Quote: on Believing Just In Case
Nov. 6th, 2009 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mahnmutTalking to his assistant Albert, Death contemplates on the question whether people really do believe in the Hogather (Discworld's equivalent of Santa Claus), or they just pretend to believe. Eventually, he says:
'THEY DON'T REALLY BELIEVE. THEY PRETEND TO BELIEVE, JUST IN CASE'*
*This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, 'Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do
not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?' When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, 'We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts . . .'
From "Hogfather" by Terry Pratchett
'THEY DON'T REALLY BELIEVE. THEY PRETEND TO BELIEVE, JUST IN CASE'*
*This is very similar to the suggestion put forward by the Quirmian philosopher Ventre, who said, 'Possibly the gods exist, and possibly they do
not. So why not believe in them in any case? If it's all true you'll go to a lovely place when you die, and if it isn't then you've lost nothing, right?' When he died he woke up in a circle of gods holding nasty-looking sticks and one of them said, 'We're going to show you what we think of Mr Clever Dick in these parts . . .'
From "Hogfather" by Terry Pratchett
