Death (personification) quotes
Owing largely to inefficiency Rincewind had consistently failed to die at the right time, and if there’s one thing that Death does not like it is unpunctuality. (LF)
The Death of the Disc was a traditionalist who prided himself on his personal service and spent most of the time being depressed because this was not appreciated. He would point out that no-one feared death itself, just pain and separation and oblivion, and that it was quite unreasonable to take against someone just because he had empty eye-sockets and a quiet pride in his work. (LF)
'I’ve never seen Death actually at work.’
‘Not many have,’ said Albert. ‘Not twice, at any rate.' (M)
THAT’S MORTALS FOR YOU, Death continued. THEY’VE ONLY GOT A FEW YEARS IN THE WORLD AND THEY SPEND THEM ALL IN MAKING THINGS COMPLICATED FOR THEMSELVES. (M)
I? KILL? Said Death, obviously offended. CERTAINLY NOT. PEOPLE GET KILLED, BUT THAT’S THEIR BUSINESS. I JUST TAKE OVER FROM THEN ON. (M)
Death began to feel that he wouldn’t understand people as long as he lived. (M)
YOU MUST LEARN THE COMPASSION PROPER TO YOUR TRADE.
‘What’s that?’
A SHARP EDGE. (M)
'It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever,’ he said. ‘Have you thought of going into teaching?’
Death’s face was a mask of terror. Well it was always a mask of terror, but this time he meant it to be. (M)
'Pardon me for living, I’m sure.’
NO-ONE GETS PARDONED FOR LIVING. (M)
CALLING SOMETHING A FIGURE OF SPEECH DOESN’T MEAN IT’S NOT TRUE. (M)
THERE’S NO JUSTICE. THERE’S JUST ME. (M)
Goodbye,’Mort said, and was surprised to find a lump in his throat. ‘It’s such an unpleasant word, isn’t it?’
QUITE SO. Death grinned because, as has so often been remarked, he didn’t have much option. But possibly he meant it, this time.
I PREFER AU REVOIR, he said. (M)
'I meant,’ said Iplsore bitterly, ‘what is there in this world that makes living worthwhile?’
Death thought about it.
‘CATS,’ he said eventually, ‘CATS ARE NICE. (S)
NOTHING IS FINAL. NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE. EXCEPT ME, OF COURSE. (S)
There is nowhere Death will not go, no matter how distant and dangerous. In fact the more dangerous it is, the more likely he is to be there already. (E)
‘You don’t think you’ve had enough, do you?’ he said.
I KNOW EXACTLY WHEN I’VE HAD ENOUGH.
‘Everyone says that, though.’
I KNOW WHEN EVERYONE’S HAD ENOUGH. (MP)
THERE’S JUST ME, said Death. THE FINAL FRONTIER. (MP)
LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? (RM)
Bill Door made the mistake millions of people had tried before with small children in slightly similar circumstances. He resorted to reason. (RM)
He knew from experience that the living never found out half of what was really happening, because they were too busybeing the living. The onlooker sees most of the game, he told himself.
It was the living who ignored the strange and wonderful, because life was too full of the boring and mundane. (RM)
Death stood alone, watching the wheat dance in the wind. Of course, it was only a metaphor. People were more than corn. They whirled through tiny crowded lives, driven literally by clock work, filling their days from edge to edge with the sheer effort of living. And all lives were exactly the same length. Even the very long and the very short ones. From the point of view of eternity, anyway.
Somewhere, the tiny voice of Bill Door said: from the point of view of the owner, longer ones are best. (RM)
I’VE NEVER BEEN VERY SURE ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT, said Bill Door. I AM NOT SURE THERE IS SUCH A THING AS RIGHT. OR WRONG. JUST PLACES TO STAND. (RM)
'Have you got any last words?'
YES. I DON’T WANT TO GO.
