Diggers
If you think everything’s going right, something’s going wrong that you haven’t heard about yet. (Dig)
Changing was necessary. Change was right. He was all in favour of change. What he was dead against was things not staying the same. (Dig)
'Of course I can read it,’ he said. ‘I know what every word means.’
‘Well, then?’ said Masklin.
Gurder looked embarrassed. ‘It’s what every sentence means that's giving me trouble,’ he said. (Dig)
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. (Dig)
'I think you do not appreciate what it is that space contains.'
'What's that, then?'
'Nothing. It contains nothing. And everything. But there is very little everything and more nothing than you could imagine. (Dig)
‘This is not the right time. You are ill-prepared.’
Masklin clenched his fists. ‘I’ll never be well-prepared! I was born in a hole, Thing! A muddy hole in the ground! How can I ever be well-prepared for anything? That’s what being alive is, Thing! It’s being badly prepared for everything! Because you only get one chance, Thing! You only get one chance and then you die and they don’t let you go round again after you’ve got the hang of it!' (Dig)
... the funny thing was that people who weren't entirely certain they were right always argued much louder than other people, as if the main person they were trying to convince was themselves. (Dig)
The school-hole was under the floor of the old shed with 'Canteen' on the door. It was Grimma's personal world. She'd invented schools for children, on the basis that since reading and writing were quite difficult it was best to get them over early. (Dig)
Not only was Grimma the best reader among the nomes, she had an amazing ability to understand what she was reading. (Dig)
He'd long ago decided that if you spent all your time listening to what people actually said, you’d never have time to work out what they meant. (Dig)
'When people are faced with lots of troubles and they don't know what to do, there's always someone ready to say anything, just to get some power,' said Grimma. (Dig)
'I'm still very ignorant, he said, 'but at least I'm ignorant about really important things.' (Dig)
... if there is one thing worse than someone who doesn’t understand you it’s someone who understands you perfectly, before you’ve had a chance to have a good pout about not being understood. (Dig)
He was always at a loss when people acted like this. When machines went funny you just oiled them or prodded them or, if nothing else worked, hit them with a hammer. Nomes didn't respond well to this treatment. (Dig)
All people really wanted, Dorcas considered, was to be left alone. The world was quite difficult enough as it was without people going around trying to make it better all the time. (Dig)
He knew that the way to make people do what you wanted was to make them think it was their idea. If there was one thing that got right up a nome's nose, it was someone saying, 'Here is a really sensible idea. Why are you too stupid to understand?'
It wasn't that people were stupid. It was just that people were people. (Dig)
What does "surrender" mean?' said Dorcas, desperately.
'We don't know the meaning of surrender,' said Grimma.
'Well, I don't,' said Dorcas. (Dig)
... there was no knowing where it would of end. How it would end was a bit more certain. It would probably end badly. (Dig)
'Besides, it's wrong to hurt prisoners, I read it in a book. It's called the Geneva Convention. When you've got people at your mercy, you shouldn't hurt them.'
'Seems like the ideal time to me,' said a nome. 'Hit them when they can't hit back, that's what I say.' (Dig)
There was something about Granny Morkie cheering people up that always got them moving. Anything was better than being cheered up some more. (Dig)
Sometimes words need music too. Sometimes the descriptions are not enough; books should be written with soundtracks, like films. (Dig)
You always feel foolish running away from something that isn't chasing you. (Dig)
She'd found 'nose to the grindstone' in a book. Apparently it meant 'to get on with things.' She didn't see why people were supposed to work hard if you ground their noses; it seemed morely likely that they'd work hard if you promised to grind their noses if they didn't. (Dig)
'We could make a run for the thicket or something,' he said vaguely.
'We could stay and fight,' said Grimma.
Dorcas growled. 'Oh, that's easy. We fight all the time. Bicker, bicker, bicker. That's nomish nature for you.' (Dig)
He wasn't the leader. He'd have liked to be a leader. A leader could stick his chin out and do brave things. What Masklin had to do was argue and persuade and, sometimes, lie very slightly. He found it was often easier to get people to do things if you let them think it was their idea. (Dig)
'Do you know, humans think the world was made by a sort of big human?'
'Get away?'
'It took a week.'
'I expect it had some help then,' said Dorcas. (Dig)
'People are a bit like machines,’ he added solemnly, while his face went redder, ‘and words like please and thank you are just like grease. They make them work better.' (Dig)
- as a scientist I find all these phenomena extremely interesting. It would just be nicer to find them extremely interesting from somewhere nice and snug, inside. (Dig)
Changing was necessary. Change was right. He was all in favour of change. What he was dead against was things not staying the same. (Dig)
'Of course I can read it,’ he said. ‘I know what every word means.’
