Home > Work > The Truth (Discworld, #25)
1 " The young man is also an idealist. He has yet to find out that what’s in the public interest is not what the public is interested in. "
― Terry Pratchett , The Truth (Discworld, #25)
2 " In short, what people think they want is news, but what they really crave is olds. "
3 " what was once considered impossible is now quite easily achieved. Kings and lords come and go and leave nothing but statues in a desert, while a couple of young men tinkering in a workshop change the way the world works. "
4 " So... we have what the people are interested in, and human interest stories, which is what humans are interested in, and the public interest, which no one is interested in. "
5 " Hold on, hold on, there must be a law against killing lawyers.""Are you sure?""There're still some around, aren't there? "
6 " We’ve always been privileged, you see. Privilege just means ‘private law.’ That’s exactly what it means. "
7 " As for Mr. Pin and Mr. Tulip, all that need be known about them at this point is that they are the kind of people who call you “friend.” People like that aren’t friendly. "
8 " you cannot apply brakes to a volcano. Sometimes it is best to let these things run their course. They generally die down again after a while. "
9 " The press waited. It looked now like a great big beast. Soon he’d throw a lot of words into it. And in a few hours it would be hungry again, as if those words had never happened. You could feed it, but you could never fill it up. "
10 " It’s political, sir. Apparently he wants a return to the values and traditions that made the city great, sir.’ ‘Does he know what those values and traditions were?’ said Vimes, aghast. ‘I assume so, sir,’ said Carrot, keeping a straight face. ‘Oh my gods. I’d rather take a chance on the lobsters. "
11 " Of course, many people in the universe have also had the misplaced belief that they can safely ignore gravity, mostly after taking some local equivalent of dried frog pills, and that has led to much extra work for elementary physics and caused brief traffic jams in the street below. "
12 " Are you sure you’re allowed to do this?” she said. “No! I’m not! I won’t know until after I’ve done it! That’s why I’ve got to do it! Then I’ll know! "
13 " William wondered why he always disliked people who said “no offense meant.” Maybe it was because they found it easier to say “no offense meant” than actually to refrain from giving offense. "
14 " The nature of truth always bothered William. He had been brought up to tell it or, more correctly, to “own up” and some habits are hard to break if they’ve been beaten in hard enough. "
15 " Well, I hear things,” she began. “And…well, writing things down? I suppose that’s a suitable job for a lady, isn’t it? It’s practically cultural. "
16 " You are concerned citizens.” He knew about concerned citizens. Wherever they were, they all spoke the same private language, where “traditional values” meant “hang someone.” He did not have a problem with this, broadly speaking, but it never hurt to understand your employer. "
17 " William wondered why he always disliked people who said ‘no offence meant’. Maybe it was because they found it easier to say ‘no offence meant’ than actually refrain from giving offence. "
18 " My motives, as ever, are entirely transparent.’ Hughnon reflected that ‘entirely transparent’ meant either that you could see right through them or that you couldn’t see them at all. "
19 " Do you know what they called a sausage-in-a-bun in Quirm?’ said Mr Pin, as the two walked away. ‘No?’ said Mr Tulip. ‘They called it le sausage-in-le-bun. "
20 " Because nothing has to be true for ever. Just for long enough, to tell you the truth. "
