Best Quotes from The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan with Page Numbers

Look, I didn’t want to be a half-blood.

Being a half-blood is dangerous. It’s scary. Most of the time, it gets you killed in painful, nasty ways.

If you feel something stirring inside-stop reading immediately. You might be one of us.

You must learn the answer to my question.

What you learn from me is vitally important.

I expect you to treat it as such.

And I just couldn’t learn all those names and facts, much less spell them correctly.

It’s weird being alone with a teacher, especially Mrs. Dodds.

You’ve been giving us problems, honey.

Your time is up.

“I was used to the occasional weird experience, but usually they were over quickly.”

“Something was going on. Something had happened at the museum.”

“I was homesick. I wanted to be with my mom in our little apartment...”

“… the only test I studied for. I hadn’t forgotten what Mr. Brunner had told me about this subject being life-and-death for me.”

“I picked up the mythology book.”

“I didn’t want to leave Yancy Academy with him thinking I hadn’t tried.”

“You need the boy to mature more.”

“We would only make matters worse by rushing him.”

“You know what that would mean.”

“You’re not normal, Percy. That’s nothing to be-”

'She’s the best person in the world, which just proves my theory that the best people have the rottenest luck.'

'My mother can make me feel good just by walking into the room.'

'I felt like someone-something-was looking for me right now, maybe pounding its way up the stairs, growing long, horrible talons.'

'You say that as if it’s a bad thing, Percy. But you don’t realize how important you are.'

'I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud.'

'When she looks at me, it’s like she’s seeing all the good things about me, none of the bad.'

'Why did she put up with this guy? I wanted to scream. Why did she care what he thought?'

'I have to send you away…for your own good.'

'I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you’d finally be safe.'

'Your stepfather is just worried about money. That’s all.'

"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn’t faking being your friend, I am your friend."

"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you’d attract."

"Please, dear, this is hard enough. Try to understand. You’re in danger."

"Names have power."

"When he sees us, he’ll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way - directly sideways. He can’t change directions very well once he’s charging."

"Go! Please."

"I was selfish, keeping you near me."

"I can’t cross the property line."

"You’ll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don’t look back. Yell for help. Don’t stop until you reach the door."

"I didn’t have time to figure it out."

Welcome to Camp Half-Blood. There. Now, don’t expect me to be glad to see you.

If you were a god, how would you like being called a myth, an old story to explain lightning?

That’s the question we all want answered, isn’t it? But for now, we should get you a bunk in cabin eleven.

You may choose to believe or not, but the fact is that immortal means immortal.

Can you imagine that for a moment, never dying? Never fading? Existing, just as you are, for all time?

What you call ‘Western civilization.’ Do you think it’s just an abstract concept? No, it’s a living force.

Every place they’ve ruled, for the last three thousand years, you can see them in paintings, in statues, on the most important buildings.

I defy you to find any American city where the Olympians are not prominently displayed in multiple places.

Percy, you know your friend Grover is a satyr.

But that’s my job. I’m a keeper. At least… I was.

I can’t believe I thought you were the one.

You know how many kids at this camp wish they’d had your chance?

Monsters don’t die, Percy. They can be killed. But they don’t die.

Your mind is hardwired for ancient Greek.

You see too much, Percy, not too little.

Face it. You’re a half-blood.

I could continue the work I loved.

I can only assume I’m still needed.

That’s what we’re here for.

How did you …

You are home. This is the only safe place on earth for kids like us.

Maybe you’re right. Maybe he’ll send a sign. That’s the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son.

The gods are busy. They have a lot of kids and they don’t always … Well, sometimes they don’t care about us, Percy. They ignore us.

We’re extended family, right? We take care of each other.

You are a New Yorker, right?

You ever meet your dad? Once.

I wish I knew. Chiron and the satyrs, they know, but they won’t tell me.

Believe me, if I told you the names, you’d know them.

I wished I knew what god’s name to say.

I didn’t feel that anyone was staring at me anymore. I felt that I was home.

But still, it was a little humiliating to be slower than a tree.

The only thing I really excelled at was canoeing, and that wasn’t the kind of heroic skill people expected to see from the kid who had beaten the Minotaur.

I tried not to think too much about my mom, but I kept wondering: if gods and monsters were real, if all this magical stuff was possible, surely there was some way to save her, to bring her back….

She had faced a whole army of monsters. Next to that, my victory over the Minotaur didn’t seem like much.

The water seemed to wake up my senses, as if I’d just had a bag of my mom’s double-espresso jelly beans.

The red banner shimmered and turned to silver.

