You can't inspire people with facts. They need a cause. They need a symbol. Terry Pratchett More Quotes by Terry Pratchett More Quotes From Terry Pratchett If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life. Terry Pratchett cynicalfantasyreal 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. Terry Pratchett militarywarpeace It's not lying when you do it to officers! Terry Pratchett officerslying And sin, young man, is when you treat people like things. Terry Pratchett sinmenpeople I thought it very strange, and very sad, that the fairy kingdom largely appears to be English. I thought it was time for some regional representation. And the Nac Mac Feegle are, well, they're like tiny little Scottish Smurfs who have seen Braveheart altogether too many times. Terry Pratchett tinykingdomslittles I tell you, commander, it's true that some of the most terrible things in the world are done by people who think, genuinely think, that they're doing it for the best, especially if there is some god involved. Terry Pratchett donepeoplethinking She was already learning that if you ignore the rules people will, half the time, quietly rewrite them so that they don't apply to you. Terry Pratchett fantasyhalfpeople Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one. Terry Pratchett upsetreadingimagination Do you think it's possible for an entire nation to be insane? Terry Pratchett insanereligionthinking Once you gave a thing a name, you gave it life. Terry Pratchett names I read anything that’s going to be interesting. But you don’t know what it is until you’ve read it. Somewhere in a book on the history of false teeth there’ll be the making of a novel. Terry Pratchett writingbookinteresting It is important that we know where we come from, because if you do not know where you come from, then you don't know where you are, and if you don't know where you are, you don't know where you're going. And if you don't know where you're going, you're probably going wrong. Terry Pratchett where-we-comewhere-you-comeimportant The elevator shaft was a kind of heat sink. Hot food was cold by the time it arrived. Cold food got colder. No one knew what would happen to ice cream, but it would probably involve some rewriting of the laws of thermodynamics. Terry Pratchett ice-creamlawhot Vimes had got around to a Clean Desk policy. It was a Clean Floor strategy that eluded him at the moment. Terry Pratchett clean-deskstrategymoments Adventure! People talked about the idea as if it were something worthwhile, rather than a mess of bad food, no sleep and strange people inexplicably trying to stick pointed objects in bits of you. Terry Pratchett sleepadventuretravel Mister Teatime had a truly brilliant mind, but it was brilliant like a fractured mirror, all marvellous facets and rainbows but, ultimately, also something that was broken. Terry Pratchett rainbowmirrorsbroken I hate cats." Death's face became a little stiffer, if that were possible. The blue glow in his eye sockets flickered red for an instant. "I SEE," he said. The tone suggested that death was too good for cat haters. Terry Pratchett cathateeye The trouble with being a god is that you've got no one to pray to. Terry Pratchett discworldtroublepraying Cheery was aware that Commander Vimes didn't like the phrase 'The innocent have nothing to fear', believing the innocent had everything to fear, mostly from the guilty but in the longer term even more from those who say things like 'The innocent have nothing to fear'. Terry Pratchett snuffphrasesbelieve Oh dear me, the Booker people don't like me. I don't care. I have been given an award for being taken not seriously, and I am very, very pleased about that. Terry Pratchett awardstakenpeople
