Post your favourite quotes from (fictional) books

[iks83]

A couple of months ago I started reading the Discworld novels by Terry Pratchett and often stumble over quotes by the characters that are quite deep. Nothing new under the sun but I cant get enough of quotes like that. So maybe some of you too found quotes or a short dialog in novels you found interesting, inspiring, thought provoking, funny, and so on that you would like to share. What good authors often do is pick a problem in society, a historical event, the fears of society today and put them into a different time and place and let their characters play it out. So there should be some quite nice quotes out there.

Well for now I have only 2 quotes from the books that I remeber, the first one cause I use it as signature and the second one cause I just finished the book.

First one is from the book Reaper Man if I remember correctly.

No-one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away - until the clock they wound up winds down, until the wine they made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone's life is only the core of their actual existence.

Spoiler Warning for the 2nd one.

It's a short dialog of 2 characters from the book Feet of clay. The book is introducing golems in more detail into the discworld universe. Golems were sold and bought like slaves for thousand of years. They don't sleep, eat or speak (since they have no tounge) and work 24/7 and never stop. So you need to be careful what task you give them and need to check up on them. One was once told to dig a trench but they forgot about him until they suddenly wondered where all that water came from. They only communicate through writing on tablets and that not very much. So one golem was set free. He was bought for one dollar and given to himself. He was also given a tounge so he can talk which made the clergy furios. Its blasspemy! A thing that isnt alive has a voice! A slave with a voice! Its an abomination! *cough* Well anyways the golem joined the city watch in the end and demanded double pay than the other watchmen, since he can work 24/7, needs no sleep etc. And since golems dont really have use for money the following dialog happened:

Commander Vimes: Er... what do you need money for, Dorfl?

Golem Dorfl: I Shall Save Up And Purchase The Golem Klutz Who Labours In The Pickle Factory, And Give Him To Himself; Then Together We Will Earn And Save For The Golem Bobkes Of The Coal Merchant; The Three Of Us Will Labour And Buy The Golem Shmata Who Toils At The Seven-Dollar Tailor's In Peach Pie Street; Then The Four Of Us Will---

Commander Vimes: Some people might decide to free their comrades by force and bloody revolution. Not that I'm suggesting that in any way, of course.

Golem Dorfl: No. That Would Be Theft. We Are Bought And Sold. So We Will Buy Ourselves Free. By Our Labour. No One Else To Do It For Us. We Will Do It By Ourselves.

I could write a 100 page essay on that one.

[Kilgore Trout]

Slaughterhouse 5

Just a small excerpt from the book , a particular passage here that really means a lot to me.

"America is the wealthiest nation on Earth, but its people are mainly poor, and poor Americans are urged to hate themselves.... It is in fact a crime for an American to be poor, even though America is a nation of poor. Every other nation has folk traditions of men who were poor but extremely wise and virtuous, and therefore more estimable than anyone with power and gold. No such tales are told by American poor. They mock themselves and glorify their betters. - Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse-Five

American humorist Kin Hubbard said , "It ain't no disgrace to be poor, but it might as well be". The meanest eating or drinking establishment, owned by a man who is himself poor, is very likely to have a sign on its wall asking this cruel question: "If you're so smart, why ain't you rich?"

Americans, like human beings everywhere, believe many things that are obviously untrue... Their most destructive untruth is that it is very easy for any American to make money. They will not acknowledge how in fact hard money is to come by, and, therefore, those who have no money blame and blame and blame themselves. This inward blame has been a treasure for the rich and powerful, who have had to do less for their poor, publicly and privately, than any other ruling class since, say, Napoleonic times.

Many novelties have come from America. The most startling of these, a thing without precedent is a mass of undignified poor. They do not love one another because they do not love themselves.”

[Meridian]

We and the world, my children, will always be at war.
Retreat is impossible.
Arm yourselves.

~Leif Enger, 'Peace Like a River' (really good book!)

[iks83]

From the discworld book Interesting Times. But I have to paraphrase since I cant find it. The story takes part in the discworld equivalent of ancient Asia with their emperors and a ruthless upper class cutting your head if you look at them. An the population is accepting it.

This country has something much worse than whips... it got obedience... whips in the soul.

[iks83]

From 'The fifth elephant'

"Well, he thought, so this is diplomacy. It's like lying, only to a better class of people."

"On the other hand... the world wasn't moved by heroes or villains or even by policemen. It might as well be moved by symbols. All he knew was that you couldn't hope to try for the big stuff, like world peace and happiness, but you might just about be able to achive some tiny deed that'd make the world, in a small way, a better place.
    Like shooting someone."

[iks83]

Another one from the Pratchett Discworld novels. This time from Night Watch, a quite interesting read cause it deals with fighting the government without actually fighting it.

One reason for the destertation rate was that those people of a practical turn of mind were working out the subtle economics. [Note: Soldiers trying to break down the barricades errected by the city watch were deserting here] The Republic of Treacle Mine Road lacked all the big, important buildings in the city, the ones that traditional rebels were supposed to take. It had no government offices, no banks and very few temples. It was almost completely bereft of important civic architecture.
   All it had was the unimportant stuff. It had the entire slaughterhouse district, and the butter market, and the cheese market. It had the tabacco factors and the candlemakers and most of the fruit and vegetable warehouses and the grain and flour stores. This meant that while the Republicans were being starved of important things like government, banking services and salvation, they were self-sufficient in terms of humdrum, everyday things like food and drink.
   People are content to wait a long time for salvation, but prefer dinner to turn up inside an hour.

Quite interesting and true. There is lots of talk about taking over government by force but that doesnt do you any good if you have no control over the food supply.