Rick Riordan

“Why did adults have to be so thick? They always say “tell the truth,” and when you do, they don’t believe you. What’s the point?”

“Poison!" Grover yelped. "Don't let those things touch you or...""Or we'll die?" I guessed."Well...after you shrivel slowly to dust, yes.""Let's avoid the swords," I decided.”

“As I got closer to the fence, I held my shirt over my nose to block the smell. One stallion waded through the muck and whinnied angrily at me. He bared his teeth, which were pointed like a bear's.I tried to talk to him in my mind. I can do that with most horses.Hi, I told him. I'm going to clean your stables. Won't that be great?Yes! The horse said. Come inside! Eat you! Tasty half-blood!But I'm Poseidon's son, I protested. He created horses.Usually this gets me VIP treatment in the equestrian world, not this time.Yes! The horse agreed enthusiastically. Poseidon can come in, too! We will eat you both! Seafood!Seafood! The other horses chimed in as they waded through the field.”

“OPEN WITH CARE. TRIPPLE G RANCH IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR PROPERTY DAMAGE, MAIMING, OR EXCRUCIATINGLY PAINFUL DEATHS.”

“Well . . . sure good to be together again. Arguing. Almost dying. Abject terror. Oh, look. It's our floor.”

“Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been the most vocal on the council, arguing for taking action against Kronos's minions. If she is not there, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."Are you sugesting the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysis asked.Yes, Lord Dionysis."Mr.D nodded. "Just checking. Your right, of course. Carry on.”

“And, whoa!" He turned to Mr.D. "Your the wine dude? No way!"Mr.D turned hi eyes away from me and gave Nico a look of loathing. "The wine dude?""Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine!""My figurine.""In my game, Mythomagic. And holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks your the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!""Ah." Mr.D seemed truly perplexed, which probably saved my life. "Well, that's...gratifying.”

“And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis said, pointing to us. "Some of Chiron's campers."No problem!" Apollo checked us out. "Let's see... Thalia, right? I've heard all about you.".Thalia blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."Zues's girl. yes? Makes you my half sister. Used to be a tree didn't you? Glad your back. I hate it when pretty girls get turned into trees. Man, I remeber one time-”

“Why do you need to gallop while you fly?""Why do humans have to sway their arms while they walk? I dunno boss, but it just feels right.”

“Percy (talking about Annabeth):"I found myself staring at her, which was stupid since I'd seen her a billion times. Still, she seemed so much more mature. It was kind of intimidating. I mean, sure, she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful.”

“Good fighting with you, Seaweed Brain."Ditto.”

“I remembered what she'd told me in New York, about building something permanent, and I thought - just maybe - we were off to a good start.”

“The world will fall, the gods will die, and I will never achieve a perfect score on this stupid machine.-Dionysus”

“Quintus…” Geryon mused. “Short gray hair, muscular, swordsman?”“Yeah.”“Never heard of him,”

“He dropped the rest of the Cokes into the grave and pulled out a whitepaper bag decorated with cartoons. I hadn’t seen one in years, but Irecognized it — a McDonald’s Happy Meal.He turned it upside down and shook the fries and hamburger into the grave.“In my day, we used animal blood,” the ghost mumbled. “It’s perfectly good enough. They can’t taste the difference.”“I will treat them with respect,” Nico said.“At least let me keep the toy,” the ghost said.”

“Now, as far as I knew, he (Luke) was still sailing around on his demon-infested cruise ship while the chopped-up Lord Kronos re-formed, bit by bit, in a golden sarcophagus, biding his time until he had enough power to challenge the Olympian gods. In demigod-speak, we call this a “problem.”- Percy, 'The Battle of the Labyrinth”

“It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the internet-""You invented the internet?"It was my idea, Martha said.Rats are delicious, George said."It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the internet, not the rats. But that's not the point.”

“The Princess Andromeda?""Went ka-boom.”

“The cord, a familiar voice said. Remember your lifeline, dummy!Suddenly there was a tug in my lower back. The current pulled at me, but it wasn't carrying me away anymore. I imagined the string in my back keeping me tied to the shore."Hold on, Seaweed Brain." It was Annabeth's voice, much clearer now. "You're not getting away from me that easily."The cord strengthened.I could see Annabeth now- standing barefoot above me on the canoe lake pier. I'd fallen out of my canoe. That was it. She was reaching out her hand to haul me up, and she was trying not to laugh. She wore her orange camp T-shirt and jeans. Her hair was tucked up in her Yankees cap, which was strange because that should have made her invisible."You are such an idiot sometimes." She smiled. "Come on. Take my hand."Memories came flooding back to me- sharper and more colorful. I stopped dissolving. My name was Percy Jackson. I reached up and took Annabeth's hand.”

