“Nice creepy reptile,” Frank said, very aware of the driftwood in his coat pocket. “Nice poisonous, fire-breathing reptile.”

Sadie,” he said forlornly, “when you become a parent, you may understand this. One of my hardest jobs as a father, one of my greatest duties, was to realize that my own dreams, my own goals and wishes, are secondary to my children’s.

Is it fair your life burns so short and bright? Death had asked. “No such thing as fair,” Frank told himself. “If I’m going to burn, it might as well be bright.

On the bright side,” Percy said, “both Jason and I outrank you, Octavian. So we can both tell you to shut up.

The sea does not like to be restrained.

Love was the most savage monster of all.

Wisdom’s daughter walks alone, The mark of Athena burns through Rome.

Love is powerful. It can bring the gods to their knees.

Oh, did you expect me to play fair?” Cupid laughed. “I am the god of love. I am never fair.

It’s always hard to wrap up a series. The longer I spend with the characters, the more they become like friends.

Some pain shouldn’t be wished away so easily. It has to be dealt with, even embraced.

I tell aspiring writers that you have to find what you must write. When you find it, you will know, because the subject matter won’t let you go. It’s not enough to write simply because you think it would be neat to be published. You have to be compelled to write. If you’re not, nothing else that you do matters.

Chaos is impatient. It’s random. And above all it’s selfish. It tears down everything just for the sake of change, feeding on itself in constant hunger. But Chaos can also be appealing. It tempts you to believe that nothing matters except what you want.

Carter started down the stairs, but I grabbed his arm. “Hang on. What about traps?” He frowned. “Traps?” “Didn’t Egyptian tombs have traps?” “Well…sometimes. But this isn’t a tomb. Besides, more often they had curses, like the burning curse, the donkey curse—” “Oh, lovely. That sounds so much better.

Brother,” Artemis chided. “You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you do not call them sweetheart.

Go on with what your heart tells you, or you will lose all.

Have you ever noticed how parents can go from the most wonderful people in the world to totally embarrassing in three seconds?

I’m only rich because I know when I’m wrong.

I know who I am and who I may be, if I choose.

We look at the dance to impart the sensation of living in an affirmation of life, to energize the spectator into keener awareness of the vigor, the mystery, the humor, the variety, and the wonder of life. This is the function of the American dance.

Living in a chronic state of unawareness can cause us to miss much of what is most beautiful and meaningful in our lives.

Living in each moment with the awareness that nothing is permanent is an invitation to love more deeply, to speak more honesty, and to align with whispers of our soul.

I really wish I knew what I was doing because I’d be writing hit songs every minute.

If we go down into ourselves, we find that we possess exactly what we desire.

The awareness is not part of the darkness or the pain; it holds the pain, and knows it, so it has to be more fundamental, and closer to what is healthy and strong and golden within you.