“
Always forgive, but never forget, else you will be a prisoner of your own hatred, and doomed to repeat your mistakes forever.
”
”
Wil Zeus (Sun Beyond the Clouds)
“
We never realize just how many other lives we can help when their paths cross our own.
”
”
Wil Zeus (Sun Beyond the Clouds)
“
As for my brothers,' Zeus said, 'we are thankful -' he cleared his throat, like the words were hard to get out - 'erm, thankful for the aid of Hades.'
The Lord of the Dead nodded. He had a smug look on his face, but I figure he'd earned the right. He patted his son Nico on the shoulders, and Nico looked happier than I'd ever seen him.
”
”
Rick Riordan (The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, #5))
“
The nine Greek Muses, awakened again for this generation of man and meant to inspire mankind forward in the sciences and the arts.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Lure of Obsession (Muse Chronicles, #1))
“
Inspiration before intercourse.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Lure of Obsession (Muse Chronicles, #1))
“
It is He who makes the lightning flash upon you, inspiring you with fear and hope, and gathers up the heavy clouds. The thunder sounds His praises, and the angels, too, in awe of him. He hurls his thunderbolts at whom He pleases. Yet the unbelievers wrangle about God.
”
”
Anonymous (القرآن الكريم)
“
One of the strangest things is the act of creation.
You are faced with a blank slate—a page, a canvas, a block of stone or wood, a silent musical instrument.
You then look inside yourself. You pull and tug and squeeze and fish around for slippery raw shapeless things that swim like fish made of cloud vapor and fill you with living clamor. You latch onto something. And you bring it forth out of your head like Zeus giving birth to Athena.
And as it comes out, it takes shape and tangible form.
It drips on the canvas, and slides through your pen, it springs forth and resonates into the musical strings, and slips along the edge of the sculptor’s tool onto the surface of the wood or marble.
You have given it cohesion. You have brought forth something ordered and beautiful out of nothing.
You have glimpsed the divine.
”
”
Vera Nazarian (The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration)
“
The Order of the Titans had agreed with his assessment. This generation, the Order would be successful where previous generations had failed, because this time they would steal mankind's inspiration. They would kill the muses for the greater good....
For the good of mankind.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Lure of Obsession (Muse Chronicles, #1))
“
Oppenheimer’s warnings were ignored—and ultimately, he was silenced. Like that rebellious Greek god Prometheus—who stole fire from Zeus and bestowed it upon humankind, Oppenheimer gave us atomic fire. But then, when he tried to control it, when he sought to make us aware of its terrible dangers, the powers-that-be, like Zeus, rose up in anger to punish him.
”
”
Kai Bird (American Prometheus: THE INSPIRATION FOR 'OPPENHEIMER', WINNER OF 7 OSCARS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE, BEST DIRECTOR AND BEST ACTOR)
“
When you can inspire a muse, you've got it going on.
”
”
Lisa Kessler (Light of the Spirit (Muse Chronicles, #4))
“
Nuk ka Zeus, as nuk ka zot, Ferr, Lugat t'imagjinuar, po ka popull të paditur, popull q'ende s'është zgjuar.
”
”
Lasgush Poradeci
“
And so accept everything that happens, even if it is disagreeable, because it leads to this, to the health of the universe and to the prosperity and felicity of Zeus
”
”
Marcus Aurelius
“
Deep layers of context are missed when cursorily reading for quantity at the expense of comprehension - only the vapid are impressed by those who try to squeeze as many books as possible into each passing month as if shoving one more oiled hot dog down the gullet in a food eating contest to prove accumulation superiority.
”
”
Wil Zeus
“
I sincerely hope you can find love until you're you again.
”
”
Zeus Zachary
“
To Hera
O Royal Hera of majestic mien, aerial-form'd, divine, Zeus' blessed queen,
Thron'd in the bosom of cærulean air, the race of mortals is thy constant care.
The cooling gales thy pow'r alone inspires, which nourish life, which ev'ry life desires.
Mother of clouds and winds, from thee alone producing all things, mortal life is known:
All natures share thy temp'rament divine, and universal sway alone is thine.
With founding blasts of wind, the swelling sea and rolling rivers roar, when shook by thee.
Come, blessed Goddess, fam'd almighty queen, with aspect kind, rejoicing and serene.
”
”
Orpheus
“
Everyone has gotten their own happy ending. Each of them found his or her purpose already. They know what they want to do and what they want to be. If not, it seems like they are getting there. In a world where people are sure of where they are heading to, when will I?
