Sir Terry Prattchet was THE author who pushed the creative river to flow in my mind. His world-building astonished the young me. So, I became determined to make something of my own. Something epic. Something… not quite done yet. Here are 7 quotes from one of the greatest fantasy writers, perhaps of all writers, of our time!
Sir Terry Prattchet is probably most known for his uncanny Disc World novels. You know the one, with the giant space turtle and the four elephants. His stories are always a joy to read, filled with current commentary, and laced with humor and absurdity. He also gave no mind to the bizarre demands of today. In his novels, the people hiss and manage (instead of say), and the adverbs are abundant. Sir Terry Prattchet is my go-to author for some long-needed inspiration and encouragement!
Enough dallying, though. Here are 7 quotes that I found very insightful!
“The enemy isn’t men or women, it’s bloody stupid people and no one has the right to be stupid.”
From “Monstrous Regiment”
This seems to be the epitome of our current era. People are getting into the tribalistic mind more than ever. If we are not ‘woke’ then we are the enemy bigots and racists, or better yet, nazis of the extreme right! And if we want to have some semblance of safety despite our quirks, we are the doomed, satanic end of days. Either way, it seems humanity simply can not win this one. Do one thing, and the other side hates you. Be neutral and well… Both sides hate you.
I truly believe in the sentiment of this quote from the ‘Monstrous Regiment’. Why are we so busy trying to find people to hate, instead of making it better? Why wage a war, instead of putting our collective minds together and coming up with a solution? All we do now is cause a divide. Divide between men and women, between different kinds of people. Is this what you really want? We are blind at our own peril.
Do I need to mention the current state of affairs with feminism, gender ideology, and more? When did it become alright for women to behave in such an appalling manner, and dress in promiscuous ways? Or for men to trample all over biological women’s safety?
Feminism has made men the enemy. As far as I know, this wasn’t the intention of the movement’s ‘pure’ tenets. It was to be equality and opportunity. Protection for women and their autonomy. Women of today have all but estranged themselves from the realities of life. We need men, and they need us. Otherwise, this saga in the annals of human history is over. We are not each other’s enemy. The stupid people are.
“Evil begins when you begin to treat people as things.”
From “I Shall Wear Midnight”
Life is a sacred thing. I learned this the hard way, having tried to commit suicide several times. I even disgraced my divine bond to my husband and asked, no, begged him to off me. And he got angry. I am his wife. The only one on the planet, in existence, that could ever be me. There won’t be another. You’d do well to remember this in your dark moments. You, my friend, are one of a kind.
Who are we then, to start behaving like we are things? We don’t like the way we look, so we snip some things off or remodel them. Modern medicine is wonderful, and I’m not one to start telling you how to live your life. All I can say is, that you are what you are. No amount of ink, color, surgery, or anything else will alleviate you from reality. You can not run away from who you are, truly.
And then there’s the matter of the budding life, babies. I sympathize with the people who would rather not bear the horrors of raising a child of rape, I really do. At the same time, it was not that child’s fault this happened. What right do you have, especially due to no other reason than your own stupidity, to snuff the life of another? Especially when the father isn’t even notified on some occasions.
People, and lives, are not things. Stop treating them, and yourself, as if they were. It is the shortcut to evil, indeed.
“The truth may be out there, but the lies are inside your head.”
From “Hogfather”
Oh, the lies I had in my head. Lies about change, love, and life. Boy, if I got a nickel every time I noticed a lie I told myself… well, I’d be pretty filled with metal and nowhere to put them.
Mental health is a grave thing. It needs tending and care to the max. We have become lazy in our long-living privilege. The days of survival are over and the time of thinking and dwelling has come. And dwell we do.
We have ‘progressed’ so far in our society, that science has now become racist and bigoted. Biology has been entirely stigmatized, and the realities of our species twisted to never-before-seen proportions. And I hear that maths has got its fair share of critique as well.
