The World Motivation
Um..." Hazel faltered. "You mean you won't... you're not going to-
“Wow. When he started looking back on the war with Kronos as the good old days--that was sad.”
“Nico found a sort of freedom in knowing that eventually, no matter what happened, he would end up at the foot of his father’s throne.”
“Nosoi?” Percy planted his feet in a fighting stance. “You know, I keep thinking, I have now killed every single thing in Greek mythology. But the list never seems to end.”
“Right," Sadie said. "And Set will just stand there calmly while I read him to death.”
“Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people.”
“This is Leo. I'm the... What's my title? Am I like, admiral, or captain, or...”
“The rapt pupil will be forgiven for assuming the Tsar of Death to be wicked and the Tsar of Life to be virtuous. Let the truth be told: There is no virtue anywhere. Life is sly and unscrupulous, a blackguard, wolfish, severe. In service to itself, it will commit any offense. So, too, is Death possessed of infinite strategies and a gaunt nature- but also mercy, also grace and tenderness. In his own country, Death can be kind.”
“Not flowers—never flowers in Terrasen. Instead, they carried small stones to graves to mark their visits, to tell the dead that they still remembered.”
“Because Peter promised them adventures and happiness and then took them away to the island where they died. They weren’t forever young, unless dying when you were young kept you that way for always.”
“When it reached the mirror’s edge, the blood began to drip and the synchronous echo of each drop that hit the white, porcelain sink below almost felt relaxing.”
“But often life asks much of you, and you either honor life by answering with all your heart, or you cower your way into your grave.”
“No pain, no gain." You can hear the phrase in the world of physical exercise and conditioning. Muscles that feel no pain are probably getting neither stronger, nor more flexible. It presents an analogy for the exercise of the heart. Those who run the risk of genuine love alone must worry about emotional pain. The more friends; the more good-byes - and the more wakes to attend, the more graves to visit, the more deaths to share. Those who truly live life to the fullest will bear the full cup of suffering. Only those who are willing to pay the price in pain and anguish find life full to the brim. Happy people also suffer; they are no more lucky than the rest. They create their own happiness. That's the rule of thumb.”