‘Well. Succinct, anyway.' (RM)
Death sat on a mountaintop. It wasn’t particularly high, or bare, or sinister. No witches held naked sabbats on it; Discworld witches, on the whole, didn’t hold with taking off any more clothes than was absolutely necessary for the business in hand. No spectres haunted it. No naked little men sat on the summit dispensing wisdom, because the first thing the truly wise man works out is that sitting around on mountaintops gives you not only haemorrhoids but frostbitten haemorrhoids.
Occasionally people would climb the mountain and add a stone or two to the cairn at the top, if only to prove that there is nothing really damn stupid that humans won’t do. (RM)
'... humans are human.'
AND SIXPENCE IS SIXPENCE. BUT CORN IS NOT JUST CORN. (RM)
'Will she live happily ever after?’ he said.
NOT FOREVER. BUT PERHAPS FOR LONG ENOUGH. (WA)
Death paused. YOU HAVE PERHAPS HEARD THE PHRASE, he said, THAT HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE?
‘Yes. Yes, of course.’
Death nodded. IN TIME, he said, YOU WILL LEARN THAT IT IS WRONG. (SG)
Death was used to travelling fast. In theory he was already everywhere, waiting for almost anything else. The fastest way to travel is to be there already. (SM)
YOU'VE ALWAYS KNOWN. YOU REMEMBER EVERYTHING. SO DO I. BUT YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOUR MIND REBELS FOR YOUR OWN SAKE. SOMETHING GOES ACROSS, THOUGH. DREAMS, PERHAPS. PREMONITIONS. FEELINGS. SOME SHADOWS ARE SO LONG THEY ARRIVE BEFORE THE LIGHT. (SM)
Susan stared at him.
The blue glow in Death’s eyes gradually faded, and as the light died it sucked at her gaze so that it was dragged into
the eye sockets and the darkness beyond...
...which went on and on, forever. There was no word for it. Even eternity was a human idea. Giving it a name gave it a length; admittedly, a very long one. But this darkness was what was left when eternity had given up. It was where Death
lived. Alone. (SM)
'Are you a hunter?'
I LIKE TO THINK I AM A PICKER-UP OF UNCONSIDERED TRIFLES. (LL)
I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. I TURN UP ONLY ONCE. (FC)
IT WASN’T STEALING. IT WAS JUST ... REDISTRIBUTION. IT WILL BE A GOOD DEED IN A NAUGHTY WORLD.
‘No, it won’t!’
THEN IT WILL BE A NAUGHTY DEED IN A NAUGHTY WORLD AND WILL PASS COMPLETELY UNNOTICED. (H)
IT IS BETTER TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE, ALBERT.
‘No, master, it’s just a lot more expensive.' (H)
I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY, said Death.
‘Ah, well, yes, you see, one of the things that makes folks even more jolly is knowing there’re people who ain’t,’ said Albert, in a matter-of-fact voice. (H)
IT IS ... UNFAIR.
‘That’s life, master.’
BUT I’M NOT.
‘I meant this is how it’s supposed to go, master,’ said Albert.
NO. YOU MEAN THIS IS HOW IT GOES. (H)
'Well, the night is young,’ said Albert, sitting back in the sacks.
THE NIGHT IS OLD. THE NIGHT IS ALWAYS OLD.
The pigs galloped on. Then, ‘No, it ain’t.’
I’M SORRY?
‘The night isn’t any older than the day, master. It stands to reason. There must have been a day before anyone knew what the night was.’
YES, BUT IT’S MORE DRAMATIC.
‘Oh. Right, then.' (H)
IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN, LIFE, said Death, stepping forward. SPEAKING METAPHORICALLY, OF COURSE. IT’S A HABIT THAT’S HARD TO GIVE UP. ONE PUFF OF BREATH IS NEVER ENOUGH. YOU’LL FIND YOU WANT TO TAKE ANOTHER. (H)
MERE ACCUMULATION OF OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE IS NOT PROOF. (H)
EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS STAYS HAPPENED.
‘What kind of philosophy is that?’
