The Shepherd's Crown Quotes

“Esme Weatherwax hadn't done nice. She'd done what was needed.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, said Death, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT. . . .”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“It's like chess, you know. The Queen saves the King.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“For a witch stands on the very edge of everything, between the light and the dark, between life and death, making choices, making decisions so that others may pretend no decisions have even been needed. Sometimes they need to help some poor soul through the final hours, help them to find the door, not to get lost in the dark.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“It’s an inconvenience, true enough, and I don’t like it at all, but I know that you do it for everyone, Mister Death. Is there any other way?’
NO, THERE ISN’T, I’M AFRAID. WE ARE ALL FLOATING IN THE WINDS OF TIME. BUT YOUR CANDLE, MISTRESS WEATHERWAX, WILL FLICKER FOR SOME TIME BEFORE IT GOES OUT – A LITTLE REWARD FOR A LIFE WELL LIVED. FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, said Death, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT . . .”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“And Tiffany knew that if a witch started thinking of anyone as "just" anything, that would be the first step on a well-worn path that could lead to, oh, to poisoned apples, spinning wheels, and a too-small stove... and to pain, and terror, and horror and the darkness.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“I HAVE WATCHED YOUR PROGRESS WITH INTEREST, ESMERELDA WEATHERWAX, said the voice in the dark. He was firm, but oh so polite. But now there was a question in his voice. PRAY TELL ME, WHY WERE YOU CONTENT TO LIVE IN THIS TINY LITTLE COUNTRY WHEN, AS YOU KNOW, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN ANYTHING AND ANYBODY IN THE WORLD? “I don’t know about the world, not much; but in my part of the world I could make little miracles for ordinary people,” Granny replied sharply. “And I never wanted the world—just a part of it, a small part that I could keep safe, that I could keep away from storms. Not the ones of the sky, you”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Well, you know Esme. She wasn't one for that kind of thing - never one to push herself forward*

* She hadn't ever needed to. Granny Weatherwax was like the prow of a ship. Seas parted when she turned up.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Tiffany thought of the little spot in the woods where Granny Weatherwax lay. Remembered.

And knew that You had been right. Granny Weatherwax was indeed here. And there. She was, in fact, and always would be, everywhere.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Then it came to her. She did not deserve to die. And she was not alone. She never would be. Not while her land was beneath her boots. Her land. The land of the Achings.

She was Tiffany Aching. Not Granny Weatherwax, but a witch in her own right. A witch who knew exactly who she was and how she wanted to do things. Her way. And she had not failed, because she had barely begun...”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Being a witch is a man’s job: that’s why it needs women to do it.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“The end of times?" said Nanny. "Look, Tiff, Esme tol' me to say, if you want to see Esmerelda Weatherwax, then just you look around. She is here. Us witches don't mourn for very long. We are satisfied with happy memories - they're there to be cherished.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Our rulers rule by consent, which means that we like having them as rulers, if they do what we want them to do.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“It was never easy being a witch. Oh, the broomstick was great, but to be a witch you needed to be sensible, so sensible that sometimes it hurt. You dealt with the reality—not what people wanted.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“PRAY TELL ME, WHY WERE YOU CONTENT TO LIVE IN THIS TINY LITTLE COUNTRY WHEN, AS YOU KNOW, YOU COULD HAVE BEEN ANYTHING AND ANYBODY IN THE WORLD? “I don’t know about the world, not much; but in my part of the world I could make little miracles for ordinary people,” Granny replied sharply. “And I never wanted the world—just a part of it, a small part that I could keep safe, that I could keep away from storms. Not the ones of the sky, you understand: there are other kinds.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“There was a bond, you see, when we were both young, but she wanted to be the best of all witches and I hoped one day to be Archchancellor. Alas for us, our dreams came true.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Then she wondered, not for the first time, about the differences between wizards and witches. The main difference, she thought, was that wizards used books and staffs to create spells, big spells about big stuff, and they were men. While witches - always women - dealt with everyday stuff. Big stuff too, she reminded herself firmly. What could be bigger than births and deaths? but why shouldn't this boy want to be a witch? She had chosen to be a witch, so why couldn't he make the same choice? With a start, she realized it was her choice that counted here too. If she was going to be a sort of head witch, she should be able to decide this. She didn't have to ask any other witches. It could be her decision. Her responsibility. Perhaps a first step toward doing things differently?”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Our skills, you will find, could be our jailers.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Suddenly there was a humming in the air, and the bees were there too. They flowed out of Granny Weatherwax’s hive, circling Tiffany like a halo, crowning her, and swarm and girl stood on the threshold of the cottage and Tiffany reached out her arms and the bees settled along them, and welcomed her home.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Sometimes, Tiffany thought, I am so fed up with being young.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Why do you help these strangers?" she asked Tiffany now. "They are not of your clan. You owe them nothing."

"Well," said Tiffany, "although they are strangers, I simply think of them as people. All of them. And you help other people--that's how we do it."

"Does every person do it?" said Nightshade.

"No," said Tiffany. "Sadly, that is true. But many people will help other people, just because, well, because they are other people. That's how it goes.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“A shepherd’s crown, not a royal one. A crown for someone who knew where she had come from. A crown for the lone light zigzagging through the night sky, hunting for a single lost lamb. A crown for the shepherd who was there to herd away the predators.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Don’t get your knickers in a knot just yet, Tiff,’ she said briskly. ‘It won’t solve anything an’ will just make you walk odd.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Why? Why not do things differently? Why should we do things how they have always been done before? And something inside her suddenly thrilled to the challenge.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Witches know that people die; and if they manages to die after a long time, leavin’ the world better than they went an’ found it, well then, that’s surely a reason to be happy. All the rest of it is just tidyin’ up.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Only Granny Weatherwax really knew Granny Weatherwax.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Thus proving that dreams that come true are not always the right dreams. Does wearing a glass slipper lead to a comfortable life? If everything you touch turns into marshmallows, won’t that make things a bit . . . sticky?”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“For a witch stands on the very edge of everything, between the light and the dark, between life and death, making choices, making decisions so that others may pretend no decisions have even been needed.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“She taught me so much, she said to herself. She built me as we were walking around after the sheep, and she told me all those things that I needed to know, and the first thing was to look after people. Of course, the other thing had been to look after the sheep.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown

“Nanny Ogg scowled and said, "Granny never said as she was better than others. She just got on with it and showed 'em and people worked it out for themselves.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Shepherd's Crown