Weekly words of wisdom

May 2, 2014 • 2:23 pm

Author Terry Pratchett is only 20 months older than I am, but has been knighted for his services to literature, and has written extensively about his Alzheimer’s disease, diagnosed in 2007. He’s made a BBC show on living with the disease, and has continued to write (he’s now reduced to dictation). He’s a brave man, and the quote below is authentic.

At one time he had a numinous experience, and people were eager to see Pratchett, who is enormously influential, use that to embrace God. He didn’t. His answer was the following quote:

terry

It’s been quoted widely, I think, but it’s a good thing to end the week with.
h/t: Pyers

50 thoughts on “Weekly words of wisdom”

  2. I could probably post Pratchett quotes all night but i’ll limit myself to one.

    In ancient times cats were worshipped as gods; they have not forgotten this.
    Terry Pratchett

  5. His documentary “Choosing to Die” about euthanasia is on youtube. From wiki:

    2011 BAFTA Scotland Single Documentary award for the best Scottish documentary film produced in 2011.
    2011 Royal Television SocietyProgramme Awards in a category for single documentaries, being described by the judges as “groundbreaking, revelatory and profoundly moving.
    Single Documentary prize in the 2012 Arqiva British Academy Television Awards.
    Best Documentary prize in the 40th International Emmy Awards.

  7. My favorite TP quote:

    “I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it.”

    1. Having worked for a while with a group whose members were always yelping about “thinking outside the box” when there was little evidence that they were thinking at all, I like it.

    2. MY favourite Pterry quote :

      “It is well known that stone can think, because the whole of electronics is based on that fact, but in some universes men spend ages looking for other intelligences in the sky without once looking under their feet. That is because they’ve got the time-span all wrong. From stone’s point of view the universe is hardly created and mountain ranges are bouncing up and down like organ-stops while continents zip backward and forward in general high spirits, crashing into each other from the sheer joy of momentum and getting their rocks off. It is going to be quite some time before stone notices its disfiguring skin disease and starts to scratch, which is just as well.”

  8. I came late to Pratchett (fantasy isn’t my thing, ordinarily), but I will make amends. My favorite line so far is the allusion to ‘gods with less imagination but more mechanical aptitude’ in the making of worlds that have little to no magic, such as ours.

  9. I have long been a fan of T. Pratchett. His wonderful stories are what get me through airports, long drives across country on family vacations, and long holidays. Also Neil Gaiman. I rely on him as well.

  10. Terry Pratchett is a genius. I’ve been reading his stuff forever. So sad about his illness.

    1. Looking on the bright side – as Pterry would do – once he’s dead, he can safely publish the gory details of what went on in the nuclear power plant division of the CEGB while he was their press officer. He’s hinted often enough that there is dirt to be dealt.

      1. I’d be surprised if the British government didn’t have that covered under some official secrets act. They are pretty good at that sort of thing.

        1. Yeah…but if Pterry does the release after he’s dead, what’s MI5 going to do to him? Waterboard his corpse? Get a medium to do a seance, and then use the medium as a voodoo doll? Revoke his library card?

          b&

          1. I was thinking of the English press which is easily persuaded to kowtow to the government, but presumably it will be published overseas or on the net without too much difficulty.

          2. Oh, certainly. If Snowden can leak the NSA’s crown jewels, anybody can leak anything. The only real question is your life expectancy after doing so….

            b&

        2. CEGB was a quango by the 1970s when Pterry was there. Not (directly) a part of the government.
          Maybe it’ll never happen. Or maybe it’ll happen because Pterry knows where even more bodies are buried, and has the stature as a “National Treasure” (probably more so that the “official” NT, Stephen Fry) to get away with publishing either or both.

  11. If they’re not on the kitchen or bathroom countertops, the bedstand, or your desk, then they’re probably in your pocket.

    …of course, your pocket is in your pants, and finding those may be a bit of a challenge….

    b&

      1. You can only ask that question after you’ve found something else.

    2. My keys are guaranteed to be in the last place I look*. So I try to look there first.

      *This was once used by a goddy for evidence of god’s existence…true story!

        1. Have you ever tried looking for your glasses – when you’re wearing them? The thing is, when they’re perched on your face, you can’t see them.

          Guess how I know… 🙁

  13. All hail the Pratchett.
    Who needs gods, even “small gods”, when we have him.
    Thank You Terry Pratchett

    1. Baihu is a very small god, and I need him very much — and Terry Pratchett would not at all be a suitable substitute.

      b&

      1. You realise that, according to Pratchett, the power of a god is proportional to the amount of belief in him/her. So I’m sure your belief in Baihu is sufficient to maintain his(?) divinity, at least locally. A household god, as it were?

        1. I did not know that. In that case, Baihu’s size is infinite. There’s no question but that he’s really real; he’s spread out on that chair in the living room, digesting his dinner. And absolute belief would, I assume, have to proportionally equate to infinite size….

          b&

          1. Except if you’re the only believer. So I suppose Baihu’s size would be infinite – but only within your household. If you can make converts to the Cult of Baihu then his power would extend…

          3. Ben, please help me out here. In which post did you share the excellent link about bullshit jobs? Thx

  15. Considering that he is writing about the Discworld, an imaginary flat planet with a high magical field intensity populated by witches, wizards, dwarves, trolls, werewolves, vampires and just about every other mythical creature known to man – not forgetting anthropomorphic personifications such as Death – it is remarkable how the behaviour of all these characters casts a wry light on human behaviours and attitudes on Earth.

    He’s a genius.

    And by the way, his most-loved character – Death – is fond of cats. What’s not to like?

  16. Oh, and his book Small Gods shows an acute observation of how religions work (as political power structures, that is) and I think could probably only have been written by an atheist. That is, I don’t see how anyone could have such a sceptical view of religion and still be a believer.

    1. He’s long been a member of the British Humanist Society and the National Secular Society in the UK. He’s never made a secret of his lack of belief.

  17. Yes, I know. It’s evident in all his books, too. So all the god squad can hope for is a deathbed conversion (which I somehow doubt they’ll get).

  18. Since Terry Pratchett:fantasy::Douglas Adams:science fiction, I was very happy to read that Pratchett is also an atheist. I’ve only read the first five Discworld books so far, but they are definitely on the list.

    1. Not sure if you’re comparing or contrasting fantasy and science fiction there. I used to be a science fiction only fan who maintained there was a definite and immutable difference. BUT the dividing line between Hitch-Hiker’s Guide and the Discworld is vanishingly thin.

  19. Just started on Discworld: 4 down so far. Should be able to spin them out over several years, with a bit of restraint (unless I get a library card).

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