"I am, somehow, less interested in the weight and convolutions of Einstein’s brain than in the near certainty that people of equal talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops."

(Stephen Gould, "The Panda's Thumb")

kittennightfarts

“Ginger: You know what the greatest tragedy is in the whole world?... It's all the people who never find out what it is they really want to do or what it is they're really good at. It's all the sons who become blacksmiths because their fathers were blacksmiths. It's all the people who could be really fantastic flute players who grow old and die without ever seeing a musical instrument, so they become bad plowmen instead. It's all the people with talents who never even find out. Maybe they are never even born in a time when it's even possible to find out. It's all the people who never get to know what it is that they can really be. It's all the wasted chances.”

― Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures

#stephen gould #the panda's thumb #ikr #terry pratchett #moving pictures #books #discworld #important #robert evans #greed #talent #potential

kittennightfarts reblogged

theondying

Discworld is nice Bc half the plots sound like shitposts

Skeleton quits job to become fry cook

Wizards play football

Malls are actually a hive mind who feed on cities

poorlydescribedpterrybooks

welcome in, have a seat, stay awhile.

postmetaectotranscendentalism

first female wizard fights institutional sexism

wizard goes to australia

shakespeare play defeats evil king

labyrinth but with tiny scottish men

cinderella in new orleans

german tourist visits low budget middle earth

erdariel

A secret society summons a dragon so they could have a “hero” who’d listen to them come and slay the dragon and be crowned a king. The dragon burns down the secret society’s place and gets crowned a king instead. Them the dragon gets arrested.

logo-comics

How the Grim Reaper Saved Christmas.

“Is Everyone Here Trying to Have a Mulan Moment?”

cakesandfail

Join the revolution, be your own dad

‘Cop Was Worried His Holiday Would Be Boring…Until the Goblin Murders Began’

Teenaged Grim Reaper vs. eldritch guitar.

A teacher and two identical not-twins save the space-time continuum with chocolate.

blackboard-monitor

repeat of ancient racially motivated battle is prevented by possessed man reciting a bedtime story in a cave

nerdvanauniverse

A local ransacked town is saved by bees, girl in ill-fitting armor, violent dancing, spite

noirandchocolate

The movie industry summons eldritch abominations.

A con man wears a special hat to save the post office and texting/fax system from a capitalist pirate.

The con man invents paper money backed by golems and saves banking from a man who wants to literally transform into the mayor, with the help of a secret clown and a pug dog with a dildo in its mouth.

A guy invents steam trains, the mayor insists that a railroad be built all the way to Transylvania so he can see his vampire girlfriend whenever he wants. Meanwhile, a trans woman revolutionizes dwarf society by coming out.

kittennightfarts

Elderly action heroes go on a hike to kill the gods. Phantom of the opera with witches and good hair.

Diplomatic cave mission interrupted by werewolves.

kittennightfarts reblogged

terrypratchettparadise

“You know what the greatest tragedy is in the whole world?… It’s all the people who never find out what it is they really want to do or what it is they’re really good at. It’s all the sons who become blacksmiths because their fathers were blacksmiths. It’s all the people who could be really fantastic flute players who grow old and die without ever seeing a musical instrument, so they become bad ploughmen instead. It’s all the people with talents who never even find out. Maybe they are never even born in a time when its even possible to find out. It’s all the people who never get to know what it is they can really be. Its all the wasted chances.”

Terry Pratchett - Moving Pictures (via terrypratchettparadise)

#moving pictures #potential #discworld #Terry Pratchett #books

kittennightfarts reblogged

discworldquotes

It was widely believed that, if Detritus could be taught to read and write sufficiently to sit down and do an intelligence test, he’d prove to be slightly less intelligent than the chair.

— Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures (via discworldquotes)

#Terry Pratchett #books #moving pictures #discworld

kittennightfarts reblogged

sockich

‘You know what the greatest tragedy is in the whole world?’ said Ginger, not paying him the least attention. ‘It’s all the people who never find out what it is they really want to do or what it is they’re really good at. It’s all the sons who become blacksmiths because their fathers were blacksmiths. It’s all the people who could be really fantastic flute players who grow old and die without ever seeing a musical instrument, so they become bad ploughmen instead. It’s all the people with talents who never even find out. Maybe they are never even born in a time when it’s even possible to find out.’ She took a deep breath. ‘It’s all the people who never get to know what it is they can really be. It’s all the wasted chances.’

Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures (via sockich)

#moving pictures #Terry Pratchett #books #discworld #ginger

kittennightfarts reblogged

randombrethren-deactivated20231

rusty-diamond

He’d never wanted much, except perhaps to be left alone and not woken up until midday. When he’d been small, people had said things like, “And what do you want to be, little man?” and he’d said, “I don’t know. What have you got?” They didn’t let you get away with that sort of thing for very long. It wasn’t enough to be what you were, you had to be working to be something else.

Terry Pratchett, “Moving Pictures” (via rusty-diamond)

#moving pictures #discworld #Terry Pratchett #books #victor tuglebend

kittennightfarts reblogged

discworldquotes

It was widely believed that, if Detritus could be taught to read and write sufficiently to sit down and do an intelligence test, he’d prove to be slightly less intelligent than the chair.

— Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures (via discworldquotes)

#Terry Pratchett #moving pictures #books #detritus #discworld

kittennightfarts reblogged

discworldquotes

This is space. It’s sometimes called the final frontier. (Except that of course you can’t have a final frontier, because there’d be nothing for it to be a frontier to, but as frontiers go, it’s pretty penultimate…)

— Terry Pratchett, Moving Pictures (via discworldquotes)

#moving pictures #discworld #books #space #Terry Pratchett #the final frontier