THE ONLY ONE THAT WORKS. (H)
YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN’T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME? (H)
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 (H)
IT IS THE THINGS YOU BELIEVE WHICH MAKE YOU HUMAN. GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS, IT’S ALL THE SAME. (H)
THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR ANOTHER LAST MINUTE. (H)
'Is it true that your life passes before your eyes before you die?'
YES
'Ghastly thought, really.’ Rincewind shuddered. ‘Oh, gods, I’ve just had another one. Suppose I am just about to die and this is my whole life passing in front of my eyes?’
I THINK PERHAPS YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. PEOPLE’S WHOLE LIVES DO PASS IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES BEFORE THEY DIE. THE PROCESS IS CALLED ‘LIVING’. (LC)
I’m going to die?’
POSSIBLY.
‘Possibly? You turn up when people are possibly going to die?’
OH, YES. IT’S QUITE THE NEW THING. IT’S BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY PRINICIPLE.
'What’s that?’
I’M NOT SURE.
‘That’s very helpful.’
I THINK IT MEANS PEOPLE MAY OR MAY NOT DIE. I HAVE TO SAY IT’S PLAYING HOB WITH MY SCHEDULE, BUT I TRY TO KEEP UP WITH MODERN THOUGHT. (FE)
WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?
The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of the potato.
SQUEAK, he said.
Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE. (TT)
Mr. Tulip raised a trembling hand. ‘Is this the bit where my whole life passes in front of my eyes?’ he said.
NO, THAT WAS THE BIT JUST NOW.
‘Which bit?’
THE BIT, said Death, BETWEEN YOU BEING BORN AND YOU DYING. NO, THIS ... MR. TULIP, THIS IS YOUR WHOLE LIFE AS IT PASSED BEFORE OTHER PEOPLE’S EYES ... (TT)
DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR TRUST IN ROOT VEGETABLES. (TT)
''scuse me,’ said the raven, ‘but how come Miss Ogg became Mrs Ogg? Sounds like a bit of a rural arrangement, if you catch my meaning.’
WITCHES ARE MATRILINEAL, said Death. THEY FIND IT MUCH EASIER TO CHANGE MEN THAN TO CHANGE NAMES. (TOT)
'In the olden days,’ she said, ‘when a hero had been really heroic, the gods would put them up in the stars.’
THE HEAVENS CHANGE, said Death. WHAT TODAY LOOKS LIKE A MIGHTY HUNTER MAY LOOK LIKE A TEACUP IN A HUNDRED YEARS’ TIME.
‘That doesn’t seem fair.’
NO ONE EVER SAID IT HAD TO BE. BUT THERE ARE OTHER STARS. (LH)
A certain realization dawned on him.
‘Oh,’ he said.
YES, said Death.
‘Not even time to finish my cake?’
NO. THERE IS NO MORE TIME, EVEN FOR CAKE. FOR YOU, THE CAKE IS OVER. YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF CAKE. (NW)
YOU ARE HAVING A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE, WHICH INESCAPABLY MEANS THAT I MUST UNDERGO A NEAR VIMES EXPERIENCE . (Th)
HAS IT EVER STRUCK YOU THAT THE CONCEPT OF A WRITTEN NARRATIVE IS SOMEWHAT STRANGE? Said Death. (Th)
IT IS A MADE-UP STORY. VERY STRANGE. ALL ONE NEEDS DO IS TURN TO THE LAST PAGE AND THE ANSWER IS THERE. WHAT, THEREFORE, IS THE POINT OF DELIBERATEDLY NOT KNOWING? (Th)
Space he thought. That was the trouble. It was never like this on worlds with everlastingly cloudy skies. But once humans saw all that space, their brains expanded to try and fill it up. (DWCN)
The Death of the Disc was a traditionalist who prided himself on his personal service and spent most of the time being depressed because this was not appreciated. He would point out that no-one feared death itself, just pain and separation and oblivion, and that it was quite unreasonable to take against someone just because he had empty eye-sockets and a quiet pride in his work. (LF)
'I’ve never seen Death actually at work.’