”
”
Zeus Zachary
“
But Zeus did not tell Aphrodite that age was catching up on him. And that Gods, just as Mortal men, suffered from Erectile Dysfunction. And that the daily harvesting of his sperm sacs by Hera & Themis in order to provide three amphoras full of seed had not helped.
And that thus, he, just as all those who suffered from Erectile Dysfunction, actually preferred catching oysters & eating them rather than deflowering the owners of the oysters. And thus, the Big Crunch that had been planned, now risked becoming the Big Bathos, the Big Let Down.
”
”
Nicholas Chong
“
And Zeus told Aphrodite, in all sincerity, that he had now given up catching oysters for her sake. But could not help cursing her for having started him off in eating them. Since Hera had now taken over the show. She was the only Goddess in Olympus who had the ability to renew her virginity as she bathed in the spring of Kanathos, near Argos, & thus had taken upon herself the job of supplying him with fresh oysters.
”
”
Nicholas Chong
“
And thus it was a right old shambles as anyone could see. Call it Chaos, if you like, the state of affairs when Love went wrong. And everyone wanted to know who the culprit was, who had stolen what rightfully belonged to Hephaestus. And as Zeus was non-commital in the matter, Hera naturally suspected him as the culprit. But the Goddesses agreed that the baby when born, would naturally resemble his father. And thus, when Priapus was born, the culprit would be exposed.
”
”
Nicholas Chong
“
Hera also cheated, by winning the confidence of her sister-in-law, Amphitrite. As Hera convinced her that all she wanted to do was to keep Zeus` sex drive in check for as long as possible, Amphitrite agreed to give Hera an amphora full of Poseidon`s seed, obtained by pouring off a little quantity of seed each time into a hidden amphora. Besides, Amphitrite knew that her husband wouldn`t mind, as he enjoyed each day`s session. And thus, by so doing, the filling of seed by both brothers into their respective amphoras, was slowed down by their wives by equal proportion.
”
”
Nicholas Chong
“
Sometimes, the youthful Hebe would insist on scattering her father`s seed further afield, & to various places, inside & outside Greece, & even in Italy. And when the seed of the King of the Gods was scattered into the rivers & streams, lakes & ponds, & the springs in the woods, Satyrs of various types were born, & also Nymphs & Naiads, those usually described as "the sons & daughters of Zeus", not those of Oceanus & Tethys, just as the Sea Nymphs, other than the Nereids, were the daughters of Poseidon. And this also accounts for the many cities, villages & places inside & outside Greece, said to be founded by a son or daughter of Zeus.
”
”
Nicholas Chong
“
And when Aphrodite was told about Cupid`s rapid progress, she asked Zeus whether he would take her other son, Hymen, along too, since Hymen was already twenty-one & was about to be appointed as the God of Marriage, but knew precious little about love & sex, let alone, marriage.
And thus Zeus took Hymen along too on his oyster hunt. But the Nymphs did not like Hymen. They shrieked & ran in all directions at his approach. But Hymen turned out to be a worthy oyster hunter. He caught the Nymphs easily enough & after catching them, he fed them with wine which his father, the God of Wine, made. And thus drugged, he harvested their oysters painlessly. And this was how all virgin Nymphs & girls got their oysters named after him, the God of Marriage.
”
”
Nicholas Chong
“
Ta ne proglasi meni valj'da ovo Zeus,
Nit Pravda, vjerna druga donjih bogova,
Ovakvih zakona ti ljudma postavi;
Nit tvoj je, mišljah, proglas taj toliko jak,
Te ti ko smrtnik dići bi se mogao
Nad božje, nepisane, stalne zakone.
Od danas nijesu ni odjučer, od vijeka
Pa dovijek živu, nitko ne zna, otkad se
Pojaviše. A rad njih kazan ne htjedoh
Od bogova da trpim, volje s' čovjeka
Pobojav ma kog. da ću mrijet, to znala sam -Ta kako ne? - pa da i ne proglasi ti.
A prije reda l' umrem, držim za dobit.
Tko živi, ko što ja, u bijedi velikoj,
Ej kako neće od koristi biti mu smrt?
Pa tako i ja žalit neću, snađe l' me
Ovakva kob. No trup da sina matere
Ja rođene bez groba pustit odolim,
To peklo bi je, - ali ovo ne žalim.
Al' misliš li, da ludo to uradih ja,
A ono lud me, bit će, krivi s ludosti.
