‘I’ve learned to recognise the way people don’t say things.’ (MR)
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Tea was an amazingly useful thing. It gave you an excuse to talk to anyone. (MR)
... once you’ve told Nanny Ogg you’d more or less told everyone else. (W)
... no teacher likes to hear anyone else talk for very long. (W)
Sooner or later you had to talk, even if it was only because you’d run out of things to throw. (OYCSM)
Unfortunately, Unity did not seem to have mastered some of the subtleties of human conversation, such as when a time of voice means 'Stop this line of inquiry right now or may huge rats eat you by day and by night.' (TOT)
It was difficult to talk to someone who paid attention all the time. It put you off. (HFS)
Three indeeds used by a person in one brief speech generally meant an internal spring was about to break. (TT)
... it was amazing how much you could glean from a look, or a snort, or even a fart if it was dropped into the conversation at just the right place. (Do)
It was very unusual for Granny Aching to say more than a sentence. She used words as if they cost money. (WFM)
... he knew how to soothe, but he also knew when to twinkle and - more importantly perhaps - he also knew when not to twinkle. (JD)
They were talking, their mouths were opening and shutting, every word by itself was perfectly understandable, but when they were all put together, they made no sense at all. (Truck)
'When they're standing right in front of you, kings are a kind of speech impediment.' (CP)
He was aware that he had their full attention, something that wizards did not often give. Usually they defined 'listening' as a period in which you worked out what you were going to say next. It was disconcerting. (LC)
It's hard to talk to someone who understands ... (N)
Another thing about Grandmother was her belief that a conversation consisted of someone else listening to her talking ... (N)
After all, when you seek advice from someone it's certainly not because you want them to give it. You just want them to be there while you talk to yourself. (J)
... he listened with great care because what people said was what they wanted him to hear. He paid a lot of attention to the spaces outside the words, though. That's where the things were that they hoped he didn't know and didn't want him to find out. (J)
Mustrum Ridcully believed that knowledge could be acquired by shouting at people ... (H)
That's rumour for you. If we could modulate it with the truth, how useful it could be .... (FC)
It was possible, if you kept on talking at the Archchancellor long enough, that some facts might squeeze through. (IT)
He was extremely good at listening. He created a kind of mental suction. People told him things just to avoid the silence. (SM)
News went around Lancre faster than turpentine through a sick donkey (LL)
… he was talking in philosophy, but they were listening in gibberish. (SG)
There are fewer metaphors around than people think. (SG)
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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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