‘Not many have,’ said Albert. ‘Not twice, at any rate.' (M)
THAT’S MORTALS FOR YOU, Death continued. THEY’VE ONLY GOT A FEW YEARS IN THE WORLD AND THEY SPEND THEM ALL IN MAKING THINGS COMPLICATED FOR THEMSELVES. (M)
I? KILL? Said Death, obviously offended. CERTAINLY NOT. PEOPLE GET KILLED, BUT THAT’S THEIR BUSINESS. I JUST TAKE OVER FROM THEN ON. (M)
Death began to feel that he wouldn’t understand people as long as he lived. (M)
YOU MUST LEARN THE COMPASSION PROPER TO YOUR TRADE.
‘What’s that?’
A SHARP EDGE. (M)
'It would seem that you have no useful skill or talent whatsoever,’ he said. ‘Have you thought of going into teaching?’
Death’s face was a mask of terror. Well it was always a mask of terror, but this time he meant it to be. (M)
'Pardon me for living, I’m sure.’
NO-ONE GETS PARDONED FOR LIVING. (M)
CALLING SOMETHING A FIGURE OF SPEECH DOESN’T MEAN IT’S NOT TRUE. (M)
THERE’S NO JUSTICE. THERE’S JUST ME. (M)
Goodbye,’Mort said, and was surprised to find a lump in his throat. ‘It’s such an unpleasant word, isn’t it?’
QUITE SO. Death grinned because, as has so often been remarked, he didn’t have much option. But possibly he meant it, this time.
I PREFER AU REVOIR, he said. (M)
'I meant,’ said Iplsore bitterly, ‘what is there in this world that makes living worthwhile?’
Death thought about it.
‘CATS,’ he said eventually, ‘CATS ARE NICE. (S)
NOTHING IS FINAL. NOTHING IS ABSOLUTE. EXCEPT ME, OF COURSE. (S)
There is nowhere Death will not go, no matter how distant and dangerous. In fact the more dangerous it is, the more likely he is to be there already. (E)
‘You don’t think you’ve had enough, do you?’ he said.
I KNOW EXACTLY WHEN I’VE HAD ENOUGH.
‘Everyone says that, though.’
I KNOW WHEN EVERYONE’S HAD ENOUGH. (MP)
THERE’S JUST ME, said Death. THE FINAL FRONTIER. (MP)
LORD, WHAT CAN THE HARVEST HOPE FOR, IF NOT FOR THE CARE OF THE REAPER MAN? (RM)
Bill Door made the mistake millions of people had tried before with small children in slightly similar circumstances. He resorted to reason. (RM)
He knew from experience that the living never found out half of what was really happening, because they were too busybeing the living. The onlooker sees most of the game, he told himself.
It was the living who ignored the strange and wonderful, because life was too full of the boring and mundane. (RM)
Death stood alone, watching the wheat dance in the wind. Of course, it was only a metaphor. People were more than corn. They whirled through tiny crowded lives, driven literally by clock work, filling their days from edge to edge with the sheer effort of living. And all lives were exactly the same length. Even the very long and the very short ones. From the point of view of eternity, anyway.
Somewhere, the tiny voice of Bill Door said: from the point of view of the owner, longer ones are best. (RM)
I’VE NEVER BEEN VERY SURE ABOUT WHAT IS RIGHT, said Bill Door. I AM NOT SURE THERE IS SUCH A THING AS RIGHT. OR WRONG. JUST PLACES TO STAND. (RM)
'Have you got any last words?'
YES. I DON’T WANT TO GO.
‘Well. Succinct, anyway.' (RM)
Death sat on a mountaintop. It wasn’t particularly high, or bare, or sinister. No witches held naked sabbats on it; Discworld witches, on the whole, didn’t hold with taking off any more clothes than was absolutely necessary for the business in hand. No spectres haunted it. No naked little men sat on the summit dispensing wisdom, because the first thing the truly wise man works out is that sitting around on mountaintops gives you not only haemorrhoids but frostbitten haemorrhoids.
