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Give a man a fire and he's warm for a day, but set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life.Terry Pratchett
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Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.Terry Pratchett
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Build a man a fire, and he'll be warm for a day. Set a man on fire, and he'll be warm for the rest of his life.Terry Pratchett
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Night poured over the desert. It came suddenly, in purple. In the clear air, the stars drilled down out of the sky, reminding any thoughtful watcher that it is in the deserts and high places that religions are generated. When men see nothing but bottomless infinity over their heads they have always had a driving and desperate urge to find someone to put in the way.Terry Pratchett
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The intelligence of that creature known as a crowd is the square root of the number of people in it.Terry Pratchett
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It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.Terry Pratchett
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It is always useful to face an enemy who is prepared to die for his country, " he read. "This means that both you and he have exactly the same aim in mind.Terry Pratchett
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It is a long-cherished tradition among a certain type of military thinker that huge casualties are the main thing. If they are on the other side then this is a valuable bonus.Terry Pratchett
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Men marched away, Vimes. And men marched back. How glorious the battles would have been that they never had to fight!Terry Pratchett
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Fortune favours the brave, sir, " said Carrot cheerfully." Good. Good. Pleased to hear it, captain. What is her position vis a vis heavily armed, well prepared and excessively manned armies?"" Oh, no—one's ever heard of Fortune favouring them, sir."" According to General Tacticus, it's because they favour themselves, " said Vimes. He opened the battered book. Bits of paper and string indicated his many bookmarks. "In fact, men, the general has this to say about ensuring against defeat when outnumbered, out—weaponed and outpositioned. It is.." he turned the page, "'Don't Have a Battle.'""Sounds like a clever man, " said Jenkins. He pointed to the yellow horizon." See all that stuff in the air?" he said. "What do you think that is?"" Mist?" said Vimes."Hah, yes. Klatchian mist! It's a sandstorm! The sand blows about all the time. Vicious stuff. If you want to sharpen your sword, just hold it up in the air."" Oh."" And it's just as well because otherwise you'd see Mount Gebra. And below it is what they call the Fist of Gebra. It's a town but there's a bloody great fort, walls thirty feet thick. 's like a big city all by itself. 's got room inside for thousands of armed men, war elephants, battle camels, everything. And if you saw that, you'd want me to turn round right now. Whats your famous general got to say about it, eh?"" I think I saw something.." said Vimes. He flicked to another page. "Ah, yes, he says, 'After the first battle of Sto Lat, I formulated a policy which has stood me in good stead in other battles. It is this: if the enemy has an impregnable stronghold, see he stays there.'"" That's a lot of help, " said Jenkins.Vimes slipped the book into a pocket." So, Constable Visit, there's a god on our side, is there?"" Certainly, sir."" But probably also a god on their side as well?"" Very likely, sir. There's a god on every side."" Let's hope they balance out, then.Terry Pratchett
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Are we entirely ready, sir?" said Lieutenant Hornett, with the special inflection that means "We are not entirely ready, sir."" We had better be. Glory awaits, gentlemen. In the words of General Tacticus, 'let us take history by the scrotum.' Of course, he was not a very honourable fighter.Terry Pratchett
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History was full of the bones of good men who'd followed bad orders in the hope that they could soften the blow. Oh, yes, there were worse things they could do, but most of them began right where they started following bad orders.Terry Pratchett
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Were you proposing to shoot these people in cold blood, sergeant?"" Nossir. Just a warning shot inna head, sir.Terry Pratchett
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Oh, my dear Vimes, history changes all the time. It is constantly being re-examined and re-evaluated, otherwise how would we be able to keep historians occupied? We can't possibly allow people with their sort of minds to walk around with time on their hands.Terry Pratchett
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Why are our people going out there, ” said Mr. Boggis of the Thieves’ Guild."Because they are showing a brisk pioneering spirit and seeking wealth and … additional wealth in a new land, ” said Lord Vetinari.“What’s in it for the Klatchians?” said Lord Downey.“Oh, they’ve gone out there because they are a bunch of unprincipled opportunists always ready to grab something for northern, ” said Lord Vetinari.“A mastery summation, if I may say so, my lord, ” said Mr. Burleigh. The Patrician looked down again at his notes. “Oh, I do beg your pardon, I seem to have read those last to sentences in the wrong order… .Terry Pratchett
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Why are our people going out there, ” said Mr. Boggis of the Thieves’ Guild.Because they are showing a brisk pioneering spirit and seeking wealth and … additional wealth I na new land, ” said Lord Vetinari.“What’s in it for the Klatchians?” said Lord Downey.“Oh, they’ve gone out there because they are a bunch of unprincipled opportunists always ready to grab something for northern, ” said Lord Vetinari.“A mastery summation, if I may say so, my lord, ” said Mr. Burleigh. The Patrician looked down again at his notes. “Oh, I do beg your pardon, I seem to have read those last to sentences in the wrong order… .Terry Pratchett