DWQ Part 2

Part 2 of the Discworld Wedding Quotes project. This covers books 11 - 14 of the series: Reaper Man, Witches Abroad, Small Gods, and the one everyone thinks of as the wedding book, Lords and Ladies.

Reaper Man

“'And you're a vampire too, Countess Notfaroutoe?' Windle Poons enquired politely.
The Countess smiled. 'My vord, yes,' she said.
'By marriage,' said Arthur.
'Can you do that? I thought you had to be bitten,' said Windle.
'I don't see why I should have to go around biting my wife after thirty years of marriage, and that's flat,' said the Count.”

“Bill Door was no good at reading faces. It was a skill he'd never needed. He stared at Miss Flitworth's frozen, worried, pleading smile like a baboon looking for meaning in the Rosetta Stone.”

For some quite complicated reasons, Death, as his alter-ego Bill Door, is taking Miss Flitworth to a dance. Not being experienced in these matters, he falls back on clichés...
“'Bill Door? You gave me quite a start-'
'I have brought you some flowers.'
She stared at the dry, dead stems.
'Also some chocolate assortment, the sort ladies like.'
She stared at the black box.
'Also here is a diamond to be friends with you.'”


Witches Abroad

“When Desiderata Hollow was a girl, her grandmother had given her four important pieces of advice to guide her young footsteps on the unexpectedly twisting pathway of life. They were:
Never trust a dog with orange eyebrows.
Always get the young man's name and address.
Never get between two mirrors.
And always wear completely clean underwear every day because you never knew when you were going to be knocked down and killed by a runaway horse and if people found you had unsatisfactory underwear on, you'd die of shame.”

“The coachmen and footmen were sitting in their shed at one side of the stable yard, eating their dinner and complaining about having to work on Dead Night. They were also engaging in the time-honoured rituals that go therewith, which largely consist of finding out what their wives have packed for them today and envying the other men whose wives obviously cared more.”

“It is a universal fact that any innocent comment made by any recently-married young member of any workforce is an instant trigger for coarse merriment among his or her older and more cynical colleagues. This happens even if everyone concerned has nine legs and lives at the bottom of an ocean of ammonia on a huge cold planet. It's just one of those things.”


Small Gods
Not strictly wedding-related, but excellent life advice.

"The Turtle Moves!"

“I. This is Not a Game.
II. Here and Now, You are Alive.”

Lords and Ladies
Sorry about all the introductions. So many of these had explanations that were several pages long and references buried in the opening sections of the book. I've done my best to condense.

King Verence has just proposed to Magrat, leaving her rather nonplussed as it was not the proposal she had hoped for...
“Perhaps that was normal. Kings were busy people. Magrat's experience of marrying them was limited.”

“'Nanny, would you like to be a bridesmaid?'
'Not really, dear. Bit old for that sort of thing.' Nanny hovered. 'There isn't anything else you need to ask me, though, is there?'
'What do you mean?'
'What with your mum being dead and you having no female relatives and everything...'
Magrat still looked puzzled.
'After the wedding, is what I'm hinting about,' said Nanny.
'Oh, that. No, most of that's being done by a caterer.'”

On the difficulties of arranging a royal wedding...
“It's different, for royalty. For one thing, you've already got everything. The traditional wedding list with the complete set of tupperware and the twelve-piece dining set looks a bit out of place when you've already got a castle...”

On the difficulties of arranging a royal wedding...
“And then there's the guest list. It's bad enough at an ordinary wedding, what with old relatives who dribble and swear, brothers who get belligerent after one drink, and various people who Aren't Talking to other people because of What They Said About Our Sharon. Royalty has to deal with entire countries who get belligerent after one drink, and entire kingdoms who have Broken Off Diplomatic Relations after what the Crown Prince Said About Our Sharon.”

Granny Weatherwax and Archchancellor Ridcully, once teenage sweethearts, meet again for the first time in decades...
“- there should have been violins. The murmur of the crowd should have faded away, and the crowd itself should have parted in a quite natural movement to leave an empty path between her and Ridcully.
There should have been violins. There should have been something.
There shouldn't have been the Librarian accidentally knuckling her on the toe on his way to the buffet, but this, in fact, there was.
She hardly noticed.”

It's the evening before her wedding, and Magrat has locked herself in her room and is refusing to talk to her groom-to-be...
“'Tell you what,' said Nanny, patting him on the back, 'you go and preside over the Entertainment and hobnob with the other nobs. I'll see to Magrat, don't you worry. I've been a bride three times, and that's only the official score.'
'Yes, but she should-'
'I think if we all go easy on the “shoulds”,' said Nanny, 'we might all make it to the wedding.'”

“Nanny Ogg was an attractive lady, which is not the same thing as being beautiful. She fascinated Casanunda. She was an incredibly comfortable person to be around, partly because she had a mind so broad it could accommodate three football fields and a bowling alley.”

Magrat tries on the wedding dress Verence has ordered for her...
“It fitted. Or rather, it didn't fit but in a flattering way. Whatever Verence had paid, it had been worth it. The dressmaker had done cunning things with the material, so that it went in where Magrat went straight up and down and billowed out where Magrat didn't.”

“'That's the thing about the future. It could turn out to be anything. And everything.'”

“Nanny said, 'Funny to think of our Magrat being married and everything.'
'What do you mean, everything?'
'Well, you know - married,' said Nanny. 'I gave her a few tips. Always wear something in bed. Keeps a man interested.'
'You always wore your hat.'
'Right.'”

“'I thought the wedding feast was very good, didn't you? And Magrat looked radiant, I thought.'
'I thought she looked hot and flustered.'
'That is radiant, with brides.'”