”
”
Sophocles (Antigone (The Theban Plays, #3))
“
It was difficult to take them seriously, even in the swarms in which they generally traveled. Sharp claws? Check, but attached to a kitten. Piercing teeth? Yes, but, again, in the mouth of an adorable little kitten! One in ten able to chew through metal? Oh, you’d better believe it, but wookit da kitty! Obviously this schmoopifying effect diminished after people actually encountered the playfully savage swarms of the things. Coos of adoration would swiftly turn to shrieks of dismay, which would then escalate into screams of terror when the abhorrent act of killing one adorable creature resulted in two more of them springing alive from its corpse. On the rare occasion this failed to happen, it was only because the creature’s death instead resulted in a fiery explosion and—in a characteristically laughable fashion—a shower of peppermint candy. (Some hypothesized that similar creatures in ancient times had inspired the modern piñata, but the idea fell out of favor due to lack of evidence and the fact that no one likes a piñata filled with death.) Those first few survivors who attempted to tell their tale of terror-by-kittens were ridiculed by their friends, dismissed by the mainstream news agencies, and finally laughed out of UFO conventions.
”
”
Michael G. Munz (Zeus Is Dead: A Monstrously Inconvenient Adventure (Zeus Is Dead, #1))
“
What are you so afraid of?”
“Nothing!” He yelled so fiercely that a pair of oxen grazing in a nearby field snorted and moved farther away from us. It was the first time I ever saw fire in Milo’s eyes. “I’m no coward. That’s not why I wouldn’t go with your brothers. I have to go with you.”
“Who said so? You’re free now, Milo. Don’t you know what that means? You can come and go anywhere you like. You ought to appreciate it.”
“I appreciate you, Lady Helen!” Once Milo raised his voice, he couldn’t stop. He shouted so loudly that the two oxen trotted to the far side of the pasture as fast as they could move their massive bodies. “You’re the one who gave me my freedom. If I love to be fifty, I’ll never be able to repay you!”
Milo’s uproar attracted the attention of the two guards, but I waved them back when I saw them coming toward us. “Do you think you could be grateful quietly?” I asked. “This is between us, not us and all Delphi. You owe me nothing. Listen, if you leave now, you might still be able to catch up to my brothers. I’ll ask the Pythia for help. There must be at least one of Apollo’s pilgrims heading north today, one who’s going on horseback. If she tells him to carry you with him, you’ll overtake Prince Jason’s party in no time! I’ll give you whatever you’ll need for the road and--”
“Then I will be in your debt,” Milo encountered. “If you say I’m free, why aren’t I free to stay with you, if that’s what I want?”
“Because it’s stupid!” I forgot my own caution about keeping our voices low. I’d decided that if I couldn’t win our argument with facts, I’d do it with volume. “Don’t you see, Milo? This is a better opportunity than anything that’s waiting for you in Sparta! What could you become if you went there? A potter, a tanner, a metalsmith, maybe a farmer’s boy or a shepherd. But if you sail to Colchis with my brothers, you could be--”
“Seasick,” Milo finished for me.
I raised my eyebrows. “Is that why you won’t go? Not even if it means passing up a once-in-a-lifetime chance for adventures? For a real future? I’m disappointed.”
Milo folded his arms. “Why don’t you just command me not to be seasick? Command me to go away and leave you, while you’re at it. Command me to join your brothers. It’s not what I want, but I guess that doesn’t matter after all.”
I was about to launch into another list of reasons why he should rush after my brothers when his words stopped me. Lord Oeneus was open-handed with commands, I thought. And it was worse for Milo when his hand closed into a fist. I shouldn’t bully Milo into joining the quest for the fleece just because I wish I could do it myself.
In that instant, a happy inspiration struck me with the force of one of Zeus’s own thunderbolts: Why can’t I? I found an unripe acorn lying on the ground beside me and flicked it at Milo.
“All right,” I told him. “You win. You can stay with me.” A look of utter relief spread across his face until I added, “But I win too. You’re going to go with my brothers.”
“But how can I do that if--?”
“And so am I.
