Quotes from Ilium

“Rage.

Sing, O Muse, of the rage of Achilles, of Peleus’ son, murderous, man-killer, fated to die, sing of the rage that cost the Achaeans so many good men and sent so many vital, hearty souls down to the dreary House of Death. And while you’re at it, Muse, sing of the rage of the gods themselves, so petulant and so powerful here on their new Olympos, and of the rage of the post-humans, dead and gone though they might be, and of the rage of those few true humans left, self-absorbed and useless though they have become. While you are singing, O Muse, sing also of the rage of those thoughtful, sentient, serious but not-so-close-to-human beings out there dreaming under the ice of Europa, dying in the sulfur ash of Io, and being born in the cold folds of Ganymede.

Oh, and sing of me, O Muse, poor born-against-his-will Hockenberry, dead Thomas Hockenberry, Ph.D., Hockenbush to his friends, to friends long since turned to dust on a world long since left behind. Sing of my rage, yes, of my rage, O Muse, small and insignificant though that rage might be when measured against the anger of the immortal gods, or when compared to the wrath of the god-killer Achilles.

On second though, O Muse, sing nothing of me. I know you. I have been bound and servant to you, O Muse, you incomparable bitch. And I do not trust you, O Muse. Not one little bit.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Want to talk about Shakespeare's sonnets?" asked Orphu of Io.

Are you shitting me?" The moravecs loved the ancient human colloquial phrases, the more scatological the better.

Yes," said Orphu. "I am most definitely shitting you, my friend.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Human art, Mahnmut knew, simply transcended human beings.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“The only true voyage, the only Fountain of Youth,” recited Orphu, “would be found not in traveling to strange lands but in having different eyes, in seeing the universe with the eyes of another person, of a hundred others, and seeing the hundred universes each of them sees, which each of them is.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“This is where the Iliad begins, and it should be the focus of all my energies and professional skills, but the truth is that I don’t really give a shit.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Arete is simply excellence and the striving for excellence in all things,” said Odysseus. “Arete simply means the act of offering all actions as a sort of sacrament to excellence, of devoting one’s life to finding excellence, identifying it when it offers itself, and achieving it in your own life.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Achilles pauses, looks over his shoulder at the masses of men behind him, turns back, looks past Zeus toward Olympos and the masses of gods in front of him, and then crooks his neck to look up again at towering Zeus.

"Surrender now", says Achilles, "and we'll spare your goddesses' lives so they can be our slaves and courtesans.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“What’s it called?” she asked. “La putain enormé,” said Ada. “What does it mean?”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done . . . ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world . . .”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Their three approaches fail but somehow the story itself succeeds, despite its narrator’s and even author’s failures!”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; Death closes all: but something ere the end, Some work of noble note, may yet be done . . . ‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world . . . Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’ We are not now that strength which in old days Moved earth and heaven; that which we are, we are; One equal temper of heroic hearts, Made weak in time and fate, but strong in will To strive, to seek, and not to yield.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“At that point Lord Agamemnon, Atreus’ son, began shitting whole goats,” laughs Orus, speaking loudly enough that several captains turn to frown at us.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“ENOUGH!" bellows Zeus and not only stops Ares diatribe , but freezes every god and robot in place. "I'll hear no more whining prattle from you, Ares, you lying, two-faced, treacherous sparrowfart, you miserable excuse for a man, much less for a god.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Reading your sonnets?” asked Orphu. Mahnmut closed the book. “How’d you know? Have you taken up telepathy now that you’ve lost your eyes?” “Not yet,” rumbled the Ionian. Orphu’s great crab shell was lashed to the deck ten meters from where Mahnmut sat near the bow. “Some of your silences are more literary than others, is all.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Agamemnon: "Our prayer was simple — to raze Ilium’s walls to its roots, kill its heroes, rape its women, enslave its people. Is that too much to ask?”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Manmut oseti kako mu se organski slojevi ježe kada je shvatio da je naglas progovorio preko privatne linije. “Ništa. Zbog čega ljubav nije dovela do odgovora na zagonetku života?”
“Zbog toga što je Prust znao - a njegovi likovi to otkrivaju - da ni ljubav, ni njen plemenitiji rođak, prijateljstvo, nikada ne mogu da prežive entropijska sečiva ljubomore, dosade, navike i egoizma”, reče Orfi i Manmut prvi put u toku njihove direktne komunikacije nasluti prizvuk tuge u glasu krupnog moraveka.
“Nikad?”
“Nikad”, reče Orfi i grmnu dubokim uzdahom. “Sećaš se poslednjih redova Zaljubljenog Svana? - “Kad pomislim da sam protraćio godine svog života, da sam želeo da umrem, da sam najveću ljubav doživeo sa ženom koja me nije privlačila, koja čak nije bila moj tip!”
“Primetio sam to”, reče Manmut, “ali nisam tada znao da li to treba da bude strašno smešno, užasno gorko ili neizrecivo tužno. Šta je u pitanju?”
“Sve troje, prijatelju”, odasla Orfi sa Ija. “Sve troje”.
“Koji je bio treći put Prustovih likova prema zagonetki života?” - upita Manmut. Povećao je priliv O2 u svoju komoru kako bi razvejao paučinaste niti tuge koje su pretile da mu se isprepleću u srcu.
“O tome ćemo neki drugi put”, reče Orfi, naslutivši možda raspoloženje svog sabesednika. “Koros III će povećati raspon zahvata i biće zabavno da posmatramo vatromet u spektru rendgenskih zraka”.”

