I think "sin" is a much more useful framework for political/historical analysis than many rationalists want to credit, and this is the most profound definition of it.
i was flirting with randian objectivism as the time as so many teenage "boys" did and this passage + granny's inner struggles basically rewrote my entire moral compass, i think for the better. for as much fun as his books are, i love pratchett's philosophy significantly more
I thought it sounded more like Granny. But then Nanny Ogg sometimes had her sharp moments.
(Some of my favourite Witch moments in Pratchett are when Granny Weatherwax is out for the count, and Nanny Ogg has to start thinking like a witch rather than a dirty-minded old grandmother)
Along with two other things: we all have evil thoughts, what counts to be good people is not giving in to them. And we always have to watch ourselves, in our heads. Nobody else there to do the job.
It's a message he reiterated over and over. Basically every villain in the books has this at their core, sometimes in different words, and with differing degrees of subtlety
It's a good message, I think my favorite iteration of that villain comes from Going Postal.
Comments
Thank you for sharing!
One is 'This, too, will pass'.
One is 'That which is hateful to you, do not do unto other people.'
One is 'Good is not a thing you are, good is a thing you do.'
'Sin is when you treat people like things' is a True Thing.
but as it is Terry Pratchett’s birthday, I wanted to go with what is, in my opinion, the single most meaningful thing he ever wrote
(Some of my favourite Witch moments in Pratchett are when Granny Weatherwax is out for the count, and Nanny Ogg has to start thinking like a witch rather than a dirty-minded old grandmother)
Our society needs to have this hammered into our collective consciousness, along with the Vimes Boots Theory.
Also Granny Weatherwax.
It's a good message, I think my favorite iteration of that villain comes from Going Postal.