‘What is the worth of a gold coin compared to the dexterity of the hand that holds it?’ (MM)
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Nanny’s philosophy of life was to do what seemed like a good idea at the time, and do it as hard as possible. It had never let her down. (Ma)
Unfortunately, like many people who are instinctively bad at something, the Archchancellor prided himself on how good at it he was. Ridcully was to management what King Herrod was to the Bethlehem Playgroup Association. His mental approach to it could be visualized as a sort of business flowchart with, at the top, a circle entitled ‘Me, who does the telling’ and, connected below it by a line, a large circle entitled ‘Everyone else.’
Until now this had worked quite well, because, although Ridcully was an impossible manager, the University was impossible to manage and so everything worked seamlessly. (LC) 'I mean, Holy Wood is a different sort of place, isn’t it? People act differently here. Everywhere else, the most important things are gods or money or cattle. Here, the most important thing is to be important.' (MP)
Gaspode had a way of turning up silently like a small puff of methane in a crowded room, and with the latter’s distressing ability to fill up all available space. (MA)
'Let’s see what else we’ve got ... ah, has anybody got an opener for a bottle of beer?’
A man in the corner indicated that he might have such a thing. ‘Fine,’ said Nanny Ogg. ‘Anyone got something to drink a bottle of beer out of?’ Another man nodded hopefully. ‘Good,’ said Nanny Ogg. ‘Now, has anyone got a bottle of beer?' (Ma) 'How does Perdita work, then?’ she said.
‘Look, you know the part of you that wants to do all the things you don’t dare do, and thinks the thoughts you don’t dare think?’ Nanny’s face stayed blank. ‘Like ... maybe ... rip off all your clothes and run naked in the rain?’ she hazarded. ‘Oh, yes. Right,’ said Nanny. ‘Well ... I suppose Perdita is that part of me.’ ‘Really? I’ve always been that part of me,’ said Nanny. ‘The important thing is to remember where you left your clothes.' (CJ) 'I’m Mrs Ogg,’said Nanny Ogg.
The man looked her up and down. ‘Oh yes? Can you identify yourself?’ ‘Certainly. I’d know me anywhere.' (Ma) 'If you don’t turn your life into a story, you just become part of someone elses story.’
‘And what if your story doesn’t work?’ ‘You keep changing it until you find one that does.' (AM) ''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) 'Cometh the hour, cometh the … whatever. General comethness, perhaps.' (UA)
‘… being forward is better by far than being backwards.’ (Do)
Greebo had spent an irritating two minutes in that box. Technically, a cat locked in a box may be alive or it may be dead. You never know until you look. In fact, the mere act of opening the box will determine the state of the cat, although in this case there were three determinate states the cat could be in: these being Alive, Dead, and Bloody Furious. (LL)
Nanny Ogg usually went to bed early. After all, she was an old lady. Sometimes she went to bed as early as 6 a.m. (Ma)
'How about a date?’
‘How old do you think I am?’ said Nanny. Casanunda considered. ‘All right, then. How about a prune?' (WA) 'Act your age, Gytha.’
‘Act? Don’t have to act, can do it automatic,’ said Nanny. ‘Acting half my age…now that’s the difficult trick.' (LL) People like Nanny Ogg turn up everywhere. It’s as if there’s some special morphic generator dedicated to the production of old women who like a laugh and aren’t averse to the odd pint, especially of some drink normally sold in very small glasses. You find them all over the place, often in pairs. (WA)
People didn’t take any notice of little old ladies who looked as though they fitted in, and Nanny Ogg could fit in faster than a dead chicken in a maggot factory. (Ma)
... like many old ladies, Nanny Ogg was a bottomless pit for free food. (CJ)
'Of course we've all passed a lot of water over the bridge since then …' (UA)
‘Yes, but humans are more important than animals,’ said Brutha.
‘This is a point of view often expressed by humans,’ said Om. (SG) 'They think you have just arrived.'
'Well, that's true.' 'Not arrive here. Arrived on the planet. Arrived from the stars.' 'But we've been here for thousands of years. We live here!' 'Humans find it a lot easier to really believe in little people from the sky than little people from the Earth. They would prefer to think of little green men than leprechauns.' (Wings) He sighed and pushed open the door.
As one man, the assembled company stopped talking and stared at him with the honest rural stare that suggests that for two pins they’ll hit you around the head with a shovel and bury your body under a compost heap at full moon (M) There are certainly hidden depths to Nobby, but no one has been brave enough to feel around and find out what’s in them. (PP)
'Seeing things a human shouldn't have to see makes us human.' (TOT)
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The world has lost Sir Terry, and it's so much the poorer for that. Vale Sir Terry. Categories
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