As the world mourns the loss of fantasy author Terry Pratchett, who died Thursday at the age of 66 after a battle with early onset Alzheimer’s disease, here are some of his witty and memorable quotes.
“The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp.” – The Light Fantastic (1986)
“The entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks.” – Equal Rites (1987)
“Death isn’t cruel, merely terribly, terribly good at his job.” – Sourcery (1988)
“The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it.” – Truckers (1990)
“Most of the great triumphs and tragedies of history are caused not by people being fundamentally good or fundamentally evil, but by people being fundamentally people.” – Good Omens (1990)
“No one is actually dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away.” – Reaper Man (1991)
“If cats looked like frogs we’d realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That’s what people remember.” – Lords and Ladies (1992)
“It is said that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. That is true, it’s called Life.” – The Last Continent (1998)
“Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one.” – foreword to The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy by David Pringle (1998)
“Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.” – foreword to The Ultimate Encyclopedia of Fantasy by David Pringle (1998)
“So much universe, and so little time.” – The Last Hero (2001)
“Why do you go away? So that you can come back. So that you can see the place you came from with new eyes and extra colors. And the people there see you differently, too. Coming back to where you started is not the same as never leaving.” – A Hat Full of Sky (2004)
“It’s still magic even if you know how it’s done.” – A Hat Full of Sky (2004)
“Life doesn’t happen in chapter – at least, not regular ones.” – explaining in a 2008 interview why Discworld books don’t have chapters
“Evolution was far more thrilling to me than the biblical account. Who would not rather be a rising ape than a falling angel?” – in a 2008 interview
Read next: Terry Pratchett’s last tweet was heartbreakingly final
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Write to Naina Bajekal at naina.bajekal@time.com