Monstrous Regiment Quotes

“The presence of those seeking the truth is infinitely to be preferred to the presence of those who think they've found it.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Do you think it's possible for an entire nation to be insane?”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“The enemy isn't men, or women, it's bloody stupid people and no one has the right to be stupid.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“There was this about vampires : they could never look scruffy. Instead, they were... what was the word... deshabille. It meant untidy, but with bags and bags of style.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“The purpose of this lectchoor is to let you know where we are. We are in the deep cack. It couldn't be worse if it was raining arseholes. Any questions?”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“This was not a fairy-tale castle and there was no such thing as a fairy-tale ending, but sometimes you could threaten to kick the handsome prince in the ham-and-eggs.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“How can you protect yourself by carrying a sword if you don’t know how to use it?’
Not me, sir. Other people. They see the sword and don’t attack me,’ said Maladict patiently.
Yes, but if they did, lad, you wouldn’t be any good with it,’ said the sergeant.
No, sir. I’d probably settle for just ripping their heads off, sir. That’s what I mean by protection, sir. Theirs, not mine. And I’d get hell from the League if I did that, sir.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Who shall I shoot? You choose. Now, listen very carefully: where's your coffee? You've got coffee, haven't you? C'mon, everyone's got coffee! Spill the beans!”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“You take a bunch of people who don't seem any different from you and me, but when you add them all together you get this sort of huge raving maniac with national borders and an anthem.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“It's lies. It's all lies. Some of them are just prettier than others, that's all. People see what they think is there.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“I don't want unnecessary violence, sergeant," said Blouse.
"Right you are, sir!" said the sergeant. "Carborundum! First man comes through that door runnin', I want him nailed to the wall!" He caught the lieutenant's eye, and added: "But not too hard!”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Good or bad, do it as you. Too many lies and there's no truth to go back to.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“[The pamphlet] was very patriotic. That is, it talked about killing foreigners.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“It's not lying when you do it to officers!”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“The four lesser apocalyptical horsemen of Panic, Bewilderment, Ignorance, and Shouting took control of the room,”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Polly felt questing eyes boring into her. She was embarrassed, of course. But not for the obvious reason. It was for the other one, the little lesson that life sometimes rams home with a stick: you are not the only one watching the world. Other people are people; while you watch them they watch you, and they think about you while you think about them. The world isn’t just about you.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Anyway, why would you trust anything written down? She certainly didn't trust "Mothers of Borogravia!" and that was from the government. And if you couldn't trust the government, who could you trust?
Very nearly everyone, come to think of it...”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“I want to eat chocolates in a great big room where the world is a different place.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“There have been better attempts at marching, and they have been made by penguins.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“I am a bundle of suppressed instincts held together with spit and coffee.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“People build something that works. Then circumstances change, and they have to tinker with it to make it continue to work, and they are so busy tinkering that they cannot see that a much better idea would be to build a whole new system to deal with the new circumstances. But to an outsider, the idea is obvious.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“The enemy wasn't men, or women, or the old, or even the dead. It was just bleedin' stupid people, who came in all varieties. And no one had the right to be stupid.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“That's the trouble about the good guys and the bad guys! They're all guys!”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“There was a bird whistle as Polly neared the hiding place. She identified this one as the sound of the Very Bad Bird Impersonator…”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“When they're laughing at you, their guard is down. When their guard is down, you can kick them in the fracas.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“And the new day was a great big fish”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“And if you couldn't trust the government, who could you trust? Very nearly everyone, come to think of it...”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“And a woman by herself is missing a man, while a man by himself is his own master.
Trousers. That's the secret. Trousers and a pair of socks. I never dreamed it was like this. Put on trousers and the world changes. We walk different. We act different. I see these girls and I think: Idiot's Get yourself some trousers!”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Stopping a battle is much harder than starting it. Starting it only requires you to shout ‘Attack!’ but when you want to stop it, everyone is busy.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment

“Ankh-Morpork is a godless city--'
'I thought it had more than three hundred places of worship?' said Maladict.
Strappi stared at him in rage that was incoherent until he managed to touch bottom again. 'Ankh-Morpork is a godawful city', he recovered.”
― Terry Pratchett, Monstrous Regiment