31
" But we are running out of colors," said Mr. Violet, intervening.
"That cannot be the case," said Mr. white. "There are an infinite number of colors."
"But there are not that many names," said Miss Taupe.
"That is not possible. A color must have a name."
"We can find only one hundred and three names for green before the color becomes noticeably either blue or yellow," said Miss Crimson.
"But the shades are endless!"
"Nevertheless, the names are not."
"This is a problem that must be solved. Add it to the list, Miss Brown. We must name very possible shade. "
― Terry Pratchett , Thief of Time (Discworld, #26; Death, #5)
32
" She felt livid. They'd all lost so many powers. It was ridiculous to have to communicate by flapping bits of your skin, and as for the tongue... Yuerkkk ...
As far as she knew, in the whole life of the universe, no Auditor had ever experienced the sensation of yuerkkk. This wretched body was full of opportunities for yuerkkk. She could leave it at any time and yet, and yet... part of her didn't want to. There was this horrible desire, second by second, to hang on.
And she felt hungry. And that also made no sense. The stomach was a bag for digesting food. It wasn't supposed to issue commands. The Auditors could survive quite well by exchanging molecules with their surroundings and making use of any local source of energy. That was a fact.
Try telling that to the stomach. She could feel it. It was sitting there, grumbling. She was being harassed by her internal organs. Why the ... why the. . why had they copied internal organs? Yuerkkk.
It was all too much. She wanted to... she wanted to... express herself by shouting some, some, some terrible words... "
― Terry Pratchett , Thief of Time (Discworld, #26; Death, #5)
37
" The first words that are read by seekers of enlightenment in the secret, gong-banging, yeti-haunted valleys near the hub of the world, are when they look into The Life of Wen the Eternally Surprised.
The first question they ask is: 'Why was he eternally surprised?'
And they are told: '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.'
The first words read by the young Lu-Tze when he sought perplexity in the dark, teeming, rain-soaked city of Ankh-Morpork were: 'Rooms For Rent, Very Reasonable.' And he was glad of it. "
― Terry Pratchett , Thief of Time (Discworld, #26; Death, #5)
39
" Just a minute," said Lobsang. "Who are you? Time has stopped, the world is given over to...fairy tales and monsters, and there's a schoolteacher walking around?"
"Best kind of person to have," said Susan. "We don't like silliness. Anyway, I told you. I've inherited certain talents."
"Like living outside of time?"
"That's one of them."
"It's a weird talent for a schoolteacher!"
"Good for marking, though," said Susan calmly. "
― Terry Pratchett , Thief of Time (Discworld, #26; Death, #5)