Authors:

Terry Pratchett Quotes - Page 26

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
They didn't know why these things were funny. Sometimes you laugh because you've got no more room for crying. Sometimes you laugh because table manners on a beach are funny. And sometimes you laugh because you're alive,

They didn't know why these things were funny. Sometimes you laugh because you've got no more room for crying. Sometimes you laugh because table manners on a beach are funny. And sometimes you laugh because you're alive, when you really shouldn't be.

Terry Pratchett
Beach, Laughing, Alive

People couldn't become truly holy, he said, unless they also had the opportunity to be definitively wicked.

Terry Pratchett
Opportunity, People, Temptation
Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett (2011). “Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch”, p.39, Harper Collins

What was supposed to be so special about a full moon? It was only a big circle of light. And the dark of the moon was only darkness. But halfway between the two, when the moon was between the worlds of light and dark, when even the moon lived on the edge...maybe then a witch could believe in the moon.

Terry Pratchett
Believe, Dark, Moon

It's daft, locking us up," said Nanny. "I'd have had us killed." "That's because you're basically good," said Magrat. "The good are innocent and create justice. The bad are guilty, which is why they invent mercy.

Terry Pratchett
Justice, Nannies, Guilty

It was all very well going on about pure logic and how the universe was ruled by logic and the harmony of numbers, but the plain fact of the matter was that the Disc was manifestly traversing space on the back of a giant turtle and the gods had a habit of going round to atheists' houses and smashing their windows.

Terry Pratchett
Atheist, Turtles, Numbers
Terry Pratchett (2008). “The Colour Of Magic: (Discworld Novel 1)”, p.103, Random House

First Sight means you can see what really is there, and Second Thoughts mean thinking about what you are thinking. And in Tiffany's case, there were sometimes Third Thoughts and Fourth Thoughts although these...sometimes led her to walk into doors.

Terry Pratchett
Mean, Thinking, Sight

I keep vaguely wondering what Macs are like, but the ones I've seen spend too much time being friendly.

Terry Pratchett
Friendly, Too Much, Wonder

Every intelligent being, whether it breathes or not, coughs nervously at some time in its life.

Terry Pratchett
Intelligent, Breathe

Insanity is catching.

Terry Pratchett
Insanity, Catching
Terry Pratchett (2007). “Making Money”, Harper

So much universe, and so little time.

Terry Pratchett
Littles, Little Time, Universe
FaceBook post by Terry Pratchett from Feb 08, 2017

Everywhere's been where it is ever since it was first put there. It's called geography.

Terry Pratchett
Firsts, Geography
Terry Pratchett (2008). “Wyrd Sisters: (Discworld Novel 6)”, p.134, Random House

If you have let pride get the better of you, then you have already lost, but if you grab pride by the scruff of the neck and ride it like a stallion, then you may have already won.

Terry Pratchett
Pride, May, Necks

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
Silence, Ems, Answers
Terry Pratchett (2012). “The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld”, p.30, Harper Collins

The whole of life is just like watching a film. Only it's as though you always get in ten minutes after the big picture has started, and no-one will tell you the plot, so you have to work it out all yourself from the clues.

Terry Pratchett
Life, Inspire, Plot
"Moving Pictures". Book by Terry Pratchett, www.theguardian.com. 1990.

They suffered from the terrible delusion that something could be done. They seemed prepared to make the world the way they wanted it or die in the attempt, and the trouble with dying in the attempt was that you died in the attempt.

Terry Pratchett
Dying, Done, World
"Sourcery". Book by Terry Pratchett, 1988.

This is space. It's sometimes called the final frontier. (Except that of course you can't have a final frontier, because there'd be nothing for it to be a frontier to, but as frontiers go, it's pretty penultimate . . .)

Terry Pratchett
Space, Finals, Sometimes
"Moving Pictures". Book by Terry Pratchett, 1981.

When she spoke again it was in the thin, careful and above all brave voice of someone who has pulled themselves together despite overwhelming odds but might let go again at any moment.

Terry Pratchett
Letting Go, Odds, Voice

Some things are fairly obvious when it's a seven-foot skeleton with a scythe telling you them.

Terry Pratchett
Skeletons, Feet, Scythes
"Hogfather" by Terry Pratchett, Harper, (p. 47), March 2008.

One day all of us will die but - and this is the important thing - we are not dead yet.

Terry Pratchett
Important, One Day, Dies

But I think you have a right to know what it is you’re not being told.

Terry Pratchett
Thinking, Knows

A number of religions in Ankh-Morpork still practiced human sacrifice, except that they didn't really need to practice any more because they had got so good at it.

Terry Pratchett
Sacrifice, Practice, Numbers
"Guards! Guards!". Book by Terry Pratchett, 1989.

Granny Weatherwax was firmly against fiction. Life was hard enough without lies floating around and changing the way people thought.

Terry Pratchett
Lying, People, Floating
Terry Pratchett (2009). “Maskerade: (Discworld Novel 18)”, p.116, Random House

Knowing how bad you could be is a great encouragement to being good.

Terry Pratchett
Encouragement, Knowing, Be Good

Any true wizard, faced with a sign like 'Do not open this door. Really. We mean it. We're not kidding. Opening this door will mean the end of the universe,' would automatically open the door in order to see what all the fuss is about. This made signs rather a waste of time, but at least it meant that when you handed what was left of the wizard to his grieving relatives you could say, as they grasped the jar, 'We told him not to."

Terry Pratchett
Mean, Grieving, Doors
"The Last Continent". Book by Terry Pratchett, 1998.

Unseen University had never admitted women, muttering something about problems with the plumbing, but the real reason was an unspoken dread that if women were allowed to mess around with magic they would probably be embarrassingly good at it.

Terry Pratchett
Real, Magic, Unseen
Terry Pratchett (2012). “The Wit and Wisdom of Discworld”, p.17, Harper Collins

You May Also Like: