Madeline Miller Quotes

In the darkness, two shadows, reaching through the hopeless, heavy dusk. Their hands meet, and light spills in a flood like a hundred golden urns pouring out of the sun.

~ Madeline Miller

When he died, all things soft and beautiful and bright would be buried with him.

~ Madeline Miller

I found myself grinning until my cheeks hurt, my scalp prickling till I thought it might lift off my head. My tongue ran away from me, giddy with freedom. This, and this, and this, I said to him. I did not have to fear that I spoke too much. I did not have to worry that I was too slender, or too slow. This and this and this! I taught him how to skip stones, and he taught me how to carve wood. I could feel every nerve in my body, every brush of air against my skin.

~ Madeline Miller

And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone.

~ Madeline Miller

Odysseus inclines his head. True. But fame is a strange thing. Some men gain glory after they die, while others fade. What is admired in one generation is abhorred in another. He spread his broad hands. We cannot say who will survive the holocaust of memory. Who knows? He smiles. Perhaps one day even I will be famous. Perhaps more famous than you.

~ Madeline Miller

He is a weapon, a killer. Do not forget it. You can use a spear as a walking stick, but that will not change its nature.

~ Madeline Miller

and her skin shone luminous and impossibly pale, as if it drank light from the moon.

~ Madeline Miller

But is it not a sort of genius to cut always to the heart? 

~ Madeline Miller

Patroclus,' he said. He was always better with words than I.

~ Madeline Miller

For who can be ashamed to lose to such beauty?

~ Madeline Miller

Wealth and reputation were the things our people had always killed for.

~ Madeline Miller

There is no honour in betraying your friends.

~ Madeline Miller

This and this and this.

~ Madeline Miller

He looked different in sleep, beautiful but cold as moonlight.

~ Madeline Miller

He looked different in sleep, beautiful but cold as moonlight. I found myself wishing he would wake so that I might watch the life return.

~ Madeline Miller

He knew, but it was not enough. The sorrow was so large it threatened to tear through my skin. When he died, all things swift and beautiful and bright would be buried with him.

~ Madeline Miller

Above us, the constellations spun and the moon paced her weary course. We lay stricken and sleepless as the hours passed.

~ Madeline Miller

There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles,” Chiron said. “And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?”“Perhaps,” Achilles admitted.I listened and did not speak. Achilles’ eyes were bright in the firelight, his face drawn sharply by the flickering shadows. I would know it in dark or disguise, I told myself. I would know it even in madness.

~ Madeline Miller

There is no law that gods must be fair, Achilles,” Chiron said. “And perhaps it is the greater grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Do you think?

~ Madeline Miller

Exile might satisfy the anger of the living, but it did not appease the dead.

~ Madeline Miller

The never-ending ache of love and sorrow.

~ Madeline Miller

We cannot say who will survive the holocaust of memory.

~ Madeline Miller

Patroclus, he says, Patroclus. Patroclus. Over and over until it is sound only.

~ Madeline Miller

Achilles’ eyes lift. They are bloodshot and dead. “I wish he had let you all die.

~ Madeline Miller

When I am dead, I charge you to mingle our ashes and bury us together.

~ Madeline Miller

Bury us, and mark our names above. Let us be free.

~ Madeline Miller

Achilles weeps. He cradles me, and will not eat, nor speak a word other than my name.

~ Madeline Miller

Peleus acknowledged this. Yet other boys will be envious that you have chosen such a one. What will you tell them? I will tell them nothing. The answer came with no hesitation, clear and crisp. It is not for them to say what I will do.

~ Madeline Miller

Who was he if not destined for fame?

~ Madeline Miller

Name one hero who was happy.

~ Madeline Miller

Indeed, he seemed utterly unaware of his effect on the boys around him.

~ Madeline Miller