[...]

“ “E vidiš, to nije toliko neuobičajeno”, reče Orfi. “Slušaj, evo jednog pasusa koji sledi posle onoga o nicanju krila i novih pluća na Marsu. Hoćeš na francuskom ili engleskom?”
“Na engleskom”, reče Manmut brzo. Ovako blizu strašnoj smrti od gušenja, nije želeo da se još dodadno muči slušajući francuski.
“Jedino pravo putovanje, jedina Fontana Mladosti”, izdeklamova Orfi, “neće se pronaći na putu u nepoznate zemlje, već u drugačijim očima, u posmatranju vaseljene očima druge osobe, stotinu drugih, i spoznaji stotine vaseljena koje svako od njih vidi, koje svako od njih predstavlja”.
Dok je razmišljao o ovome, Manmut je na tren zaista zaboravio na njihovo neumitno gušenje. “To je Marselov četvrti i konačni odgovor na zagonetku života, Orfi, zar ne?”
Ijanin oćuta.
“Hoću da kažem”, nastavi Manmut, “rekao si da su prva tri za Marsela bila nedovoljna. Pokušao je da veruje u snobovštinu. Pokušao je da veruje u prijateljstvo i ljubav. Pokušao je da veruje u umetnost. Ništa od svega toga nije proradilo kao transcendentna tema. Stoga je ovo četvrto. Ovo…” Nije mogao da pronađe odgovarajuću reč ili frazu.
“Bekstvo svesti iz ograničenja svesti”, reče Orfi tiho. “Imaginacija koja nadilazi domen imaginacije”.
“Da”, prodahta Manmut. “Shvatam”.
“Treba da shvatiš”, reče Orfi. “Ti sada predstavljaš moje oči. Treba da vidim vaseljenu kroz tvoje oči”.
Manmut je na minut ostao da sedi u tišini remećenoj samo šištanjem O2 iz priključenog creva. Onda reče: “Pokušajmo da podignemo Crnu gospu”.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

“Seduction, he knew, was both science and art—a blend of skill, discipline, proximity, and opportunity. Mostly proximity.”
― Dan Simmons, quote from Ilium

About the author

Popular quotes

“Sometimes it's the tiniest things that can mean the difference between life and death.”
― Anthony Horowitz, quote from Ark Angel

“Who am I? The sum of your dreams, the thrill you refuse to grasp, the unknown you fear.”
― Neal Shusterman, quote from Full Tilt

“Un marabutto smise di pregare per interrogarmi.
"Esiste un popolo chiamato mericani?" chiese.
"Sì".
"Dicono che hanno visitato la luna".
"E' vero".
"Sono blasfemi".”
― Bruce Chatwin, quote from The Songlines

“You can never completely know anyone, no matter how well you think you do. There will always be some truth about them you don’t ever get to know.”
― Susane Colasanti, quote from So Much Closer

“The gods of the Disc have never bothered much about judging the souls of the dead, and so people only go to hell if that's where they believe, in their deepest heart, that they deserve to go. Which they won't do if they don't know about it. This explains why it is so important to shoot missionaries on sight.”
― Terry Pratchett, quote from Eric

Interesting books

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.