Overly Devoted Archivist Uncategorized terry pratchett 0 Comments

elkian:

moddeydhoo:

serialephemera:

Thematically speaking, the most important thing Terry Pratchett taught me was the concept of militant decency. The idea that you can look at the world and its flaws and its injustices and its cruelties and get deeply, intensely angry, and that you can turn that into energy for doing the right thing and making the world a better place. He taught me that the anger itself is not the part I should be fighting. Nobody in my life ever said that before.

More lessons from Pratchett:

• Good isn’t always nice (i.e. sometimes appearing nice is a luxury you can’t afford if you want to do the right thing) (this refers to setting bones and fighting evil, not to being pointlessly horrible)
• Evil can appear very nice indeed (watch out for people who smile while they deny your basic humanity)
• People can suck, be rude and actively work against their own best interests, but personkind is still something we must protect so they can keep being wonderful in between all the stupid
• “Person” is always a broader category than you think
• It’s not about who’s best for the job – it’s about who shows up and does it
• Be very aware of how you treat those in your power; you will be judged on it
• Respect women, which explicitly includes trans women (with or without beards and steel-toed boots)
• Kings: no. Hard-boiled eggs: yes

• No one – not military leaders, not kings, not patricians, not gods – no one is beyond consequences or above justice
• Addendum: those who think they are are often the worst of the worst
• Kids understand more than we think and sometimes the best way to protect innocence is to arm them with knowledge, confidence, and skill
• How you’re born is intrinsically less important and less relevant than who you make yourself into
• I can’t put it into a pithy sentence but that bit where Magrat is like “let’s toss [Lily] off the tower” and Nanny answers with “go ahead then” and Magrat hesitates bc it’s easier to do something like that together than to make the decision alone… impactful.
• Evil begins when we treat people like things.

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Overly Devoted Archivist Uncategorized terry pratchett 1 Comment

Here I think of this Terry Pratchett passage:

“Do you understand what I’m saying?” shouted Moist. “You can’t just go around killing people!”

“Why Not? You Do.” The golem lowered his arm.

“What?” snapped Moist. “I do not! Who told you that?”

“I Worked It Out. You Have Killed Two Point Three Three Eight People,” said the golem calmly.

“I have never laid a finger on anyone in my life, Mr Pump. I may be–– all the things you know I am, but I am not a killer! I have never so much as drawn a sword!”

“No, You Have Not. But You Have Stolen, Embezzled, Defrauded And Swindled Without Discrimination, Mr Lipvig. You Have Ruined Businesses And Destroyed Jobs. When Banks Fail, It Is Seldom Bankers Who Starve. Your Actions Have Taken Money From Those Who Had Little Enough To Begin With. In A Myriad Small Ways You Have Hastened The Deaths Of Many. You Do Not Know Them. You Did Not See Them Bleed. But You Snatched Bread From Their Mouths And Tore Clothes From Their Backs. For Sport, Mr Lipvig. For Sport. For The Joy Of The Game.”