Everyone knew there were wolves in the mountains, but they seldom came near the village-the modern wolves were the offspring of ancestors that had survived because they had learned that human meat had sharp edges.
Interpretation
Humans often face dangers that are known but underestimated, suggesting that some threats evolve to become more subtle and insidious.
This quote by Terry Pratchett reflects the idea that while dangers are often acknowledged in theoretical terms, they can remain distant and thus less urgent until they manifest in a way that directly affects individuals. The 'modern wolves' symbolize threats that have adapted to survive amongst humans, implying that the potential for harm exists but may not be perceived as an immediate risk due to the way those threats have evolved. This serves as a reminder that we must remain vigilant and aware of the dangers that may lurk beyond our immediate environment.
In practice
In a discussion about personal safety in a community meeting.
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.
Why do we continue to breed little minds who can find no recompense for their own failures other than to belittle and mock the talents, even the dress, of others? When will everyone realize that we are all equal in the eyes of God?
Your enemies hate you more than they hate your ideas. Should you want a project to be undone propose it. Even if it were as useful as a bishop's mire it would be rejected. Once you are defeated let the humblest-looking among you sponsor it and your enemies to humble you will approve it.
Pension: An allowance made to anyone without an equivalent. In England it is generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country.
God seeks comrades and claims love,_x000D_ _x000D_ The devil seeks slaves and claims obedience.
The young feel tired at the end of an action, the old at the beginning.
The sickness of the individual is ultimately caused by and sustained by the sickness of his civilization
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.