--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are very few starts. Oh, some…" description: "\"“There are very few starts. Oh, some things seem to be beginnings. The curtain goes up, the first pawn moves, the first shot is fired - but that's not ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/terry-pratchett-19_beginnings_there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things_1315378.jpg" --- # There are very few starts. Oh, some things seem to be… ![“There are very few starts. Oh, some things seem to be beginnings. The curtain goes up, the first pawn moves, the first shot is fired - but that's not the start. The play, the game, the war is just a little window on a ribbon of events that may extend back thousands of years. The point is, there's…” quote by Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/terry-pratchett-19_beginnings_there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things_1315378.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/terry-pratchett-19_beginnings_there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things_1315378.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/terry-pratchett-19_beginnings_there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things_1315378.jpg) > ““There are very few starts. Oh, some things seem to be beginnings. The curtain goes up, the first pawn moves, the first shot is fired - but that's not the start. The play, the game, the war is just a little window on a ribbon of events that may extend back thousands of years. The point is, there's always something before. It's always a case of Now Read On.”” [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Events have deep histories; what appears as a start is often part of a longer continuum. **In simple terms:** Beginnings are often preceded by earlier events. Key Takeaway Look beyond the obvious start. Themes history continuity perception Mood philosophical contemplative Type literary analytical When to use this quote - research - storytelling - strategic planning Key Concepts causality temporal depth Questions to Reflect On - How do you identify true origins? - What role does context play in interpreting beginnings? A Different Perspective The quote may romanticize history, ignoring practical immediacy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Beginnings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings/) [Beginnings Curtain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings-curtain-4366258/) [Peace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peace/) [Start Play](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/start-play-1106571/) [Starts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/starts/) [Things Beginnings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/things-beginnings-4366257/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [If I ever get bored with golf, I'm going to start over and play lefthanded.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michelle-wie/if-i-ever-get-bored-with-golf-i-m-going-to-start-over-and-play/) [Michelle Wie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michelle-wie/) > [I always start a play by calling the characters A, B, and C.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harold-pinter/i-always-start-a-play-by-calling-the-characters-a-b-and-c/) [Harold Pinter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harold-pinter/) > [I am very excited to start and to play in front of the fans - I love that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-neves/i-am-very-excited-to-start-and-to-play-in-front-of-the-fans-i-love/) [Ruben Neves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-neves/) > [I always make sure that the lid over the keyboard is open before I start to play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/artur-schnabel/i-always-make-sure-that-the-lid-over-the-keyboard-is-open-before-i/) [Artur Schnabel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/artur-schnabel/) > [Initially, if I get start, then I play in a flow. It is good if I bat high up in the order.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravindra-jadeja/initially-if-i-get-start-then-i-play-in-a-flow-it-is-good-if-i-bat/) [Ravindra Jadeja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravindra-jadeja/) > [No, you don't have to start your play with a premise. You can start with a character or an incident, or even a simple…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lajos-egri/no-you-don-t-have-to-start-your-play-with-a-premise-you-can-start/) [Lajos Egri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lajos-egri/) > [You stay with the foundation and then you just try different things because you don't know how the director will cut it and you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/columbus-short/you-stay-with-the-foundation-and-then-you-just-try-different-things/) [Columbus Short](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/columbus-short/) > [If you're creating a smile in yourself and also giving it to someone else, then you've started a dialogue. You also start to play.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeppe-hein/if-you-re-creating-a-smile-in-yourself-and-also-giving-it-to-someone/) [Jeppe Hein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeppe-hein/) > [Some players like to practise right up to the start of play. But for me, whatever warming up I did was only going to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-flintoff/some-players-like-to-practise-right-up-to-the-start-of-play-but-for/) [Andrew Flintoff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-flintoff/) > [I didn't actually start to play till I was about 10. My father came home from work a Friday and he said: 'Would you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-moore/i-didn-t-actually-start-to-play-till-i-was-about-10-my-father-came/) [Gary Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-moore/) > [Everything starts somewhere, although many physicists disagree.