Quotes About Control

Vimes felt his hand begin to move of its own accord-- And stopped. Red rage froze. There was The Beast, all around him. And that's all it was. A beast. Useful, but still a beast. You could hold it on a chain, and make it dance, and juggle balls. It didn't think. It was dumb. What you were, what you were, was not The Beast.

I MAY HAVE ALLOWED MYSELF SOME FLICKER OF EMOTION IN THE RECENT PAST, said Death, BUT I CAN GIVE IT UP ANY TIME I LIKE.

We can't just drop everything, sir! Mister Lipwig. Is there something in the word 'tyrant' you do not understand?

Occasionally he would very nearly swear.

Most of the gods throw dice but Fate plays chess, and you don't find out until too late that he's been using two queens all along. Fate wins.

I'm not bloody well going to have it, understand? Vimes shouted, shaking the ape back and forth. Oook, the Librarian pointed out, patiently. What? Oh. Sorry. Vimes lowered the ape, who wisely didn't make an issue out of it because a man angry enough to lift 300 pounds of orangutan without noticing is a man with too much on his mind.

The Empire's got something worse than whips all right. It's got obedience. Whips in the soul. They obey anyone who tells them what to do. Freedom just means being told what to do by someone different.

I heard the Empire has a tyrannical and repressive government! What form of government is that? said Ponder Stibbons. A tautology, said the Dean, from above.

We are as gods to beasts of the field. We order the time of their birth and the time of their death. Between times, we have a duty.

Guilt was the grease in which the wheels of the authority turned.

Knowledge is dangerous, which is why governments often clamp down on people who can think thoughts above a certain caliber.

I believe the term is 'eminent domain.' Ah, yes. That means 'theft by the government

Bandits and governments 'ave so much in common that they might be interchangeable anywhere in the world...

Granny Weatherwax always held that you ought to count up to ten before losing your temper. No one knew why, because the only effect of this was to build up the pressure and make the ensuing explosion a whole lot worse.

I just think the world ought to be more sort of organized.' 'That's just fantasy,' said Twoflower. 'I know. That's the trouble.' Rincewind sighed again.

He didn't administer a reign of terror, just the occasional light shower.

Words are the litmus paper of the minds. If you find yourself in the power of someone who will use the word commence in cold blood, go somewhere else very quickly. But if they say Enter, don't stop to pack.

The grags came down heavily on those who did not conform and seemed not to realize that this was like stamping potatoes into the mud to stop them growing.

Good evening, gentlemen!' said the vampire. 'Please pay attention. I am a reformed vampire, which is to say, I am a bundle of repressed instincts held together with spit and coffee. It would be wrong to say that violent, tearing carnage does not come easily to me. It's not tearing your throats out that doesn't come easily to me. Please don't make it any harder.

Cuius testiculos habes, habeas cardia et cerebellum. When you have their full attention in your grip, their hearts and minds will follow.

Privilege (to the privileged) means having private laws.

She felt better for all that. A good shouting at somebody always makes you feel better and in control, especially if you aren't.

Things like crowns had a troublesome effect on clever folk; it was best to leave all the reigning to the kind of people whose eyebrows met in the middle when they tried to think. In a funny sort of way, they were much better at it.

Rain don't fall on a witch if she doesn't want it to, although personally I prefer to get wet and be thankful." "Thankful for what?" said Tiffany. "That I'll get dry later.