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Terry Pratchett Quotes

All Quotes Accidents Adventure Age Arguing Art Atheism Atheist Authority Balance Beer Belief Blame Chaos Character Children Chocolate Choices Coffee Copper Country Crime Darkness Death Dementia Democracy Doubt Dying Effort End Of The World Evil Fate Feelings Fighting Finding Yourself Flying Food Football Fun Funeral Funny Genius Geography Giving Gold Goodbye Growing Up Hate Heart Heaven Hell History Home Horror House Humanity Hurt Husband Ignorance Imagination Inspiration Inspirational Jesus Journey Justice Killing Language Leaving Letting Go Life Life And Death Listening Literature Logic Losing Luck Lying Magic Mankind Manners Memories Military Moon Morning Motivational Mountain Observation Opportunity Pain Past Perspective Philosophy Police Pride Progress Purpose Quality Rain Reading Reality Religion Responsibility Romance Running Safety Sanity School Science Science Fiction Silence Sin Singing Sleep Smoking Son Soul Spring Students Stupidity Style Suffering Sunrise Travel Trust Truth Understanding Universe Violence Waiting Wall War Water Wife Winning Work Out Worry Writing
Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.

Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.

Terry Pratchett
Travel, Adventure, Times Are Changing
Terry Pratchett (2016). “Seriously Funny: The Endlessly Quotable Terry Pratchett”, p.68, Random House

Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of lack of wisdom.

Terry Pratchett
Life, Wisdom Experience, Wisdom And Experience

The universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. There is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it.

Terry Pratchett
Memories, Eye, Heart
Terry Pratchett (2016). “Seriously Funny: The Endlessly Quotable Terry Pratchett”, p.73, Random House

It doesn't stop being magic just because you know how it works.

Terry Pratchett
Science, Technology, Magic

Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.

Terry Pratchett
Funny, Life, Intelligent

There isn't a way things should be. There's just what happens, and what we do.

Terry Pratchett
Way, Fantasy, Should

Always remember that the crowd that applauds your coronation is the same crowd that will applaud your beheading. People like a show.

Terry Pratchett
People, Crowds, Remember

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

Terry Pratchett
Simple, Thinking, Giving
Terry Pratchett (2008). “Nation”, p.200, Random House

If you trust in yourself. . .and believe in your dreams. . .and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.

Terry Pratchett
Funny, Motivational, Trust
FaceBook post by Terry Pratchett from Aug 28, 2015

Not all questions are answered, but fortunately some answers are questioned.

Terry Pratchett
Answers

You get a wonderful view from the point of no return.

Terry Pratchett
Views, Return, Wonderful
Stephen Briggs, Terry Pratchett (2008). “The Wit And Wisdom Of Discworld”, p.281, Random House

When you look into the abyss, it’s not supposed to wave back.

Terry Pratchett
Looks, Wave, Abyss
"Thief Of Time". Book by Terry Pratchett, 2001.

It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.

Terry Pratchett
Depressing, Thinking, Self
"Jingo". Book by Terry Pratchett, November 1997.

Real stupidity beats artificial intelligence every time.

Terry Pratchett
Real, Stupidity, Discworld
Terry Pratchett (2008). “Hogfather: (Discworld Novel 20)”, p.215, Random House

The pen is mightier than the sword ... if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp.

Terry Pratchett
Discworld, Pens, Ifs
"The Light Fantastic". Book by Terry Pratchett, 1986.

The worst thing you can do is nothing.

Terry Pratchett
Motivational, Change, Positive

What kind of man would put a known criminal in charge of a major branch of government? Apart from, say, the average voter.

Terry Pratchett
Men, Average, Criminals
Terry Pratchett (2008). “Going Postal: (Discworld Novel 33)”, p.64, Random House

A good plan isn't one where someone wins, it's where nobody thinks they've lost.

Terry Pratchett
Inspirational, Winning, Thinking

The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.

Terry Pratchett
Death, Wisdom, Atheist
FaceBook post by Terry Pratchett from Apr 19, 2016

There have been times, lately, when I dearly wished that I could change the past. Well, I can’t, but I can change the present, so that when it becomes the past it will turn out to be a past worth having.

Terry Pratchett
Past, Turns, Wells

Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.

Terry Pratchett
Evil People, Fantasy, Good Omens
"I Shall Wear Midnight". Book by Terry Pratchett, www.theguardian.com. 2010.

People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.

Terry Pratchett
Thinking, People, Stories
Terry Pratchett (2010). “Witches Abroad: (Discworld Novel 12)”, p.12, Random House

The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.

Terry Pratchett
Inspirational, Life, Spiritual
Terry Pratchett (2010). “Diggers: The Second Book of the Nomes”, p.34, Random House

I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.

Terry Pratchett
Life, Encouraging, Beautiful

Chaos is found in greatest abundance wherever order is being sought. It always defeats order, because it is better organized.

Terry Pratchett
Order, Chaos, Defeat

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