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/everything-starts-somewhere-although-many-physicists-disagree/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“I had brutal beginnings. I will not let the darkness in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jennings/i-had-brutal-beginnings-i-will-not-let-the-darkness-in/) [Melissa Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jennings/) > [“God is going to send you someone that will rescue you. Then one day you will rescue them in return and together your story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-is-going-to-send-you-someone-that-will-rescue-you-then-one-day/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“As long as we’re breathing, we have a chance to start over and build a stable future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ha-campbell/as-long-as-we-re-breathing-we-have-a-chance-to-start-over-and-build-a/) [Kim Ha Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ha-campbell/) ## More by Terry Pratchett > [“This one’s mental.’ ‘Eccentric.’ ‘What’s the difference?’ ‘A bag of cash.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/this-one-s-mental-eccentric-what-s-the-difference-a-bag-of-cash/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“But I did not return until half past four this morning and I distinctly remember stubbing my toe on the stairs. I am as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/but-i-did-not-return-until-half-past-four-this-morning-and-i/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“The universe contains any amount of horrible ways to be woken up, such as the noise of the mob breaking down the front door,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/the-universe-contains-any-amount-of-horrible-ways-to-be-woken-up-such/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Someone broke from the scrum and, punching and kicking, staggered towards the Klatchian goal. "Isn't that man your butler?" said Ahmed. "Yes." "One of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/someone-broke-from-the-scrum-and-punching-and-kicking-staggered/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [It's an interesting fact that fewer than 17 % of Real cats end their lives with the same name they started with. Much family…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/it-s-an-interesting-fact-that-fewer-than-17-of-real-cats-end-their/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [You can't trust folk songs. They always sneak up on you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-can-t-trust-folk-songs-they-always-sneak-up-on-you/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Either dragons should exist completely or fail to exist at all, he felt. A dragon only half-existing was worse than the extremes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/either-dragons-should-exist-completely-or-fail-to-exist-at-all-he/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Magrat wondered what it was like, spending your whole life doing something you didn’t want to do. Like being dead, she considered, only worse,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/magrat-wondered-what-it-was-like-spending-your-whole-life-doing/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [A hardback's harder at Christmas time because that's a good hardback buying time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-hardback-s-harder-at-christmas-time-because-that-s-a-good-hardback/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There were more old people. The world was full of them,' said the wizard. 'Yes, I know. And now it's full of young people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-were-more-old-people-the-world-was-full-of-them-said-the-wizard/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Hobson was big and heavyset, but not exactly fat; he was probably what you’d get if you shaved a bear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/hobson-was-big-and-heavyset-but-not-exactly-fat-he-was-probably-what/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You'd like Freedom, Truth, and Justice, wouldn't you, Comrade Sergeant?' said Reg encouragingly. 'I'd like a hard-boiled egg,' said Vimes, shaking the match out.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-d-like-freedom-truth-and-justice-wouldn-t-you-comrade-sergeant/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“You are not apprehensive, are you? I can't detect no trace of fear none whatsoever Roomy cranium all possible videos of all possible outcomes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/you-are-not-apprehensive-are-you-i-can-t-detect-no-trace-of-fear-none/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [Imagination, not intelligence, made us human.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/imagination-not-intelligence-made-us-human/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) [Explore all 3,328 Terry Pratchett quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) ## More Beginnings quotes > [“As long as we’re breathing, we have a chance to start over and build a stable future.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-ha-campbell/as-long-as-we-re-breathing-we-have-a-chance-to-start-over-and-build-a/) [Kim Ha Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-ha-campbell/) > [It was often this way, life consisted of a series of false beginnings, bluff declarations of arrival to destinations not even glimpsed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-lethem/it-was-often-this-way-life-consisted-of-a-series-of-false-beginnings/) [Jonathan Lethem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-lethem/) > [“God is going to send you someone that will rescue you. Then one day you will rescue them in return and together your story…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-l-alder/god-is-going-to-send-you-someone-that-will-rescue-you-then-one-day/) [Shannon L. Alder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-l-alder/) > [“I had brutal beginnings. I will not let the darkness in.