One of those writers with huge numbers of very devoted readers, the English comic novelist and satirist Terry Pratchett wrote a very long series of novels titled Diskworld and with Neil Gaiman Good Omens, which was turned into a tv series. This is taken from Diskworld. (This is the first time I haven’t had the original of a quote, but it’s so good I’ve gone ahead and depended on all the times I’ve seen it memed.)
“Well, I must go. I hope we shall meet again. I will give you some free advice, though.”
“Will it cost me anything?”
“What? I just said it was free!” said Miss Tick
“Yes, but my father said that free advice often turns out to be expensive,” said Tiffany.
Miss Tick sniffed. “You could say that this advice is priceless,” she said. “Are you listening?”
“Yes,” said Tiffany.
“Good. Now . . . if you trust in yourself. . . .”
“Yes?”
“. . . and believe in your dreams . . .”
“Yes?”
“. . . and follow your star. . .” Miss Tick went on.
“Yes?”
“. . . you’ll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning new things and weren’t so lazy. Good-bye.”
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