You had it all figured out.

Athena always, always has a plan.

But they weren’t watching my wounds heal. They were staring at something above my head.

Hail, Perseus Jackson, Son of the Sea God.

Just when I’d started to feel accepted, I’d been separated out as if I had some rare disease.

You’ll meet worse, Percy. Far worse, before you’re done.

What better peace offering than to have the son of Poseidon return Zeus’s property?

It started to rain. Volleyball players stopped their game and stared in stunned silence at the sky.

Unless someone intervenes, there will be war... Imagine the world in chaos.

You shall go west, and face the god who has turned.

You shall retrieve what was stolen and see it safely returned.

You shall be betrayed by one who calls you a friend.

And you shall fail to save what matters most, in the end.

If you do say so yourself, I suppose you have a plan, wise girl?

"You are the one."

"All we can do, child, is follow our destiny."

"You’re obviously not."

"The sword is celestial bronze. Forged by the Cyclopes, tempered in the heart of Mount Etna, cooled in the River Lethe."

"You will see things just as they are, being a half-blood, but humans will interpret things quite differently."

"Keep a clear head. And remember, you may be about to prevent the biggest war in human history."

"Your mom stayed with him to protect you. She was a smart lady. She must’ve loved you a lot to put up with that guy-if that makes you feel any better."

"I don’t care about retrieving Zeus’s lightning bolt, or saving the world, or even helping my father out of trouble. The more I thought about it, I resented Poseidon for never visiting me, never helping my mom, never even sending a lousy child-support check."

"The Furies will not attack us with witnesses around."

"I can smell traces of him on you, and you haven’t been near him for a week."

In a way, it’s nice to know there are Greek gods out there, because you have somebody to blame when things go wrong.

That’s where you learn whether you’re any good or not.

Maybe I should tell you … Something funny back on the bus …

Come on! The farther away we get, the better.

It’s just that if you died … aside from the fact that it would really suck for you, it would mean the quest was over.

You have such beautiful gray eyes, child.

You see why I must destroy the girl, Percy. She is my enemy’s daughter.

Do you really want to help the gods?

You would be better off as a statue. Less pain.

I am impertinent.

"I have to believe that, Percy. Every searcher does. It’s the only thing that keeps us from despair when we look at what humans have done to the world."

"We refuse to believe that he died. In every generation, the bravest satyrs pledge their lives to finding Pan."

"I’ll be the first searcher to return alive."

"How about I take first watch, huh? You get some sleep."

"You’re glad your dad is alive. You feel good that he’s claimed you, and part of you wants to make him proud."

"I don’t care about the master bolt. I agreed to go to the Underworld so I could bring back my mother."

"I can’t talk about it," Grover said, and his quivering lower lip suggested he’d start crying if I pressed him.

"You’re not as smart as Annabeth. I’m not as brave as you. But I’m pretty good at reading emotions."

"Look, Percy, I’m not as smart as Annabeth. I’m not as brave as you. But I’m pretty good at reading emotions. You’re glad your dad is alive."

"What lay ahead of me was worse than petrification."

"Maybe Grover sensed my emotions."

"Athena expects her children to create things, not just tear them down."

"I’ll see you guys at the bottom."

"You have no faith," Echidna told me. "You do not trust the gods. I cannot blame you, little coward."

"I could feel deadly poison racing up to my chest."

"If you are the son of Poseidon, you would not fear water. Jump, Percy Jackson."

"Prove your bloodline."

"My whole leg was on fire."

"I remembered the warm glow of my father’s smile when I was a baby."

"I turned and jumped."

But the strangest thought occurred to me only last: I was breathing. I was underwater, and I was breathing normally.

Your father believes in you.

I looked at the garbage floating by and snatched an old cigarette lighter.

The fact that I wasn’t seemed like … well, a miracle.

I felt like drowning myself. The only problem: I was immune to drowning.

I imagined a woman’s voice, a voice that sounded a bit like my mother: Percy, what do you say?

I said, “Thank you, Father.”

“But …” I was sure this woman was my mother, or a vision of her, anyway.

I couldn’t protect them. I was no hero.

“Gifts?” I asked. “What gifts? Wait!”

"You can’t do that," I told Ares. "You can’t just threaten people with a knife."

"Hey, I’m a generous guy. Just do my little job, and I’ll help you on your way. I’ll arrange a ride west for you and your friends."

"A god is giving you an opportunity to prove yourself, Percy Jackson. Will you prove yourself a coward?"