“Once she was gone, I knelt next to Annabeth and felt her forehead. She was still burning up."You're cute when you're worried," she muttered. "Your eyebrows get all scrunched together.""You are not going to die while I owe you a favor," I said. "Why did you take that knife?""You would've done the same for me."It was true. I guess we both knew it. Still, I felt like somebody was poking my heart with a cold metal rod.”

“We'll have to work on your bunny phobia later.”

“So, you wrecked Alcatraz Island, made Mount St. Helens explode, and displaced half a million people, but at least you're safe.""Yep, that pretty much covers it.”

“Who are you?"Ethan Nakamura. I have to kill you." ??”

“Something was wrong with Luke," Annabeth muttered, poking at the fire with her knife. "Did you notice the way he was acting?""He looked pretty pleased to me," I said. "Like he'd spent a nice day torturing heroes.""That's not true! There was something wrong with him. He looked...nervous. He told his monsters to spare me. He wanted to tell me something.""Probably, 'Hi, Annabeth! Sit here with me and watch while I tear your friends apart. It'll be fun!”

“Jumping out a window five hundred feet above ground is not usually my idea of fun. Especially when I'm wearing bronze wings and flapping my arms like a duck.”

“Grover was sniffing the wind, looking nervous. He fished out his acorns and threw them into the sand, then played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that made no sense to me, but Grover looked concerned. "That's us," he said. "Those five nuts right there." "Which one is me?" I asked. "The little deformed one," Zoe suggested. "Oh, shut up.”

“Whats up, Seaweed Brain?”

“She glared at me like she was about to punch me, but then she did something that surprised me even more. She kissed me."Be careful seaweed brain." She said putting on her invisible cap and disappearing.I probably would have sat there all day, trying to remember my name, but then the sea demons came.”

“You have to rise above the squabbling and chaos, and keep believing. You have to always keep your goals in mind.” -Hera, goddess of marriage ”

“Humans don't exist on the same level as immortals. They can't even be hurt by our weapons. But you, Percy--you are part god, part human. You live in both worlds. You can be harmed by both, and you can affect both. That's what makes heroes so special. You carry the hopes of humanity into the realm of the eternal. Monsters never die. They are reborn from the chaos and barbarism that is always bubbling beneath civilization, the very stuff that makes Kronos stronger. They must be defeated again and again, kept at bay. Heroes embody that struggle. You fight the battles humanity must win, every generation, in order to stay human."-Chiron ”

“Number eight, the silver one, belongs to Artemis. She vowed to be a maiden forever. So of course, no kids. The cabin is, you know, honorary. If she didn't have one, she'd be mad.”

“The cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the skeleton army that had come to kill us.”

“Hermes gazed up at the stars. 'My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet--”

“Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"Zoe blinked. "Yes. What is funny?""Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face. "I could use some dam french fries."Even Thalia smiled at that. "And I need to use the dam restroom."...I started cracking up, and Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at me. "I do not understand.""I want to use the dam water fountain," Grover said."And..." Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam t-shirt.”

“Always, Always have a plan”

“You drool when you sleep.”

“He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!”

“What if it lines up like it did in the Trojan War ... Athena versus Poseidon?""I don't know. But I just know that I'll be fighting next to you.""Why?""Because you're my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?”

“She said this in the same way you might say Fields of Punishment or Hades's gym shorts.”

“But remember, boy, that a kind act can sometimes be as powerful as a sword.”

“Remake the world, a little at a time, each in your own corner of the world.”

“People are more difficult to work with than machines. And when you break a person, he can't be fixed.”

“Be careful of love. It'll twist your brain around and leave you thinking up is down and right is wrong.”

“You deal with mythological stuff for a few years, you learn that paradises are usually places where you get killed.”

“Getting something and having the wits to use it...those are two different things.”

“You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear thorough the search.”

“Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters.”

“Almost everything strange washes up near Miami. ”

“My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it.”

“Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. ”