Terry Pratchett

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"Divers alarums and excursions', she read, uncertainly. 'That means lots of terrible happenings, said Magrat. 'You always put that in plays.' Alarums and what?', said Nanny Ogg, who hadn't been listening. Excursions', said Magrat patienly. Oh.' Nanny Ogg brightened a bit. 'The seaside would be nice,' she said. Oh do shut up, Gytha,' said Granny Weatherwax. 'They're not for you. They're only for divers, like it says. Probably so they can recover from all them alarums."

Nice Mean Play

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"Everywhere I look, I see something holy."

Looks Holy

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"The thing is, 'Discworld' had been going on for a very long time, and I've written children's books as well. Usually when people have a really big series they franchise it, which I thought is a bit of a no-no, so I thought what I'd do is I'd franchise it to myself."

Children Book Long

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"The only superstition I have is that I must start a new book on the same day that I finish the last one, even if it's just a few notes in a file. I dread not having work in progress."

Book Progress Superstitions

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"One thing that writers have in common is that they are readers first. They have read lots and lots of stuff, because they're just infested with lots of stuff."

Stuff Firsts Common

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"I've lost both parents in the last two years, so you pick up on that stuff. That's the most terrible thing about being an author - standing there at your mother's funeral, but you don't switch the author off. So your own innermost thoughts are grist for the mill."

Mother Years Two

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"I've always felt that what I have going for me is not my imagination, because everyone has an imagination. What I have is a relentlessly controlled imagination. What looks like wild invention is actually quite carefully calculated."

Imagination Looks Invention

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"I'm not really good at fun-to-know, human interest stuff. We're not 'celebrities', whose life itself is a performance. Good or bad or ugly, we are our words. They're what people meet."

Fun People Our Words

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"When you read, I'm sure you don't realize that your eyes are going backwards and forwards and to this place and that place. Mine don't do that."

Eye Realizing Backwards

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"I don't hold with paddlin' with the occult," said Granny firmly. "Once you start paddlin' with the occult you start believing in spirits, and when you start believing in spirits you start believing in demons, and then before you know where you are you're believing in gods. And then you're in trouble." "But all them things exist," said Nanny Ogg. "That's no call to go around believing in them. It only encourages 'em."

Believe Ems Nannies

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"The hippo of recollection stirred in the muddy waters of the mind."

Water Mind Hippo

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"Some people are heroes. And some people jot down notes."

Hero People Notes

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"When I am old I shall wear midnight."

Midnight

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"Well, the traveling teachers do come through every few months," said the Baron. "Yes, sir, I know, sir, and they're useless, sir. They teach facts, not understanding. It's like teaching people about forests by showing them a saw. I want a proper school, sir, to teach reading and writing, and most of all thinking, sir, so people can find what they're good at, because someone doing what they really like is always an asset to any country, and too often people never find out until it's too late."

Country Teacher Teaching

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"And, as always happens, and happens far too soon, the strange and wonderful becomes a memory and a memory becomes a dream. Tomorrow it's gone."

Dream Memories Loss

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"The most important thing was that time had passed, pouring thousands of soothing seconds across the island. People need time to deal with the now before it runs away and becomes the then."

Running Islands People

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"Who'd want a pony when you could have the whole universe? It was far more interesting and you didn't have to muck it out once a week."

Interesting Ponies Want

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"People's whole lives do pass in front of their eye before they die. The process is called "Living"."

Eye People Dying

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"Only Ron's dog was watching William. He considered that it had, for a dog, a very offensive and knowing look. A couple of months ago someaone had tried to hand William the old story about there being a dog in the city that could talk. (...) The dog in front of William didn't look as if it could talk, but it DID look as if it would swear."

Dog Couple Hands

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"Ah," said Mr Pin. "Right. I remember. You are concerned citizens." He knew about concerned citizens. Wherever they were, they all spoke the same private language, where 'traditional values' meant 'hang someone'."

Remember You Remembers You Citizens

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