I did not read much Pratchett until the last 3-5 years, but I happened to be going through Discworld when my father passed away suddenly in March of 2023. It sounds like hyperbole, but I'm pretty sure Discworld saved my life during those first few months.
I will always be grateful for Pratchett's unique mix of warmth, wit, and a fierce determination to make the world a better place.
"Wen considered the nature of time and understood that the universe is, instant by instant, recreated anew. Therefore, he understood, there is in truth no past, only a memory of the past. Blink your eyes, and the world you see next did not exist when you closed them. Therefore, he said, the only appropriate state of the mind is surprise. The only appropriate state of the heart is joy. The sky you see now, you have never seen before. The perfect moment is now. Be glad of it."
– Thief of Time, 2001
GNU, Sir Terry.
by tkinsey3
1 Comment
Just cracked open Night Watch again last week – Vimes navigating that temporal minefield always hits me like a BASE jump where the chute might not open. That quote from Thief of Time is pure gold too, reading it feels like catching air on a perfect powder day where every second stretches into something bigger than itself.
GNU Terry Pratchett, the man understood how to find the extraordinary hiding in plain sight.