“It wasn't a beautiful face. But it was a nice face. It wasn't a face that could launch a thousand ships. Maybe two ships and a small yacht.”

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships/And burnt the topless towers of Ilium?”

“[...]Since then it’s been passed from mother to daughter, along with The Face.”“The Face?” Lucas asked.“That Launched a Thousand Ships,” Daphne said, repeating the title automatically. “It’s our curse.”

“Was this the face that launched a thousand ships, And burnt the topless towers of Ilium? Sweet Helen, make me immortal with a kiss.— Her lips suck forth my soul; see where it flies...”

“from the slave ship to the citizenship we faced a lot of bullship”

“Poetic simile was strictly limited to statements like 'his mighty steed was as fleet as the wind on a fairly calm day, say about Force Three,' and any loose talk about a beloved having a face that launched a thousand ships would have to be backed by evidence that the object of desire did indeed look like a bottle of champagne.”