'.... if you don't know what you're getting into, naked always works,' said Rincewind. 'It's the all-purpose suit. At home in every culture.' (DW)
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'You're just a coward really, aren't you?'
'Yes, but I've never understood what's wrong with the idea. It takes guts to run away, you know. Lots of people would be as cowardly as me if they were brave enough.' (LH) 'That's the thing about gods. They'll always find a way to, you know ... hang on.' (H)
... life lives everywhere that life can. Where life can't, this takes a little longer. (H)
'... if you stopped tellin' people it's all sorted out after they're dead, they might try sorting it all out while they're alive.' (GO)
The time to start running was around about the 'e' in 'Hey you!' (IT)
The Quirm College for Young Ladies encouraged self-reliance and logical thought. Her parents had sent her there for that reason.
They'd assumed that insulating her from the fluffy edges of the world was the safest thing to do. In the circumstances, this was like not telling people about self-defence so that no-one would ever attack them. (SM) There was a long-drawn-out chord that by law must precede all folk music to give bystanders time to get away. (LL)
‘I hope they get counselling?’
‘We found out about that,’ said Bigmac’s voice. ‘They get a nice cup of tea and told to cheer up because it could be worse.’ ‘That’s all?’ ‘Well … there’s biscuits too.’ (JB) People can start laughing for all sorts of reasons. But sometimes they laugh because, against all expectations, they’re still alive and have a mouth left to laugh with. (JB)
There was a chorus of nervous laughs, such as there always is from people who owe their jobs and possibly their lives to the whim of the person who has just cracked the not very amusing line. (SG)
… on the whole, there are worse places to be buried than inside a lion. (SG)
‘We Russians have saying: “First five hundred years are worst.” Cheers.’ (LM)
Nobby had survived any number of famous massacres by not being there. (GG)
... You walk along the Streets at Night shouting, It's Twelve O'clock and All's Well. I said, What if it is not all well, and he said, You bloody find another street. (GG)
Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages. (WS)
… the trouble with dying in the attempt was that you died in the attempt. (S)
Many people who had got to know Rincewind had come to treat him as a sort of two-legged miner’s canary and tended to assume that if Rincewind was still upright and not actually running then some hope remained. (S)
He wasn’t any good at magic, but he’d had a hundred per cent success at staying alive up to now and didn’t want to spoil the record. All he needed to do was to learn how to swim in the time it took to dive into the sea. It was worth a try. (S)
Rincewind sagged. ‘Why me?’ he moaned.
For the good of the University. For the honour of wizardry. For the sake of the world. For your heart’s desire. And I’ll freeze you alive if you don’t. Rincewind breathed a sigh almost of relief. He wasn’t good on bribes, or cajolery, or appeals to his better nature. But threats, now, threats were familiar. He knew where he stood with threats. (S) Down these mean streets a man must go, he thought. And along some of them he will break into a run. (S)
He opened his eyes. The girl was wearing a demure white lace dress with fetching puffed sleeves. He opened his mouth. He realised with absolute clarity that up until now the trouble he had been in was simple, modest and nothing he couldn’t talk his way out of given a decent chance or, failing that, a running start. (S
‘You’re safe now.’
‘What, you mean I’m all alone with a female homicidal maniac?’ said Rincewind. ‘Fine.’ (S) ‘Sorry. I don’t know why, but the prospect of certain death in unknown lands at the claws of exotic monsters isn’t for me. I’ve tried it, and couldn’t get the hang of it. Each to their own, that’s what I say, and I was cut out for boredom.’ (S)
YOU’RE ONLY PUTTING OFF THE INEVITABLE, he said.
That’s what being alive is all about. (S) |
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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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