“If you don’t turn your life into a story, you just become a part of someone else’s story.”
From “The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents”
This, my friends, is the story of my life. As someone with a Borderline Personality, I built my life on others. Meaning that I was never truly progressing my own story. It was always about my patron, parent, friend, or whoever I was hoping to be my salvation. The ME I knew I once was, faded out into the void. It waited for me, thank heavens, and now we are back together again, telling our tales to the world.
Don’t give the power, the reigns of your own life, to someone else. That is about the most foolish thing you can do. And what did we learn about stupid people earlier? That’s right, stupidity is the enemy.
Take responsibility for your own choices and turns. I know, it can be hard. Gods it was terrifying, too! You only have this one chance here, make it count. If you don’t you will most certainly regret it in the end.
“The world is full of monsters with friendly faces.”
From “Men at Arms”
Here is quite a recent article on child abuse, because what is a better place to show than that which is truly monstrous?
I have known this for a while, the twisted nature of humans. It lurks in the corners and comes to whisper sweet safety in your ears as a child. While I don’t recall being traumatized by the spankings, I do know that the emotional deprivation of my needs was extremely damaging. I left the coop into the arms of an abuser, a master manipulator, being still underage.
The trust I had in people dwindled. The Maw of Chaos opened and took me in. I was helpless. Or so I thought.
It turns out that with a little help, we can root out this evil. The ‘loving’ creeps that would rather see us bound to their perverse realities. Be alert, while you are out there. Make sure you see that you and especially your children are safe. Fear is obvious if you just put down your phone and look. Protect your weaker. But do not take away their autonomy.
“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.”
From “Diggers”
Another sin of mine. I used to be way open-minded. It is, after all, a virtue, right? Wrong. Be open, but do not be stupid. See how this all comes full circle again. Use those given rational centers of yours, and don’t let the mob decide for you.
My husband has this saying: “Do not give away your freedom for security.”
It got pretty wild with the Covid, didn’t it? Mandates, restriction of freedom… Here in Finland some of the people were even forced to take the vaccine at gunpoint. Figuratively, of course. They were told they would lose their jobs if they didn’t. And now look at this mess.
The governments lied about the tolls and controlled the masses of sheep with their fear-mongering. And of course, the vaccine people smile on the way to the bank. To think they even wanted us to start having a slip that says if we are or are not vaccinated! Nobody, and I mean nobody, has the right to my health records other than my physicians unless I reveal it myself.
It’s like a proper social pandemic we live in. The ideologies are running rampant, the forcing of language and thought to fit some molds… It’s appalling. Whatever happened to live and let live? Stop screaming, and go your own way.
“Just because you can explain it doesn’t mean it’s not still a miracle.”
From “Small Gods”
My whole life story is a miracle. From birth to bullies. My parent’s separation and the inevitable mental illness. The times I tried to take my own life and finally found my way back to the Path of Life.
You see, I don’t believe that it’s fair to call only the good things miraculous. A miracle is something unexpected, and devastating. Both good and bad. The life of a murderer is still a miracle. Same as the birth of a new species, or revival of an old one.
And as it stands, all of my life probably has a perfectly reasonable explanation. I’m sure psychology and sociology could explain it all, with the help of biology and the like. Yet, it has all been quite miraculous. And not in the least because without me, none of it would have happened. Crazy, no?
Conclusion
What I’ve learned from these quotes from Sir Terry Prattchet, I’ve already known in my heart.
The real enemy is ideology, and stupidity, which will lead to treating people as something less than what they are, a life.
We tend to adopt herd mentalities, especially us women, and fill our minds with whatever will keep us in our chosen pack. Humanity is built on society, and without your tribe life will be difficult.
Yet, even in those tribes, the predators lurk in the shadows. Having a too-open mind will lead us into them, and the Maw will claim another victim.
And most of all, Sir Prattchet has cemented my faith in one thing. You and I, we, are all miracles.