Quotes from or about Tiffany Aching
'The secret is not to dream,’ she whispered, ‘The secret is to wake up. Waking up is harder. I have woken up and I am real. I know where I come from and I know where I’m going.' (WFM)
''I would like a question answered today', said Tiffany.
‘Provided it’s not the one about how you get baby hedgehogs,’ said the man.
‘No,’ said Tiffany patiently. ‘It’s about zoology.’
‘Zoology, eh? That’s a big word, isn’t it.’
‘No, actually it isn’t,’ said Tiffany.
‘Patronizing is a big word. Zoology is really quite short.' (WFM)
Tiffany was on the whole quite a truthful person, but it seemed to her that there were times when things didn’t divide easily into ‘true’and ‘false’, but instead could be ‘things that people needed to know at the moment’ and ‘things that they didn’t need to know at the moment’. (WFM)
'Witches have animals they can talk to, called familiars. Like your toad there.’
‘I’m not familiar,’ said a voice among the paper flowers. ‘I’m just slightly presumptuous.' (WFM)
As far as she could see, children mostly argued, shouted, ran around very fast, laughed loudly, picked their noses, got dirty and sulked. Any seen dancing and skipping and singing had probably been stung by a wasp. (WFM)
'On my honour.’
‘On you honour as a drunken rowdy thief?’ said Tiffany.
Rob Anybody beamed. ‘Aye!’ he said. ‘An’ I got a lot of good big reputation to protect there!' (WFM)
Tiffany Aching was lying on her stomach by the river tickling trout. She liked to hear them laugh. It came up in bubbles. (WFM)
Thoughts are the everyday thoughts. Everyone has those. Second Thoughts are the thoughts you think about the wayyou think. People who enjoy thinking have those. Third Thoughts are thoughts that watch the world and think all by themselves. They’re rare, and often troublesome. Listening to them is part of witchcraft. (HFS)
Over the last year or so Tiffany’s mother had been quite surprised, and a little worried, at Tiffany’s sudden thirst for education, which people in the village thought was a good thing in moderation but if taken unwisely could lead to restlessness. (HFS)
It turned out that when Miss Level had asked Tiffany if she was scared of heights, it had been the wrong question. Tiffany was not afraid of heights at all. She could walk past tall trees without batting an eyelid. Looking up at huge towering mountains didn’t bother her a bit.
What she was afraid of, although she hadn’t realized it up until this point, was depths. She was afraid of dropping such a long way out of the sky that she’d have time to run out of breath screaming before hitting the rocks so hard that she’d turn to a sort of jelly and all her bones would break into dust. She was, in fact, afraid of the ground. (HFS)
‘What’s your name, pictsie?’
‘Awf’ly Wee Billy Bigchin MacFeegle, mistress.’
‘You’re very small, aren’t you?’
'Only for my height, mistress.' (HFS)
... they’re not so poor they can’t afford to do the right things!' (W)
'We are a small people,’ her father had said. ‘It ain’t wise to come to the attention of the gods.' (W)
She wasn’t crying, which is not the same as, well, not crying. People walked around not crying all the time and didn’t think about it at all. But now, she did. She thought: I’m not crying. (W)
'... do not become a strumpet like Mrs Ogg,’said Miss Treason.
‘I’m not very musical,’ said Tiffany uncertainly. (W)
'Look, just because a woman’s got no teeth doesn’t mean she’s wise. It might just mean she’s been stupid for a very long time.' (W)
'... who does like witches until they need one, Mistress Weatherwax?' (W)
'Millions of people will die!’
‘But only once, you see. That’s what makes it wonderful. And after that, no more death!' (W)
'Nevertheless.’
Tiffany waited, and then said: ‘Nevertheless what?’
‘Just general neverthelessness.' (W)
'Try not to fart, in a nutshell.’
‘In a nutshell I imagine it would be pretty unpleasant!' (W)
It wasn’t a spell, except in her own head, but if you couldn’t make spells work in your own head you couldn’t make them work at all. (W)
First Sight and Second Thoughts, that’s what a witch had to rely on: First Sight to see what’s really there, and Second Thoughts to watch the First Thoughts to check that they were thinking right. (W)
... Tiffany distrusted black cheeses. They always looked as though they were plotting something. (W)
You've taken the first step.'
'There's a second step?' said Tiffany.
'No; there's another first step. Every step is a first step if it's a step in the right direction.' (ISWM)
Sometimes daft works …' (ISWM)
''The Nac Mac Feegle feel the truth is so precious that it shouldn't be waved about too much …' (ISWM)
'… there are times when promises should be kept and times when promises should be broken, and it takes a Feegle to know the difference.' (ISWM)
'I am not brazen and I don't huss!' (ISWM)
'Why is it, Rob Anybody, that you persist in lying when you are caught red-handed?'
'Ah, weel, that's an easy one, miss, said Rob Anybody, who was technically the head man of the Nac Mac Feegles. 'After all, ye ken, what would be the point of lyin' when you had nae done anything wrong?' (ISWM)
The Nac Mac Feegle could be pretty worrying to those who did not know them very well, although now she thought about it, they could be pretty worrying however long you had known them; a Feegle in your life very soon changed it. (ISWM)
'I have seen horrible things, and some of them all the more horrible because they were, well, normal.' (ISWM)
'I make it my business. I'm a witch. It's what we do. When it's nobody else's business, it's my business,' said Tiffany quickly. (ISWM)
''I would like a question answered today', said Tiffany.
