Trish's Reviews > The Last Hero

“The place where the story happened was a world on the back of four elephants perched on the shell of a giant turtle. That's the advantage of space. It's big enough to hold practically anything, and so, eventually, it does.
People think that it is strange to have a turtle ten thousand miles long and an elephant more than two thousand miles tall, which just shows that the human brain is ill-adapted for thinking and was probably originally designed for cooling the blood. It believes mere size is amazing.
There's nothing amazing about size. Turtles are amazing, and elephants are quite astonishing. But the fact that there's a big turtle is far less amazing than the fact that there is a turtle anywhere.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“Not craftsmen, my lord" he said. "I have no use for people who have learned the limits of the possible”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“This man was so absent-mindedly clever that he could paint pictures that didn’t just follow you around the room but went home with you and did the washing-up.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“Some people say you achieve immortality through your children," said the minstrel.
"Yeah?" said Cohen. "Name one of your great-granddads, then.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“That's what prayers are... it's frightened people trying to make friends with the bully!”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“He opened the box and took out the kitten. It stared at him with the normal mad amazement of kittens everywhere.
I DON'T HOLD WITH CRUELTY TO CATS, said Death, putting it gently on the floor.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“Their eyes said that... they did know the meaning of the word 'fear'. It was something that happened to other people.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“There's always hope."
"So? There's always taxes, too. It doesn't make any difference.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“S called a lute," said Caleb, through a mouthful of walrus.
"Whut?"
"IT'S CALLED A LUTE, HAMISH!"
"Aye, I used to loot!”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“I don't think I've become old. Just more aware of where the next lavatory is.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“They sometimes forgot what happened if you let a pawn get all the way up the board.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“Just a moment, boys," said Mrs McGarry quietly. "Are we thinking this one through? Look around you."
They looked around.
"Well?" Cohen demanded.
"There’s me, and you," said Vena, "And Truckle and Boy Willie and Hamish and Caleb and the minstrel."
"So? So?"
"That’s seven," said Vena. "Seven of us, against one of him. Seven against one. And he thinks he’s going to save the world. And he knows who we are and he’s still going to fight us…"
"You think he’s a hero?" cackled Mad Hamish. "Hah! Wha’ kind o’ hero works for forty-three dollars a month? Plus allowances!"
But the cackle was all alone in the sudden quietness. The Horde could calculate the particular mathematics of heroism quite quickly.
There was, there always was, at the start and finish… the Code. They lived by the Code. You followed the Code, and you became part of the Code for those who followed you. The Code was it. Without the Code, you weren’t a hero. You were just a thug in a loincloth.
The Code was quite clear. One brave man against seven… won. They knew it was true. In the past, they’d all relied on it. The higher the odds, the greater the victory. That was the Code.
Forget the Code, dismiss the Code, deny the Code… and the Code would take you.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“They looked down at Captain Carrot's sword. It was short, sharp and plain. It was a working sword. It had no runes on it. No mystic gleam twinkled on its edge.
If you believed in the Code, that was worrying. One simple sword in the hands of a truly brave man would cut through a magical sword like suet.”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero

“Funny thing," said Cohen, "but I heard tell once that down in Ankh-Morpork there's some watchman who's really heir to the throne but keeps quiet about it because he likes being a watchman ..."
Oh dear, thought the Horde. Kings in disguise ... that was Code material, right there.
Carrot met Cohen's gaze.
"Never heard of him," he said.
"To die for forty-three dollars a month," said Cohen, holding the gaze, "a man's got to be very, very stupid or very, very brave ...”
― Terry Pratchett, The Last Hero