... one of the things a witch did was stand right on the edge, where the decisions had to be made. You made them so that others didn’t have to, so that others could even pretend to themselves that there were no decisions to be made, no little secrets, that things just happened. (CJ)
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'Gytha Ogg, you wouldn’t be a witch if you couldn’t jump to conclusions, right?’
Nanny nodded. ‘Oh, yes.’ There was no shame in it. Sometimes there wasn’t time to do anything else but take a flying leap. Sometimes you had to trust to experience and intuition and general awareness and take a running jump. Nanny herself could clear quite a tall conclusion from a standing start. (Ma) She felt the same feeling she’d felt back home. Sometimes life reaches that desperate point where the wrong thing to do has to be the right thing to do.
It doesn’t matter what direction you go. Sometimes you just have to go. (Ma) 'I must admit you’re not the chosen one I would have chosen,’ he said. (SG)
'Is it dead?' said Gurder.
'It can't die! It's existed for thousands of years!' Gurder shook his head. 'Sounds like a good reason for dying,' he said. (Wings) 'Can he hear me?' said Gurder.
'Maybe,' said Grimma. 'Perhaps. But he won't be able to answer you, because he's dead.' (Truck) 'He says he's dyin', I suppose he should know.'
'Dying of what?' said Masklin. Dyin' of bein' alive for such a long time,' said Granny. (Truck) Death was Nature's way of telling you to slow down. (Strata)
'Millions of people will die!’
‘But only once, you see. That’s what makes it wonderful. And after that, no more death!' (W) YOU ARE HAVING A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE, WHICH INESCAPABLY MEANS THAT I MUST UNDERGO A NEAR VIMES EXPERIENCE . (Th)
'He’s dead. However, credit where it’s due, he hasn’t let that stop him.' (MR)
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) 'What did you say?’
‘I said it’s uncertain death.’ ‘Is that worse than certain death.’ ‘Much.' (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) 'Ah, well, life goes on,’ people say when someone dies. But from the point of view of the person who has just died, it doesn’t. It’s the universe that goes on. (LH)
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) Goodmountain grinned. ‘Don’t worry too much about your father, lad. People change. My grandmother used to think humans were sort of hairless bears. She doesn’t anymore.’
‘What changed her mind?’ ‘I reckon it was the dying that did it.' (TT) 'Remember - that which does not kill us can only make us stronger.’
‘And that which does kill us leaves us dead!' (CJ) I AM DEATH, NOT TAXES. I TURN UP ONLY ONCE. (FC)
'Down in Klatch they believe if you lead a good life you’re rewarded by being sent to a paradise with lots of young women.’
‘That’s your reward, is it?’ ‘Dunno. Maybe it’s their punishment.' (IT) 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) That was the thing about death. When it happened to you, you were among the first to know. (MA)
'I call it highly suspicious, being dead like that. He’s been drinking, too. We could do him for being dead and disorderly.' (TOC)
It was a fine summer morning, the kind to make a man happy to be alive. And probably the man would have been
happier to be alive. He was, in fact, dead. It would be hard to be deader without special training. (TOC) 'But look,’ said Ponder, ‘the graveyards are full of people who rushed in bravely but unwisely.’
‘Ook.’ ‘What’d he say?’ said the Bursar, passing briefly through reality on his way somewhere else. ‘I think he said, “Sooner or later the graveyards are full of everybody”,’ said Ponder. (LL) |
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