Quotes About Influence

It takes a long time for people like Vorbis to die. They leave echoes in history.

The important thing about being a leader is not being right or wrong but being certain. Of course it helps to be right as well, the Abbot conceeded.

The pen is mightier than the sword… if the sword is very small and the pen is very sharp.

The Weatherwax women have always had one foot in shadow. It's in the blood. And most of their power comes from denying it.

And personalities define themselves in terms of other personalities.

To be a leader you have to learn to shout! But after you've learned to shout, you have to learn not to!

But if it is true that the act of observing changes the thing which is observed (because of Quantum), it's even more true that it changes the observer.

The problem is, people only think for themselves if you tell them to.

Wizards had always known that the act of observation changed the thing that was observed, and sometimes forgot that it also changed the observer too.

Offer people a new creed with a costume and their hearts and minds will follow.

Though here's a tip, though. Just 'ho, ho, ho' will do. Don't say, 'Cower, brief mortals' unless you want them to grow up to be moneylenders or some such.

You have made quite a splash," said Vetinari, smiling, "as the fish said to the man with the lead weight tied to his feet.

Actors had a habit of filling all the space around them.

There's the basic unwritten rule of witchcraft, which is "Don't do what you will, do what I say.

The pen is mightier than the sword if the sword is very short, and the pen is very sharp.

if you ignore the rules people will, half the time, quietly rewrite them so that they don't apply to you.

Nanny Ogg scowled and said, Granny never said as she was better than others. She just got on with it and showed 'em and people worked it out for themselves.

It is true that words have power, and one of the things they are able to do is get out of someone's mouth before the speaker has the chance to stop them.

When you have their full attention in your grip, their hearts and minds will follow.

It is amazing what people will obey, if a clear and confident voice is used

NO, THERE ISN'T, I'M AFRAID. WE ARE ALL FLOATING IN THE WINDS OF TIME. BUT YOUR CANDLE, MISTRESS WEATHERWAX, WILL FLICKER FOR SOME TIME BEFORE IT GOES OUT—A LITTLE REWARD FOR A LIFE WELL LIVED. FOR I CAN SEE THE BALANCE AND YOU HAVE LEFT THE WORLD MUCH BETTER THAN YOU FOUND IT, AND IF YOU ASK ME, said Death, NOBODY COULD DO ANY BETTER THAN THAT. . . .

People are what they do, and what they leave behind

Everyone had their levers. Often it was greed. Greed was a reliable old standby. Sometimes it was pride. That was Groat's lever. He desperately wanted promotion; you could see it in his eyes. Find the lever, and then it was plain sailing.

To withhold words is power. But to share our words with others, openly and honestly, is also power.