. . .nothing could eclipse the stain of his dirty, mortal mediocrity. Madeline Miller More Quotes by Madeline Miller More Quotes From Madeline Miller Perhaps it is the greatest grief, after all, to be left on earth when another is gone. Madeline Miller grief earth gone 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 grief law thinking People are people, whatever age they're living in. The circumstances may have changed - we go to war with planes instead of chariots - but experiences of grief, longing, rage and love remain the same. Madeline Miller grief war people 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 light love hands My mind is filled with cataclysm and apocalypse. I wish for earthquakes, eruptions, flood. Madeline Miller wish mind earthquakes I could recognize him by touch alone, by smell; I would know him blind, by the way his breaths came and his feet struck the earth. I would know him in death, at the end of the world. Madeline Miller smell feet love and her skin shone luminous and impossibly pale, as if it drank light from the moon. Madeline Miller skins light moon Chiron had said once that nations were the most foolish of mortal inventions. "No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from. Madeline Miller invention foolish men We were like gods at the dawning of the world, & our joy was so bright we could see nothing else but the other. Madeline Miller joy world 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 walking-sticks weapons use As an author, one of the most important things I think you can do once you've written a novel is step back. When the book is out, it belongs to the readers and you can't stand there breathing over their shoulders. Madeline Miller breathing book thinking No man is worth more than another, wherever he is from. Madeline Miller men Life for women in ancient Greece was hard - you had to fight for every inch of ground you got. Both Thetis and Briseis are strong, passionate women and in another time and place their lives would have been very different. Part of the tragedy of their characters is how much they have to offer - and how little of that they get to realize. Thetis spends the whole novel fighting the limitations placed on her, desperately trying to eke out the best she can from a bad situation. This makes her fierce and terrifying. Madeline Miller fighting strong character I will never leave him. It will be this, always, for as long as he will let me. If I had had words to speak such a thing, I would have. But there were none that seemed big enough for it, to hold that swelling truth. As if he had heard me, he reached for my hand. I did not need to look; his fingers were etched into my memory, slender and petal-veined, strong and quick and never wrong. “Patroclus,” he said. He was always better with words than I. Madeline Miller strong memories hands It was almost like fear, in the way it filled me, rising in my chest. It was almost like tears, in how swiftly it came. But it was neither of those, buoyant where they were heavy, bright were they dull. Madeline Miller rising tears dull When I first started studying Greek, one of my absolute favorite parts was realizing that so many English words had these old, secret roots. Learning Greek was like being given a super-power: linguistic x-ray vision. Madeline Miller vision greek roots I feel like I could eat the world raw. Madeline Miller feels world I shift, an infinitesimal movement, towards him. It is like the leap from a waterfall. I do not know, until then, what I am going to do. Madeline Miller leap waterfalls movement The door snicked shut. Madeline Miller doors The very dull truth is that writing love scenes is the same as writing other scenes - your job is to be fully engaged in the character's experience. What does this mean to them? How are they changed by it, or not? I remember being a little nervous, as I am when writing any high-stakes, intense scene (death, sex, grief, joy). Madeline Miller grief jobs sex
