Quotes from Om
Only a mile away from the shepherd and his flock was a goatherd and his herd. The merest accident of microgeography had meant that the first man to hear the voice of Om, and who gave Om his view of humans, was a shepherd and not a goatherd. They have quite different ways of looking at the world, and the whole of history might have been different.
For sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led. (SG)
'I must admit you’re not the chosen one I would have chosen,’ he said. (SG)
'I said, that’s blasphemy!’
‘Blasphemy? How can I blaspheme? I’m a god!' (SG)
‘I still don’t see how one god can be a hundred thunder gods. They all look different...’
‘False noses.’
‘What?’
‘And different voices. I happen to know Io’s got seventy different hammers. Not common knowledge, that. And It’s just the same with mother goddesses. There’s only one of ‘em. She just got a lot of wigs and of course it’s amazing what you can do with a padded bra'. (SG)
‘Yes, but humans are more important than animals,’ said Brutha.
‘This is a point of view often expressed by humans,’ said Om. (SG)
'What’s a philosopher?’ said Brutha.
‘Someone who’s bright enough to find a job with no heavy lifting,’ said a voice in his head. (SG)
'That’s why it’s always worth having a few philosophers around the place. One minute it’s all Is Truth Beauty and Is Beauty Truth, and Does A Falling Tree in the Forest Make A Sound if There’s No one There to Hear It, and then just when you think they’re going to start dribbling one of ‘em says, Incidentally, putting a thirty-foot parabolic reflector on a high place to shoot the rays of the sun at an enemy’s ships would be a very interesting demonstration of optical principles…' (SG)
'Take it from me, whenever you see a bunch of buggers puttering around talking about truth and beauty and the best way of attacking Ethics, you can bet your sandals it’s all because dozens of other poor buggers are doing all the real work around the place…' (SG)
'Winners never talk about glorious victories. That’s because they’re the ones who see what the battlefield looks like afterwards. It’s only the losers who have glorious victories.' (SG)
Constable Visit was an Omnian, whose country’s traditional approach to evangelism was to put unbelievers to torture and the sword. Things had become a lot more civilized these days but Omnians still had a strenuous and indefatigable approach to spreading the Word, and had merely changed the nature of the weapons. Constable Visit spent his days off in company with his co-religionist Smite-The-Unbeliever-With-Cunning-Arguments, ringing doorbells and causing people to hide behind the furniture everywhere in the city. (FC)
‘Just as Om reached out his hand to save the prophet Brutha from the torture, so will he spread his wings over me in my time of trial,’ said Oats, but he sounded as though he was trying to reassure himself rather than Nanny. He went on: ‘I’ve got a pamphlet if you would like to know more,’ and this time the tone was much more positive, as if the existence of Om was a little uncertain whereas the existence of pamphlets was obvious to any open-minded rational-thinking person. (CJ)
'There have to be rules, Mistress Weatherwax.’
‘And what’s the first one that your Om requires, then?’
‘That believers should worship no other god but Om,’ said Oats promptly.
‘Oh yes? That’s gods for you. Very self-centred, as a rule.' (CJ)
The god currently gaining popularity was Om, who never answered prayers or manifested himself. It was easy to respect an invisible god. It was the ones that turned up everywhere, often drunk, that put people off. (SODW)
For sheep are stupid, and have to be driven. But goats are intelligent, and need to be led. (SG)
'I must admit you’re not the chosen one I would have chosen,’ he said. (SG)
'I said, that’s blasphemy!’
‘Blasphemy? How can I blaspheme? I’m a god!' (SG)
‘I still don’t see how one god can be a hundred thunder gods. They all look different...’
‘False noses.’
‘What?’
‘And different voices. I happen to know Io’s got seventy different hammers. Not common knowledge, that. And It’s just the same with mother goddesses. There’s only one of ‘em. She just got a lot of wigs and of course it’s amazing what you can do with a padded bra'. (SG)
‘Yes, but humans are more important than animals,’ said Brutha.
‘This is a point of view often expressed by humans,’ said Om. (SG)
'What’s a philosopher?’ said Brutha.
‘Someone who’s bright enough to find a job with no heavy lifting,’ said a voice in his head. (SG)
'That’s why it’s always worth having a few philosophers around the place. One minute it’s all Is Truth Beauty and Is Beauty Truth, and Does A Falling Tree in the Forest Make A Sound if There’s No one There to Hear It, and then just when you think they’re going to start dribbling one of ‘em says, Incidentally, putting a thirty-foot parabolic reflector on a high place to shoot the rays of the sun at an enemy’s ships would be a very interesting demonstration of optical principles…' (SG)
'Take it from me, whenever you see a bunch of buggers puttering around talking about truth and beauty and the best way of attacking Ethics, you can bet your sandals it’s all because dozens of other poor buggers are doing all the real work around the place…' (SG)
'Winners never talk about glorious victories. That’s because they’re the ones who see what the battlefield looks like afterwards. It’s only the losers who have glorious victories.' (SG)
Constable Visit was an Omnian, whose country’s traditional approach to evangelism was to put unbelievers to torture and the sword. Things had become a lot more civilized these days but Omnians still had a strenuous and indefatigable approach to spreading the Word, and had merely changed the nature of the weapons. Constable Visit spent his days off in company with his co-religionist Smite-The-Unbeliever-With-Cunning-Arguments, ringing doorbells and causing people to hide behind the furniture everywhere in the city. (FC)
‘Just as Om reached out his hand to save the prophet Brutha from the torture, so will he spread his wings over me in my time of trial,’ said Oats, but he sounded as though he was trying to reassure himself rather than Nanny. He went on: ‘I’ve got a pamphlet if you would like to know more,’ and this time the tone was much more positive, as if the existence of Om was a little uncertain whereas the existence of pamphlets was obvious to any open-minded rational-thinking person. (CJ)
'There have to be rules, Mistress Weatherwax.’
‘And what’s the first one that your Om requires, then?’
‘That believers should worship no other god but Om,’ said Oats promptly.
‘Oh yes? That’s gods for you. Very self-centred, as a rule.' (CJ)
The god currently gaining popularity was Om, who never answered prayers or manifested himself. It was easy to respect an invisible god. It was the ones that turned up everywhere, often drunk, that put people off. (SODW)
