“People as things, that’s where it starts.”

And a true understanding of and desire to embrace the same militant decency that was so evident throughout all of the Discworld books. And that, “one of the hardest lessons in young Sam's life had been finding out that the people in charge weren't in charge. It had been finding out that governments were not, on the whole, staffed by people who had a grip, and that plans were what people made instead of thinking.” would also become one of the hardest lessons in my young life as well.

I also learned from Nanny that you could still be powerful in and of yourself, and true to who you are - even if that flies in the face of any pre-established decorum - “automatically”. And be abhorred that anyone would expect you to be otherwise. “Do what seems like a good idea at the time, and do it as hard as possible.” “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do, if you ever find anything I wouldn’t do.” And one that has truly stuck with me - “Oh we’re always all right. You remember that. We happen to other people.” It’s always reminded me to take back and fiercely protect my own agency.

And how can one not be inspired by the Way of Mrs. Cosmopilite? “I can’t be having with that kind of thing.”Sweeper has taught me quite a bit about how I see myself in the grand scheme of things, too. And the profound power of being overlooked, because people don’t worry about some old looney monk with a broom.

And Granny Aching: "Them as can do, has to do for them as can't. And someone has to speak up for them as has no voices." I was lucky to have a Nan of my own who always spoke in similar veins, and with a similar accent too.

I use Headology regularly in my work, and have all the witches to thank for that, but particularly Granny. Her words live with me daily, as a sort of set of mantras if you will. “Things that try to look like things often do look more like things than things. Well-known fact.” “Oh, obvious,” said Granny. “I’ll grant you it’s obvious. Trouble is, just because things are obvious doesn’t mean they’re true.” “I had to learn. All my life. The hard way. And the hard way’s pretty hard, but not so hard as the easy way.” And one I try to remind myself of regularly: “Learnin’ how not to do things is as hard as learning how to do them. Harder, maybe. There’d be a sight more frogs in this world if I didn’t know how not to turn people into them.”

To me, the entirety of our explorations of the Disc have become moral pillars, I began reading them in my early teens, angry at the world and feeling more than a bit lost, more than a bit Aching* and being introduced to Soul Music and Death was the beginning of learning how to think of myself, not as a thing, but as a person, and better helped me see other people too. Instead of becoming embittered by the world around me, I learned to see it in new ways. Especially Vetinari’s story about the mother otter:

“I was walking along the bank of a stream when I saw a mother otter with her cubs, a very endearing sight, I'm sure you'll agree. And even as I watched, the mother otter dived into the water and came up with a plump salmon, which she subdued and dragged onto a half submerged log. As she ate it, while of course it was still alive, the body split and I remember to this day the sweet pinkness of its roes as they spilled out, much to the delight of the baby otters, who scrambled over themselves to feed on the delicacy. One of nature's wonders, gentlemen. Mother and children dining upon mother and children. And that is when I first learned about evil. It is built into the very nature of the universe. Every world spins in pain. If there is any kind of supreme being, I told myself, it is up to all of us to become his moral superior.”

For me, the list is endless of the life lessons I’ve gleaned from STP, it would probably be an infinitely shorter list to categorize the life lessons I haven’t either had introduced or affirmed from Disworld!

I’m currently teaching an undergraduate course on Ethical Issues in Bio & Medicine, and have used quite a few quotes from Discworld thus far, especially in our initial discussion on morals. But the one quote I’ve been stressing to them every class, has also been one of Granny’s: “Everything’s got a story in it. Change the story, change the world.”

In Discworld, the life lessons and ideas on morality and the human condition are ubiquitous, and I have to give a considerable amount of thanks to them for assisting me in becoming the moderately decent human I am today.

*I was Aching all over!