Quote

...William wondered why he always disliked people who said 'no offense meant.' Maybe it was because they found it easier to to say 'no offense meant' than actually to refrain from giving offense.

Terry Pratchett

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Terry Pratchett
Age: 66 †
Born: 1948
Born: April 28
Died: 2015
Died: March 12
Author
Journalist
Novelist
Science Fiction Writer
Screenwriter
Writer
Beaconsfield
Buckinghamshire
Terence David John Terry Pratchett
Terence David John Pratchett
Sir Terry Pratchett
Sir Terence David John Pratchett
Giving
William
Always
Wondered
People
Offense
Meant
Easier
Maybe
Actually
Disliked
Found
Refrain

More quotes by Terry Pratchett

Image
I intend, before the endgame looms, to die sitting in a chair in my own garden with a glass of brandy in my hand and Thomas Tallis on the iPod. Oh, and since this is England, I had better add, If wet, in the library. Who could say that this is bad?
Terry Pratchett
Image
Mum had done everything you need to educate a kid. She made me a kid who likes books and she told me about 'Wind in the Willows' and read it and I thought this is weird, Rat, Mole, Toad and my first ever Bolshie thought - you know about 'The Wind in the Willows.'
Terry Pratchett
Image
I didn't go to university. Didn't even finish A-levels. But I have sympathy for those who did.
Terry Pratchett
Image
It is at this point that normal language gives up, and goes and has a drink.
Terry Pratchett
Image
Don't you *ever* let go? I haven't yet. Why? I suppose... because in this world, after everyone panics, there's always got to be someone to tip the wee out of the shoe.
Terry Pratchett
Image
The Monks of Cool, whose tiny and exclusive monastery is hidden in a really cool and laid-back valley in the lower Ramtops, have a passing-out test for a novice. He is taken into a room full of all types of clothing and asked: Yo, my son, which of these is the most stylish thing to wear? And the correct answer is: Hey, whatever I select.
Terry Pratchett
Image
I would like permission to fetch a note from my mother, sir' Ridcully sighed. 'Rincewind, you once informed me, to my everlasting puzzlement, that you never knew your mother because she ran away before you were born. Distinctly remember writing it down in my diary. Would you like another try?' 'Permission to go and find my mother?'
Terry Pratchett
Image
I would like you to teach [the orcs] civilised behaviour, said Ladyship coldly. He appeared to consider this. Yes of course, I think that would be quite possible, he said. And who would you send to teach the humans?
Terry Pratchett
Image
Sometimes words need music too. Sometimes the descriptions are not enough. Books should be written with soundtracks, like films.
Terry Pratchett
Image
It was long after midnight and the stars looked damp and chilly the air was full of the busy silence of the night, which is created by hundreds of small furry things treading very carefully in the hope of finding dinner while avoiding being the main course.
Terry Pratchett
Image
In an instant he became aware that the tourist was about to try his own peculiar brand of linguistics, which meant that he would speak loudly and slowly in his own language.
Terry Pratchett
Image
Generally I start writing when I have even the smallest idea of how a book is going to go, because the physical process of writing itself keeps the mind active and focused on the job at hand. Usually I write in about 5 drafts, but that simply means there are 5 definite times when I go in a linear fashion from the beginning to the end of the book.
Terry Pratchett
Image
Magic is just a way of saying 'I don't know.'
Terry Pratchett
Image
IT'S THE EXPRESSION ON THEIR LITTLE FACES I LIKE, said the Hogfather. You mean sort of fear and awe and not knowing whether to laugh or cry or wet their pants? YES. NOW THAT IS WHAT I CALL BELIEF.
Terry Pratchett
Image
He's probably their battle poet, too. You mean he makes up heroic songs about famous battles? No, no. He recites poems that frighten the enemy....When a well-trained gonnagle starts to recite, the enemy's ears explode.
Terry Pratchett
Image
Destiny is important, see, but people go wrong when they think it controls them. It's the other way around.
Terry Pratchett
Image
I'm not cruel, sir, I won't shoot you in the guts, but I will make you realize how much you took your toes for granted.
Terry Pratchett
Image
There were two ways of looking at the world, but only one when you are starving.
Terry Pratchett
Image
Consider the situation. There you are, forehead like a set of balconies, worrying about the long-term effects of all this new 'fire' stuff on the environment, you're being chased and eaten by most of the planet's large animals, and suddenly tiny versions of one of the worst of them wanders into the cave and starts to purr.
Terry Pratchett
Image
Be one of the crowd? It went against everything a wizard stood for, and a wizard would not stand for anything if he could sit down for it, but even sitting down, you had to stand out.
Terry Pratchett