Occasionally people would climb the mountain and add a stone or two to the cairn at the top, if only to prove that there is nothing really damn stupid that humans won’t do. (RM)
'... humans are human.'
AND SIXPENCE IS SIXPENCE. BUT CORN IS NOT JUST CORN. (RM)
'Will she live happily ever after?’ he said.
NOT FOREVER. BUT PERHAPS FOR LONG ENOUGH. (WA)
Death paused. YOU HAVE PERHAPS HEARD THE PHRASE, he said, THAT HELL IS OTHER PEOPLE?
‘Yes. Yes, of course.’
Death nodded. IN TIME, he said, YOU WILL LEARN THAT IT IS WRONG. (SG)
Death was used to travelling fast. In theory he was already everywhere, waiting for almost anything else. The fastest way to travel is to be there already. (SM)
YOU'VE ALWAYS KNOWN. YOU REMEMBER EVERYTHING. SO DO I. BUT YOU ARE HUMAN AND YOUR MIND REBELS FOR YOUR OWN SAKE. SOMETHING GOES ACROSS, THOUGH. DREAMS, PERHAPS. PREMONITIONS. FEELINGS. SOME SHADOWS ARE SO LONG THEY ARRIVE BEFORE THE LIGHT. (SM)
Susan stared at him.
The blue glow in Death’s eyes gradually faded, and as the light died it sucked at her gaze so that it was dragged into
the eye sockets and the darkness beyond...
...which went on and on, forever. There was no word for it. Even eternity was a human idea. Giving it a name gave it a length; admittedly, a very long one. But this darkness was what was left when eternity had given up. It was where Death
lived. Alone. (SM)
'Are you a hunter?'
I LIKE TO THINK I AM A PICKER-UP OF UNCONSIDERED TRIFLES. (LL)
I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. I TURN UP ONLY ONCE. (FC)
IT WASN’T STEALING. IT WAS JUST ... REDISTRIBUTION. IT WILL BE A GOOD DEED IN A NAUGHTY WORLD.
‘No, it won’t!’
THEN IT WILL BE A NAUGHTY DEED IN A NAUGHTY WORLD AND WILL PASS COMPLETELY UNNOTICED. (H)
IT IS BETTER TO GIVE THAN TO RECEIVE, ALBERT.
‘No, master, it’s just a lot more expensive.' (H)
I THOUGHT IT WAS THE SEASON TO BE JOLLY, said Death.
‘Ah, well, yes, you see, one of the things that makes folks even more jolly is knowing there’re people who ain’t,’ said Albert, in a matter-of-fact voice. (H)
IT IS ... UNFAIR.
‘That’s life, master.’
BUT I’M NOT.
‘I meant this is how it’s supposed to go, master,’ said Albert.
NO. YOU MEAN THIS IS HOW IT GOES. (H)
'Well, the night is young,’ said Albert, sitting back in the sacks.
THE NIGHT IS OLD. THE NIGHT IS ALWAYS OLD.
The pigs galloped on. Then, ‘No, it ain’t.’
I’M SORRY?
‘The night isn’t any older than the day, master. It stands to reason. There must have been a day before anyone knew what the night was.’
YES, BUT IT’S MORE DRAMATIC.
‘Oh. Right, then.' (H)
IT GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN, LIFE, said Death, stepping forward. SPEAKING METAPHORICALLY, OF COURSE. IT’S A HABIT THAT’S HARD TO GIVE UP. ONE PUFF OF BREATH IS NEVER ENOUGH. YOU’LL FIND YOU WANT TO TAKE ANOTHER. (H)
MERE ACCUMULATION OF OBSERVATIONAL EVIDENCE IS NOT PROOF. (H)
EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS STAYS HAPPENED.
‘What kind of philosophy is that?’
THE ONLY ONE THAT WORKS. (H)
YOU NEED TO BELIEVE IN THINGS THAT AREN’T TRUE. HOW ELSE CAN THEY BECOME? (H)
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 (H)
IT IS THE THINGS YOU BELIEVE WHICH MAKE YOU HUMAN. GOOD THINGS AND BAD THINGS, IT’S ALL THE SAME. (H)
THERE IS ALWAYS TIME FOR ANOTHER LAST MINUTE. (H)
'Is it true that your life passes before your eyes before you die?'
