Mightily Oats: "It is said three thousand people witnessed his manifestation at the Great Temple when he made the Covenant with the prophet Brutha and saved him from death on the iron turtle--"
Granny Weatherwax: "But I bet that now they're arguing about what they actually saw, eh?
Mightily Oats: "Well, indeed, yes, there are many opinions..."
Granny Weatherwax: "Right. Right. That's people for you. Now if I'd seen him, really there, really alive, it'd be in me like a fever. If I thought there was some god who really did care two hoots about people, who watched 'em like a father and cared for 'em like a mother...well you wouldn't catch me sayin' things like 'there are two sides to every question' and 'we must respect other people's beliefs'. You wouldn't find me just being gen'rally nice in the hope that it'd all turn out right in the end, not if the flame was burning in me like an unforgivin' sword. And I did say burnin', Mster Oats, 'cos that's what it'd be. You say you people don't burn folk and sacrifice people anymore but that's what true faith would mean, y'see? Sacrificin' your own life, one day at a time, to the flame, declarin' the truth of it, workin' for it, breathin' the soul of it. That's religion. Anythin else is just...is just bein' nice. And a way of keepin' in touch with the neighbors...And I don't think that's fashionable right now, cos it seems that if you sees evil you have to wring your hands and say 'oh deary me we must debate this.' That's my two penn'orth, Mister Oats. You be happy to let things lie. Don't chase faith, cos you'll never catch it." She added, almost as an aside, "But, perhaps, you can live faithfully."
Granny Weatherwax to Mightily Oats,
Carpe Jugulum p310-311, red print mine
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