‘Well, then?’ said Masklin.
Gurder looked embarrassed. ‘It’s what every sentence means that's giving me trouble,’ he said. (Dig)
The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it. (Dig)
'I think you do not appreciate what it is that space contains.'
'What's that, then?'
'Nothing. It contains nothing. And everything. But there is very little everything and more nothing than you could imagine. (Dig)
‘This is not the right time. You are ill-prepared.’
Masklin clenched his fists. ‘I’ll never be well-prepared! I was born in a hole, Thing! A muddy hole in the ground! How can I ever be well-prepared for anything? That’s what being alive is, Thing! It’s being badly prepared for everything! Because you only get one chance, Thing! You only get one chance and then you die and they don’t let you go round again after you’ve got the hang of it!' (Dig)
... the funny thing was that people who weren't entirely certain they were right always argued much louder than other people, as if the main person they were trying to convince was themselves. (Dig)
The school-hole was under the floor of the old shed with 'Canteen' on the door. It was Grimma's personal world. She'd invented schools for children, on the basis that since reading and writing were quite difficult it was best to get them over early. (Dig)
Not only was Grimma the best reader among the nomes, she had an amazing ability to understand what she was reading. (Dig)
He'd long ago decided that if you spent all your time listening to what people actually said, you’d never have time to work out what they meant. (Dig)
'When people are faced with lots of troubles and they don't know what to do, there's always someone ready to say anything, just to get some power,' said Grimma. (Dig)
'I'm still very ignorant, he said, 'but at least I'm ignorant about really important things.' (Dig)
... if there is one thing worse than someone who doesn’t understand you it’s someone who understands you perfectly, before you’ve had a chance to have a good pout about not being understood. (Dig)
He was always at a loss when people acted like this. When machines went funny you just oiled them or prodded them or, if nothing else worked, hit them with a hammer. Nomes didn't respond well to this treatment. (Dig)
All people really wanted, Dorcas considered, was to be left alone. The world was quite difficult enough as it was without people going around trying to make it better all the time. (Dig)
He knew that the way to make people do what you wanted was to make them think it was their idea. If there was one thing that got right up a nome's nose, it was someone saying, 'Here is a really sensible idea. Why are you too stupid to understand?'
It wasn't that people were stupid. It was just that people were people. (Dig)
What does "surrender" mean?' said Dorcas, desperately.
'We don't know the meaning of surrender,' said Grimma.
'Well, I don't,' said Dorcas. (Dig)
... there was no knowing where it would of end. How it would end was a bit more certain. It would probably end badly. (Dig)
'Besides, it's wrong to hurt prisoners, I read it in a book. It's called the Geneva Convention. When you've got people at your mercy, you shouldn't hurt them.'
'Seems like the ideal time to me,' said a nome. 'Hit them when they can't hit back, that's what I say.' (Dig)
There was something about Granny Morkie cheering people up that always got them moving. Anything was better than being cheered up some more. (Dig)
Sometimes words need music too. Sometimes the descriptions are not enough; books should be written with soundtracks, like films. (Dig)
You always feel foolish running away from something that isn't chasing you. (Dig)
She'd found 'nose to the grindstone' in a book. Apparently it meant 'to get on with things.' She didn't see why people were supposed to work hard if you ground their noses; it seemed morely likely that they'd work hard if you promised to grind their noses if they didn't. (Dig)
'We could make a run for the thicket or something,' he said vaguely.
'We could stay and fight,' said Grimma.
Dorcas growled. 'Oh, that's easy. We fight all the time. Bicker, bicker, bicker. That's nomish nature for you.' (Dig)
He wasn't the leader. He'd have liked to be a leader. A leader could stick his chin out and do brave things. What Masklin had to do was argue and persuade and, sometimes, lie very slightly. He found it was often easier to get people to do things if you let them think it was their idea. (Dig)
'Do you know, humans think the world was made by a sort of big human?'
'Get away?'
'It took a week.'
'I expect it had some help then,' said Dorcas. (Dig)
'People are a bit like machines,’ he added solemnly, while his face went redder, ‘and words like please and thank you are just like grease. They make them work better.' (Dig)
- as a scientist I find all these phenomena extremely interesting. It would just be nicer to find them extremely interesting from somewhere nice and snug, inside. (Dig)
