10 Discworld Quotes You'll Desperately Need for the Next Four Years

[uppityperson]

http://io9.gizmodo.com/10-discworld-quotes-youll-desperately-need-for-the-next-1791086730

There is almost no subject that Terry Pratchett hasn’t explained better, funnier, and more times than just about anyone else on the planet. Reading his Discworld novels is reading a master at work, and it seems like he gets more relevant the more time passes. Here are 10 of his most relevant passages to keep in mind throughout the next four years.

1) Commander Vimes didn’t like the phrase “The innocent have nothing to fear,” believing the innocent had everything to fear, mostly from the guilty but in the longer term even more from those who say things like “The innocent have nothing to fear.” - Snuff

Pratchett deconstructed this argument several times. Obviously in Snuff, but he also brought it up in Men at Arms (“The axiom ‘Honest men have nothing to fear from the police’ is currently under review by the Axioms Appeal Board.”) and in Unseen Academicals (“It was all very well for the Watch to say ‘the innocent have nothing to fear’, but what was that all about? Who cared about the innocent and their problems when the Watch was on its way?”). People always trot this out when people protest expanding police powers, especially in the realm of surveillance. Vimes’ (and Pratchett’s) point is that people who say you have nothing to fear will eventually give you a reason to be afraid.

(More at link)

[JHan]

1. Terry Pratchett was everything..

and he was a gamer!

[tanyev]

2. A reread of all the Discworld novels might be just the thing for the upcoming year.