YES
'Ghastly thought, really.’ Rincewind shuddered. ‘Oh, gods, I’ve just had another one. Suppose I am just about to die and this is my whole life passing in front of my eyes?’
I THINK PERHAPS YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. PEOPLE’S WHOLE LIVES DO PASS IN FRONT OF THEIR EYES BEFORE THEY DIE. THE PROCESS IS CALLED ‘LIVING’. (LC)
I’m going to die?’
POSSIBLY.
‘Possibly? You turn up when people are possibly going to die?’
OH, YES. IT’S QUITE THE NEW THING. IT’S BECAUSE OF THE UNCERTAINTY PRINICIPLE.
'What’s that?’
I’M NOT SURE.
‘That’s very helpful.’
I THINK IT MEANS PEOPLE MAY OR MAY NOT DIE. I HAVE TO SAY IT’S PLAYING HOB WITH MY SCHEDULE, BUT I TRY TO KEEP UP WITH MODERN THOUGHT. (FE)
WHO KNOWS WHAT EVIL LURKS IN THE HEART OF MEN?
The Death of Rats looked up from the feast of the potato.
SQUEAK, he said.
Death waved a hand dismissively. WELL, YES, OBVIOUSLY ME, he said. I JUST WONDERED IF THERE WAS ANYONE ELSE. (TT)
Mr. Tulip raised a trembling hand. ‘Is this the bit where my whole life passes in front of my eyes?’ he said.
NO, THAT WAS THE BIT JUST NOW.
‘Which bit?’
THE BIT, said Death, BETWEEN YOU BEING BORN AND YOU DYING. NO, THIS ... MR. TULIP, THIS IS YOUR WHOLE LIFE AS IT PASSED BEFORE OTHER PEOPLE’S EYES ... (TT)
DO NOT PUT ALL YOUR TRUST IN ROOT VEGETABLES. (TT)
''scuse me,’ said the raven, ‘but how come Miss Ogg became Mrs Ogg? Sounds like a bit of a rural arrangement, if you catch my meaning.’
WITCHES ARE MATRILINEAL, said Death. THEY FIND IT MUCH EASIER TO CHANGE MEN THAN TO CHANGE NAMES. (TOT)
'In the olden days,’ she said, ‘when a hero had been really heroic, the gods would put them up in the stars.’
THE HEAVENS CHANGE, said Death. WHAT TODAY LOOKS LIKE A MIGHTY HUNTER MAY LOOK LIKE A TEACUP IN A HUNDRED YEARS’ TIME.
‘That doesn’t seem fair.’
NO ONE EVER SAID IT HAD TO BE. BUT THERE ARE OTHER STARS. (LH)
A certain realization dawned on him.
‘Oh,’ he said.
YES, said Death.
‘Not even time to finish my cake?’
NO. THERE IS NO MORE TIME, EVEN FOR CAKE. FOR YOU, THE CAKE IS OVER. YOU HAVE REACHED THE END OF CAKE. (NW)
YOU ARE HAVING A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE, WHICH INESCAPABLY MEANS THAT I MUST UNDERGO A NEAR VIMES EXPERIENCE . (Th)
HAS IT EVER STRUCK YOU THAT THE CONCEPT OF A WRITTEN NARRATIVE IS SOMEWHAT STRANGE? Said Death. (Th)
IT IS A MADE-UP STORY. VERY STRANGE. ALL ONE NEEDS DO IS TURN TO THE LAST PAGE AND THE ANSWER IS THERE. WHAT, THEREFORE, IS THE POINT OF DELIBERATEDLY NOT KNOWING? (Th)
Space he thought. That was the trouble. It was never like this on worlds with everlastingly cloudy skies. But once humans saw all that space, their brains expanded to try and fill it up. (DWCN)
