guessworksmall-godsway I can see we're going to get along like a house on fire," said Miss Tick. "There may be no survivors. Terry Pratchett firemissinghouse Dickens, as you know, never got round to starting his home page. Terry Pratchett startingpageshome I have to write because if I don't get something down then after a while I feel it's going to bang the side of my head off. Terry Pratchett bangssideswriting Go on, prove me wrong. Destroy the fabric of the universe. See if I care. Terry Pratchett fabrichumorgoes-on I grow as many of our vegetables as I can, because my granddad was a professional gardener, and it's in the blood. Terry Pratchett growsvegetablesblood My experience in Amsterdam is that cyclists ride where the hell they like and aim in a state of rage at all pedestrians while ringing their bell loudly, the concept of avoiding people being foreign to them. Terry Pratchett bellspeopletravel Albert grunted. "Do you know what happens to lads who ask too many questions?" Mort thought for a moment. "No," he said eventually, "what?" There was silence. Then Albert straightened up and said, "Damned if I know. Probably they get answers, and serve 'em right. Terry Pratchett emssilenceanswers
