No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away
With the passing of Sir Terry Pratchett and the publication of The Shepherd’s Crown, I embarked on an epic re-reading of all 41 official Discworld novels, with the goal of finishing by 31 December, 2016.
Famous for its wit and wisdom, the series offers countless quotable quotes on a variety of subjects. The quotes I share should not be considered the whole of Sir Terry’s excellent prose; indeed, they are the tasty appetizers to a succulent, nourishing meal.
About I Shall Wear Midnight
This is the 38th Discworld novel and the 4th in the Tiffany Aching series.
Tiffany Aching is growing up. She is officially *the witch* of the Chalk, and her people know it, even if she doesn’t always dress the part. Sure, she has the pointy hat, but she wears earthy colors. As for black, she says, “I shall wear midnight when I am old.”
However difficult Tiffany found the Queen of the Faries, the Hiver, and the Wintersmith, there’s difficulties in the mundane, too.
For one, Roland has grown up and taken a fiance with a rather domineering mother. For another, Tiffany’s attempt to help a local girl with the Soothings goes wrong. And then there’s the matter of the Old Baron and the iron chest, plus a new housekeeper in the castle that does more eavesdropping than housekeeping.
This is all in a day’s work for a witch; but when more things go wrong than usual, Tiffany senses a sickening fog settling over the land. The Cunning Man – the tormented spirit of an ancient witchfinder – has returned and Tiffany must defeat him on her own land using her own cunning. If she doesn’t, the other witches will . . . will have something to say about the matter.
Can an unlikely ally in far-off Ank-Morpork help even the field?
And why is the hare not burned when it jumps though the fire?
5 stars
The Goodreads Blurb:
It starts with whispers.
Then someone picks up a stone.
Finally, the fires begin.
When people turn on witches, the innocents suffer. . . .
Tiffany Aching has spent years studying with senior witches, and now she is on her own. As the witch of the Chalk, she performs the bits of witchcraft that aren’t sparkly, aren’t fun, don’t involve any kind of wand, and that people seldom ever hear about: She does the unglamorous work of caring for the needy.
But someone–or something–is igniting fear, inculcating dark thoughts and angry murmurs against witches. Aided by her tiny blue allies, the Wee Free Men, Tiffany must find the source of this unrest and defeat the evil at its root–before it takes her life. Because if Tiffany falls, the whole Chalk falls with her.
Chilling drama combines with laughout-loud humor and searing insight as beloved and bestselling author Terry Pratchett tells the high-stakes story of a young witch who stands in the gap between good and evil.
To the Quotes!
The Librarian as he appears in The Discworld Companion, illustrated by Paul Kidby
People are often so busy living that they never stopped to wonder why.
Horace was the only cheese that would eat mice and, if you didn’t nail him down, other cheeses as well. No wonder he got on so well with the Nac Mac Feegle, who had made him an honorary member of their clan. He was their kind of cheese.
When it’s nobody else’s business, it’s my business.
People don’t understand what’s needed. it’s not that they’re bad; it’s just that they don’t think.
She had heard it said that, before you could understand anybody, you had to walk a mile in their shoes, which did not make a whole lot of sense, because probably after you had walked a mile in their shoes, you would understand that they were chasing you and accusing you of the theft of a pair of shoes – although, of course, you could probably outrun them, owing to their lack of footwear.
A man of power and responsibility nevertheless needs somebody to tell him when he is being a bloody fool.
The hare runs into the fire.
The hare runs into the fire.
The fire, it takes her, she is not burned.
The fire, it takes her, she is not burned.
The hare runs into the fire.
The fire, it loves her, she is free . . .
Behind everything simple is a huge tail of complicated.
Any man who interferes in the arguin’ of women is gonna find both of them jumping up and doon in a matter of seconds.
Stupid people can be oh so very clever.
The past needs to be remembered. If you do not know where you come from, then you don’t know where you are, and if you don’t know where you are, then you don’t know where you’re going.
Books live. The pages remember.
The world needs cheesemakers.
The reward you get for digging holes is a bigger shovel.
Someone doing what they really like is an asset to any country, and too often people never find out until it’s too late.
Every step is a first step if it’s a step in the right direction.
. . .
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Running In My Head 
I really like this one ““I shall wear midnight when I am old.”
Not only character revealing and sassy, but it says so much
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