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-jennings/i-had-brutal-beginnings-i-will-not-let-the-darkness-in/) [Melissa Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-jennings/) > [My little notebooks were beginnings - they were the ground into which I dropped the seed... I would work in this way when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/my-little-notebooks-were-beginnings-they-were-the-ground-into-which-i/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [There are no beginnings, not even to stories. There are only places where you make an entrance into someone else's life and either stay…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-findley/there-are-no-beginnings-not-even-to-stories-there-are-only-places/) [Timothy Findley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-findley/) > [“Our beginnings never know our ends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-s-eliot-2/our-beginnings-never-know-our-ends/) [T.S. Eliot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-s-eliot-2/) > [My beginnings in the Southwest are clear and palpable. My beginnings here made me pay attention to where the sun is, where the winds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-predock/my-beginnings-in-the-southwest-are-clear-and-palpable-my-beginnings/) [Antoine Predock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-predock/) > [“... the scarlet thread,the red clay from which we were made, runs in tiny streams through all our veins, reminding us of where we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-geddes/the-scarlet-thread-the-red-clay-from-which-we-were-made-runs-in-tiny/) [John Geddes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-geddes/) > [“January 20th,2021 Blow the trumpets loud, Salute the National Guard in the crowd, New beginnings, A new day has dawned, No need to look…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charmaine-j-forde/january-20th-2021-blow-the-trumpets-loud-salute-the-national-guard-in/) [Charmaine J Forde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charmaine-j-forde/) > [There are not many beginnings but there is a single Beginning, prior to multitude. But if you were to say that the beginnings are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-of-cusa/there-are-not-many-beginnings-but-there-is-a-single-beginning-prior/) [Nicholas of Cusa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-of-cusa/) > [“The beginnings of marriage can be a tough phase because it's the time when two individuals are learning to synchronize their hearts, minds, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jyoti-patel/the-beginnings-of-marriage-can-be-a-tough-phase-because-it-s-the-time/) [Jyoti Patel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jyoti-patel/) > [Bad beginnings, bad endings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/livy/bad-beginnings-bad-endings/) [Livy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/livy/) > [Unity, I thought, implies the possibility of disunity. Beginnings imply and require endings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-leckie/unity-i-thought-implies-the-possibility-of-disunity-beginnings-imply/) [Ann Leckie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-leckie/) > [“You see the bird and you see its flight. You can not see through its eyes. Therefore, you don't know its plight.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amaka-nkosazana/you-see-the-bird-and-you-see-its-flight-you-can-not-see-through-its/) [Amaka Nkosazana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amaka-nkosazana/) [Browse all 401 Beginnings quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/beginnings/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“There are very few starts. Oh, some things seem to be beginnings. The curtain goes up, the first pawn moves, the first shot is fired - but that's not the start. The play, the game, the war is just a little window on a ribbon of events that may extend back thousands of years. The point is, there's always something before. It's always a case of Now Read On.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Terry Pratchett" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things-seem-to-be-beginnings-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Beginnings" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things-seem-to-be-beginnings-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/terry-pratchett-19_beginnings_there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things_1315378.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/terry-pratchett-19_beginnings_there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things_1315378.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9a/terry-pratchett-19_beginnings_there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things_1315378.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are very few starts. Oh, some things seem to be beginnings. The curtain goes up, the first pawn moves…” — Terry Pratchett", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Terry Pratchett", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“There are very few starts. Oh,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things-seem-to-be-beginnings-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-are-very-few-starts-oh-some-things-seem-to-be-beginnings-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```