Correction
I officially change my book answer on Wednesday to the Discworld series. Eternal apologies to Terry Pratchett (RIP) for not remembering how much I miss Rincewind, Two-flower, Luggage, Granny, Nanny, Magrat and Agnes, Vetinari, Vimes, Carrot, Angua, Colon, Nobby, Littlebottom, and Moist. And Death, Susan, Death of Rats, and… all the rest. The stories starring Vimes are probably the most famous for being “the good ones,” but I enjoyed the subtlety of the Granny series as well.
Actually, they were all really enjoyable.
God damn.
“All right,” said Susan. “I’m not stupid. You’re saying humans need… fantasies to make life bearable.”
REALLY? AS IF IT WAS SOME KIND OF PINK PILL? NO. HUMANS NEED FANTASY TO BE HUMAN. TO BE THE PLACE WHERE THE FALLING ANGEL MEETS THE RISING APE.
“Tooth fairies? Hogfathers? Little—”
YES. AS PRACTICE. YOU HAVE TO START OUT LEARNING TO BELIEVE THE LITTLE LIES.
“So we can believe the big ones?”
YES. JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.
“They’re not the same at all!”
YOU THINK SO? THEN TAKE THE UNIVERSE AND GRIND IT DOWN TO THE FINEST POWDER AND SIEVE IT THROUGH THE FINEST SIEVE AND THEN SHOW ME ONE ATOM OF JUSTICE, ONE MOLECULE OF MERCY. AND YET—Death waved a hand. AND YET YOU ACT AS IF THERE IS SOME IDEAL ORDER IN THE WORLD, AS IF THERE IS SOME…SOME RIGHTNESS IN THE UNIVERSE BY WHICH IT MAY BE JUDGED.
“Yes, but people have got to believe that, or what’s the point—”
MY POINT EXACTLY.”
Posted on March 13, 2015, in Miscellany and tagged Discworld, RIP, Terry Pratchett. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
In An Age 
Reading you post yesterday I thought ” I would have chosen Pratchett books”. And today I read he died…
Very Sad Day
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I’m amused that everyone keeps picking the same passage from Hogfather to post.
Personally, I think The Last Hero has something more applicable to say.
“After a while, she heard another horse whinny.
‘Are you collecting?’ she said, and turned around to look at the mounted figure.
THAT IS SOMETHING ABOUT WHICH I DO NOT PROPOSE TO ENLIGHTEN YOU, said Death.
‘But you are here,’ said Vena, although now she felt a lot more like Mrs McGarry again.
I AM, OF COURSE, EVERYWHERE.
Mrs McGarry looked up at the stars.
‘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.”
Plus, as the kicker, there’s the final line of the book.
“No one remembers the singer. The song remains.”
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The quote isn’t so much for Pratchett, as it is one of those quotes that kind of turns things on their head when you read them. I actually had to stop collecting them at some point, as I was constantly interrupting myself.
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