men at arms quotes

'An appointment is an engagement to see someone, while a morningstar is a large lump of metal used for viciously crushing skulls. It is important not to confuse the two.'
(Men at Arms)

From the back, Vetinari looked like a carnivorous flamingo.
(Men at Arms)

'There's stranger people in this world than Corporal Nobbs, my lad.'
Carrot's expression slid into a rictus of intrigued horror.
'Gosh.'
(Men at Arms)

Carrot was two metres tall but he'd been brought up as a dwarf, and then
further up as a human.
(Men at Arms)

He [Edward d'Eath] could think in italics. Such people needed watching.
Preferably from a safe distance.
(Men at Arms)

- "It could be a torture chamber or a dungeon or a hideous pit or anything!"
- "It's just a student's bedroom, sergeant."
- "You see?"
(Men at Arms)

'There's a limit to the power of a spring, no matter how tightly one winds it.'
'Oh, yes. Yes. And you hope that if you wind a spring one way, all its energies will unwind the other way. And sometimes you have to wind the spring as tight as it will go,' said Vetinari,' and pray it doesn't break.'
(Men at Arms)

'Where's the gritsucker? And the rock?'
'Ah,' said Vimes, 'you are referring to those representative members of our fellow sapient races who have chosen to throw in their lots with the people of this city?'
'I mean the dwarf and the troll,' said Quirke.
(Men at Arms)

'I thought dwarfs didn't believe in devils and demons and stuff like that.'
'That's true, but... we're not sure if they know.'
(Men at Arms)

Cuddy had only been a guard for a few days, but already he had absorbed one
important and basic fact: it is almost impossible for anyone to be in a
street without breaking the law.
(Men at Arms)

If the Creator had said, "Let there be light" in Ankh-Morpork, he'd have
gotten no further because of all the people saying "What colour?"
(Men at Arms)

The Alchemist's Guild is opposite the Gambler's Guild. Usually. Sometimes
it's above it, or below it, or falling in bits around it.
(Men at Arms)

The Battle of Koom Valley is the only one known to history where both sides
ambushed each other.
(Men at Arms)

'He's mad, isn't he?'
'No, mad's when you froth at the mouth,' said Gaspode. ' He's insane. That's when you froth at the brain.'
(Men at Arms)

'I'll see you all tomorrow. If there is one.'
(Men at Arms)

He [Carrot] could lead armies, Angua thought. He really could. Some people have inspired whole countries to great deeds because of the power of their vision. And so could he. Not because he dreams about marching hordes, or world domination, or an empire of a thousand years. Just because he thinks that everyone's really decent underneath and would get along just fine if only they made an effort, and he believes that strongly it burns like a flame that is bigger than he is.
(Men at Arms)

'Sometimes there has to be a civil war, and sometimes, afterwards, it's best to pretend something didn't happen. Sometimes people have to do a job, and then they have to be forgotten.'
(Men at Arms)

I'm on the path, he thought. I don't have to know where it leads. I just have to follow.
(Men at Arms)

The Ramkins were more highly bred than a hilltop bakery, whereas Corporal
Nobbs had been disqualified from the human race for shoving.
(Men at Arms)

Being a werewolf meant having the dexterity and jaw power to instantly rip
out a man's jugular. It was a trick of her father's that had always annoyed
her mother, especially when he did it just before meals.
(Men at Arms)