It's not worth doing something unless you were doing something that someone, somewere, would much rather you weren't doing.
Interpretation
This quote suggests that the value of our actions often comes from their impact on others rather than the action itself.
Terry Pratchett's quote reflects the idea that meaningful activities often arise from defiance against the expectations or desires of others. It implies that to truly engage in something worthwhile, one must consider how their choices challenge or affect the status quo, indicating a depth of commitment and authenticity in one's endeavors.
In practice
This quote could be used in a motivational speech to encourage people to follow their passions despite criticism.
And then Jack chopped down what was the world's last beanstalk, adding murder and ecological terrorism to the theft, enticement, and trespass charges already mentioned, and all the giant's children didn't have a daddy anymore. But he got away with it and lived happily ever after, without so much as a guilty twinge about what he had done...which proves that you can be excused for just about anything if you are a hero, because no one asks inconvenient questions.
They've got something they do it with, I think it's called a mocracy, and it means everyone in the whole country can say who the new Tyrant is. One man ... one vet. ... Everyone has ... the vet. Except for women, of course. And children. And criminals. And slaves. And stupid people. And people of foreign extraction. And people disapproved of for, er, various reasons. And lots of other people. But everyone apart from them. It's a very enlightened civilization.
Geography is just physics slowed down, with a couple of trees stuck in it.
You can't trample infidels when you're a tortoise. I mean, all you could do is give them a meaningful look.
Any fool could be a witch with a runic knife, but it took skill to be one with an apple corer.
People look down on stuff like geography and meteorology, and not only because they're standing on one and being soaked by the other. They don't look quite like real science. But geography is only physics slowed down and with a few trees stuck on it, and meteorology is full of excitingly fashionable chaos and complexity. And summer isn't a time. It's a place as well. Summer is a moving creature and likes to go south for the winter.
Grief's darkness fades in the sunlight of thanksgiving.
Oh, Adamβs sons, how cleverly you defend yourselves against all that might do you good!
I think one of the main reasons I write is to do better than ranting. The ranting is the opinion, and the writing is not the opinion. I always say that people's opinions are the worst things about them. The words demand a dignity.
What she said was always strange. It had happened long ago. It seemed insignificant. And yet it was something you remembered forever. The words as well as the story. The voice as much as the words.
Perfectionism is self destructive simply because there's no such thing as perfect. Perfection is an unattainable goal.
I am alive and well and unconcerned about the rumors of my death. But if I were dead, I would be the last to know.
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