The most important thing was that time had passed, pouring thousands of soothing seconds across the island… — Terry Pratchett
The most important thing was that time had passed, pouring thousands of soothing seconds across the island. People need time to deal with the now before it runs away and becomes the then. And what they need most of all is nothing much happening.
p. 134Source: Wikiquote · CC BY-SA 4.0
More from this book
“That’s unfair!” said Daphne.
“No, it’s science,” said her father. “‘Could have’ isn’t good enough. Nor is ‘might have’! ‘Did’ is the trick.”
p. 335
No one stuck up their hands and there was no voting, but she thought, I wonder if it was like this in ancient Athens? This is pure democracy. People don’t just get a vote; they have a say.
p. 276
“What about the hangman? Doesn’t he do murder, then?”
[No, because enough people say it isn’t. That’s what a courtroom is for. It’s where the law happens.]
“And that makes it right? Didn’t God say, ‘Thou shalt not kill’?”
[Yes. But after that it got complicated.]
p. 260