”
”
Esther M. Friesner (Nobody's Princess (Nobody's Princess, #1))
“
Ah, Toulouse, you have travelled too much. You know the gods of a hundred lands, those of the trees and mountains, the sky and sea, the stars and planets, of demons and angels, and even the Master of the Cosmos. But I am speaking of God. There are others, I’m sure, but only one God who created even great Zeus and Rama. Yet travel is like philosophy: a few years of it will perk the eye to differences, which you shall be able to notice with ease. Yet living as I have, travelling to lonely lands and through a thousand metropolises and hidden woods, you rather see the similarities. All becomes one, and God too becomes one. Not the sum of all those gods here, but beyond them, a being few philosophers have truly grasped. He has always been one, but he is severed in our minds. So it is up to us to piece him back together. If our souls possess a clarity beyond what our mortal nature can bestow, we shall see him.
”
”
Mary-Jean Harris (Wrestling with Gods (Tesseracts Eighteen))
“
Myths & Comics (The Sonnet)
Some modern superheroes are green in color,
Some ancient superheroes are blue in color.
Some worship hulk, ironman, captain marvel,
Some are fanatics of Zeus, Poseidon, Krishna.
Mythologies are but comics of the old days,
Just like comics are nothing but modern myths.
Fiction is okay in its place, but trouble begins,
When life is belittled and fiction is worshiped.
Inspiration can come from anywhere, real or not,
But all is useless, if it produces mindless savages.
Even I've written fiction to explore some situations,
Though based on reality, some of it is highly exaggerated.
If it brings you back to life, only then it's worth it.
Fiction is supposed to enhance reality, not enslave it.
”
”
Abhijit Naskar (Esperanza Impossible: 100 Sonnets of Ethics, Engineering & Existence)
“
But that doesn’t explain the apparently random killing of women and children. No, there was something else behind it, the same thing that’s inspired ritual murder cults around the world. Vast numbers of people have been sacrificed for a variety of beliefs. Whether you kill to terrify your enemies or to appease gods like Zeus or Kali, it all gets down to one thing: power.
”
”
Tess Gerritsen (Die Again)
“
Do give up when ever will say never.
”
”
Raziel meets Zeus
“
The Muses were nine sisters, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, which means “memory.” Their names are Clio, Erato, Thalia, Terpsichore, Calliope, Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Melpomene, and Urania. Their job is to inspire artists. Each Muse is responsible for a different art. There’s a neighborhood in New Orleans where the streets are named after the Muses.
”
”
Steven Pressfield (The War of Art)
“
Mother Earth never forgot, because her consciousness was not subject to time and traveled through eternity as in a unique point in time. Fearsome powers could always be on her side, forces that no one could dominate except herself, Gaia, the Earth with the vast chest. And the moment would come, inescapable, when everyone would be called to account again.
”
”
Marcos Jaén Sánchez (Zeus conquista el Olimpo (Mitología Griega RBA, #1))
“
In the eternal regions of consciousness, empty of space, at the same time filled with silence and animated by a fertile agitation, the Mother of all things lamented painfully. The world that she had generated to keep Chaos at a distance was convulsing, prey to passions, desires, extreme effervescence, without hope of ever finding serenity.
”
”
Marcos Jaén Sánchez (Zeus conquista el Olimpo (Mitología Griega RBA, #1))
“
The martial valor of Ares, the royalty of Hera, the intelligence and leadership of Zeus, the inspiration of Apollo (Ares: Phaedr. 252c8; Hera: 253b1; Zeus: 252e1-6; Apollo: 253b3, 265b4), and other virtues corresponding to the other Gods are brought to birth among mortals, both in thought and in action, as a product of mortals’ yearning for the virtues’ original, divine bearers. Nor does each God represent but a single virtue; each one must rather exhibit a mixture of many virtues, just as would any virtuous human.
”
”
Edward P. Butler (Essays on Plato)
“
Inspired by these tiny sculptures, a few hyperfeminist mystics deduced a delightfully satisfying ideological fantasy—that an Earth-Mother religion preceded every other spiritual belief system, all over the planet. This ubiquitous Neolithic creed must obviously have worshipped a goddess! One whose top traits were fecundity and serene maternal kindliness. That is, till gentle Gaia was toppled by violent bands of macho Jehovah-Zeus-Shiva followers, spurred by an abrupt wave of vile new technologies—metallurgy, agriculture, and literacy—that arrived with concurrent and destabilizing suddenness, all at once shaking the tranquil old ways and toppling the pastoral mother goddess.
”
”
David Brin (Kiln People)
“
The Muses were nine sisters, daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, which means "memory." Their names are Clio, Erato, Thalia, Terpsichore, Calliope, Polyhymnia, Euterpe, Melpomene, and Urania. Their job is to inspire artists.
”
”
Steven Pressfield (The War of Art)