‘Provided it’s not the one about how you get baby hedgehogs,’ said the man.
‘No,’ said Tiffany patiently. ‘It’s about zoology.’
‘Zoology, eh? That’s a big word, isn’t it.’
‘No, actually it isn’t,’ said Tiffany.
‘Patronizing is a big word. Zoology is really quite short.' (WFM)
Tiffany was on the whole quite a truthful person, but it seemed to her that there were times when things didn’t divide easily into ‘true’and ‘false’, but instead could be ‘things that people needed to know at the moment’ and ‘things that they didn’t need to know at the moment’. (WFM)
'Witches have animals they can talk to, called familiars. Like your toad there.’
‘I’m not familiar,’ said a voice among the paper flowers. ‘I’m just slightly presumptuous.' (WFM)
As far as she could see, children mostly argued, shouted, ran around very fast, laughed loudly, picked their noses, got dirty and sulked. Any seen dancing and skipping and singing had probably been stung by a wasp. (WFM)
'On my honour.’
‘On you honour as a drunken rowdy thief?’ said Tiffany.
Rob Anybody beamed. ‘Aye!’ he said. ‘An’ I got a lot of good big reputation to protect there!' (WFM)
Tiffany Aching was lying on her stomach by the river tickling trout. She liked to hear them laugh. It came up in bubbles. (WFM)
Thoughts are the everyday thoughts. Everyone has those. Second Thoughts are the thoughts you think about the wayyou think. People who enjoy thinking have those. Third Thoughts are thoughts that watch the world and think all by themselves. They’re rare, and often troublesome. Listening to them is part of witchcraft. (HFS)
Over the last year or so Tiffany’s mother had been quite surprised, and a little worried, at Tiffany’s sudden thirst for education, which people in the village thought was a good thing in moderation but if taken unwisely could lead to restlessness. (HFS)
It turned out that when Miss Level had asked Tiffany if she was scared of heights, it had been the wrong question. Tiffany was not afraid of heights at all. She could walk past tall trees without batting an eyelid. Looking up at huge towering mountains didn’t bother her a bit.
What she was afraid of, although she hadn’t realized it up until this point, was depths. She was afraid of dropping such a long way out of the sky that she’d have time to run out of breath screaming before hitting the rocks so hard that she’d turn to a sort of jelly and all her bones would break into dust. She was, in fact, afraid of the ground. (HFS)
‘What’s your name, pictsie?’
‘Awf’ly Wee Billy Bigchin MacFeegle, mistress.’
‘You’re very small, aren’t you?’
'Only for my height, mistress.' (HFS)
... they’re not so poor they can’t afford to do the right things!' (W)
'We are a small people,’ her father had said. ‘It ain’t wise to come to the attention of the gods.' (W)
She wasn’t crying, which is not the same as, well, not crying. People walked around not crying all the time and didn’t think about it at all. But now, she did. She thought: I’m not crying. (W)
'... do not become a strumpet like Mrs Ogg,’said Miss Treason.
‘I’m not very musical,’ said Tiffany uncertainly. (W)
'Look, just because a woman’s got no teeth doesn’t mean she’s wise. It might just mean she’s been stupid for a very long time.' (W)
'... who does like witches until they need one, Mistress Weatherwax?' (W)
'Millions of people will die!’
‘But only once, you see. That’s what makes it wonderful. And after that, no more death!' (W)
'Nevertheless.’
Tiffany waited, and then said: ‘Nevertheless what?’
‘Just general neverthelessness.' (W)
'Try not to fart, in a nutshell.’
‘In a nutshell I imagine it would be pretty unpleasant!' (W)
It wasn’t a spell, except in her own head, but if you couldn’t make spells work in your own head you couldn’t make them work at all. (W)
First Sight and Second Thoughts, that’s what a witch had to rely on: First Sight to see what’s really there, and Second Thoughts to watch the First Thoughts to check that they were thinking right. (W)
... Tiffany distrusted black cheeses. They always looked as though they were plotting something. (W)
You've taken the first step.'
'There's a second step?' said Tiffany.
'No; there's another first step. Every step is a first step if it's a step in the right direction.' (ISWM)
Sometimes daft works …' (ISWM)
''The Nac Mac Feegle feel the truth is so precious that it shouldn't be waved about too much …' (ISWM)
'… there are times when promises should be kept and times when promises should be broken, and it takes a Feegle to know the difference.' (ISWM)
'I am not brazen and I don't huss!' (ISWM)
'Why is it, Rob Anybody, that you persist in lying when you are caught red-handed?'
'Ah, weel, that's an easy one, miss, said Rob Anybody, who was technically the head man of the Nac Mac Feegles. 'After all, ye ken, what would be the point of lyin' when you had nae done anything wrong?' (ISWM)
The Nac Mac Feegle could be pretty worrying to those who did not know them very well, although now she thought about it, they could be pretty worrying however long you had known them; a Feegle in your life very soon changed it. (ISWM)
'I have seen horrible things, and some of them all the more horrible because they were, well, normal.' (ISWM)
'I make it my business. I'm a witch. It's what we do. When it's nobody else's business, it's my business,' said Tiffany quickly. (ISWM)