"Whatever. I’m trying to give you the benefit of the doubt. Your dad and I go way back. After all, I’m the one who told him my suspicions about old Corpse Breath."

"When that item was first stolen, Zeus sent his best out looking for it: Apollo, Athena, Artemis, and me, naturally. If I couldn’t sniff out a weapon that powerful … well … if I couldn’t find it, you got no hope."

"This is not just a chance to prove yourself, Percy. It’s a chance to go to war."

"Even strength has to bow to wisdom sometimes."

"You’re lucky you met me, punk, and not one of the other Olympians. They’re not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

"Do it! It was a crazy hope, but it was our only chance. The spiders were all over the prow of the boat now."

"I realized Ares must love to mess with people’s emotions. That was his power-cranking up the passions so badly, they clouded your ability to think."

You’re a natural searcher. That’s why you’ll be the one who finds Pan.

It’s not luck that you found Thalia and me, Grover. You’ve got the biggest heart of any satyr ever.

You should write him a letter or something.

Because you’re my friend, Seaweed Brain. Any more stupid questions?

What are you talking about? I’ve just got the towers—

This place is a trap.

You check in, and you stay forever.

You shouldn’t give up.

And don’t worry, I placed a satyr’s sanctuary on them.

We’ve got to find Grover.

If my father is so interested in me, why isn’t he here? Why doesn’t he speak to me?

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

Hades feeds on doubt and hopelessness. He will trick you if he can, make you mistrust your own judgment.

Once you are in his realm, he will never willingly let you leave.

What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.

I knew I couldn’t take on this giant water-bed salesman alone.

I remembered faces in the waves off Montauk Beach when I was a little boy, reflections of smiling women.

No gift comes without a price.

You must listen to your heart.

There is no such thing as a free lunch.

We’re entering the Land of the Dead, and I shouldn’t think negative.

I felt really grateful. Only a few minutes before, I’d almost gotten them stretched to death on deluxe water beds, and now they were trying to be brave for my sake.

Let’s whup some Underworld butt.

Leave while you can.

You’re not dead. I should’ve known. You’re a godling.

Whoever said death was fair, young miss? Wait until it’s your turn. You’ll die soon enough, where you’re going.

We’ll get out alive.

For thousands of years, you humans have been throwing in everything as you come across—hopes, dreams, wishes that never came true.

I thought maybe Annabeth and I had both had the right idea. Even here in the Underworld, everybody—even monsters—needed a little attention once in a while.

I’ll bring you another ball soon.

The dead aren’t scary. They’re just sad.

That’s what it’s all about. That’s the place for heroes.

You will fail to save what matters most in the end.

What belongs to the sea will always return to the sea.

I had spent thousands of miles worried that I’d be betrayed by a friend, but these friends would never do that.

I’ll be back. I’ll find a way.

You are brave to come here, Son of Poseidon.

You’re as bad as Zeus. You think I stole from you?

Don’t get me started on Charon!

I did not ask for this war.

I felt as if I’d just come back from the dead - which I had.

The prophecy was right … You shall go west and face the god who has turned.

The point is, kid, you’re impeding the war effort. See, you’ve got to die in the Underworld.

I was done running from monsters. Or Hades, or Ares, or anybody.

If I lose, turn me into anything you want. Take the bolt.

A smaller ego, I thought, but I said nothing.

Even strength has to know how to wisdom sometimes.

You have made an enemy, godling. You have sealed your fate.

Live well, Percy Jackson. Become a true hero.

Such a small thing to almost cause World War III.

It’s funny how humans can wrap their mind around things and fit them into their version of reality.

No one can choose your path, Percy. You must decide.

Obedience does not come naturally to you, does it?

Whatever else you do, know that you are mine. You are a true son of the Sea God.

If my life is going to mean anything, I have to live it myself.

You deserve better than this, Mom.

I’ll be a hero, Percy. You’ll be the greatest of all.

You can’t solve my problems.

You have done me a service, boy. Few heroes could have accomplished as much.

Your mother is a queen among women.

I had my friends to train with during the day.

Maybe he wasn’t quite sure about me yet, maybe he hadn’t even wanted me born, but he was watching.

I had finally found a family, people who cared about me and thought I’d done something right.

The real world is where the monsters are. That’s where you learn whether you’re any good or not.

Don’t worry, my mom wrote. I’m done with sculpture. I’ve disposed of that box of tools you left me. It’s time for me to turn to writing.

I knew I wasn’t going to be sword fighting any time soon.

Your time will come.

The gods have their reasons, Percy.

You will be a great hero, child.

The sea does not like to be restrained.