“And please, don't take offense. It's not an insult if it's true. - Devyn”

“She'd tell me how she'd handle the backhanded compliment by smiling and pretending she was receiving a genuine compliment all the while ignoring their attempt to be insulting. After all, it's the way an insult is received that makes it an insult. You can't really give offense unless someone takes it.”

“Percy is the most powerful demigod I've ever met. No offense to you guys but it's true.”

“Don't be ridiculous, please.'The most insulting words in the world!”

“The man who lies to himself can be more easily offended than anyone else. You know it is sometimes very pleasant to take offense, isn't it? A man may know that nobody has insulted him, but that he has invented the insult for himself, has lied and exaggerated to make it picturesque, has caught at a word and made a mountain out of a molehill--he knows that himself, yet he will be the first to take offense, and will revel in his resentment till he feels great pleasure in it.”

“He who takes offense when no offense is intended is a fool, and he who takes offense when offense is intended is a greater fool.”