The Wee Free Men (Discworld, #30; Tiffany Aching, #1)

by Terry Pratchett

Some things start before other things.

“Zoology, eh? That’s a big word, isn’t it.” “No, actually it isn’t,” said Tiffany. “Patronizing is a big word. Zoology is really quite short.”

“She just looked like a witch in a story. Anyone with half a mind could see that.” Miss Tick sighed. “Yes. But sometimes it’s so hard to find half a mind when you need one.”

Now . . . if you trust in yourself . . .” “Yes?” “. . . and believe in your dreams . . .” “Yes?” “. . . and follow your star . . .” Miss Tick went on. “Yes?” “. . . you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren’t so lazy. Good-bye.”

That’s the trouble with a brain—it thinks more than you sometimes want it to.

“We always ken where we are! It’s just sometimes mebbe we aren’t sure where everything else is, but it’s no’ our fault if everything else gets lost! The Nac Mac Feegle are never lost!”

We sleepwalk through our lives, because how could we live if we were always this awake?