As we live in History, a few words from Sir Pterry (Sir Terence David John Pratchett OBE) on History.

[sir pball]

“History isn't like that. History unravels gently, like an old sweater. It has been patched and darned many times, reknitted to suit different people, shoved in a box under the sink of censorship to be cut up for the dusters of propaganda, yet it always - eventually - manages to spring back into its old familar shape. History has a habit of changing the people who think they are changing it. History always has a few tricks up its frayed sleeve. It's been around a long time.”

– Mort

GNU Terry Pratchett (hey EarlG, have y'all rolled out the header yet?)

[Srkdqltr]

1. He is very right about a lot.

[sir pball]

2. There's a quote from Monstrous Regiment that has stuck with me since 2016...

“Do you think it's possible for an entire nation to be insane?”

[Srkdqltr]

3. That is a thought to dwell on.

Haven't read that book yet. Looking forward to it.

[sir pball]

7. Oh, it's fun! By far his most underrated, IMO

It never makes any "Best of" lists, but it's just so lovely. I have a signed first edition hardback, that's how much I adore it. (it was shockingly cheap lol)

[Hekate]

4. Yes, it is possible

[Hekate]

5. From Lords & Ladies, also by Sir pTerry, regarding history & dictators...

“Shoot the dictator and prevent the war? But the dictator is merely the tip of the whole festering boil of social pus from which dictators emerge; shoot one, and there’ll be another one along in a minute. Shoot him too? Why not shoot everyone and invade Poland? In fifty years’, thirty years’, ten years’ time the world will be very nearly back on its old course. History always has a great weight of inertia.”

― Terry Pratchett, Lords and Ladies

[Hekate]

6. What always intrigued me was how he just plunked this thought into a book about Elves invading

…Discworld with bad intent. I always remembered the passage, but it was very difficult to find it again because it seemed so out of place.

[sir pball]

8. L&L is a little short on deep philosophy, but he always wrote well...

“Personal’s not the same as important. People just think it is.”

“You can’t say ‘if this didn’t happen then that would have happened’ because you don’t know everything that might have happened. You might think something’d be good, but for all you know it could have turned out horrible. You can’t say ‘If only I’d…’ because you could be wishing for anything. The point is, you’ll never know. You’ve gone past. So there’s no use thinking about it.”

“If cats looked like frogs we'd realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That's what people remember.”