Hermes Quotes

“You weren't able to talk sense into him?"
Well, we kind of tried to kill each other in a duel to the death."
I see. You tried the diplomatic approach.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the internet-"
"You invented the internet?"
It was my idea, Martha said.
Rats are delicious, George said.
"It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the internet, not the rats. But that's not the point.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“Hermes smiled. "I knew a boy once ... oh, younger than you by far. A mere baby, really."
Here we go again, George said. Always talking about himself.
Quiet! Martha snapped. Do you want to get set on vibrate?
Hermes ignored them. "One night, when this boy's mother wasn't watching, he sneaked out of their cave and stole some cattle that belonged to Apollo."
"Did he get blasted to tiny pieces?" I asked.
"Hmm ... no. Actually, everything turned out quite well. To make up for his theft, the boy gave Apollo an instrument he'd invented-a lyre. Apollo was so enchanted with the music that he forgot all about being angry."
So what's the moral?"
"The moral?" Hermes asked. "Goodness, you act like it's a fable. It's a true story. Does truth have a moral?"
"Um ..."
"How about this: stealing is not always bad?"
"I don't think my mom would like that moral."
Rats are delicious, suggested George.
What does that have to do with the story? Martha demanded.
Nothing, George said. But I'm hungry.
"I've got it," Hermes said. "Young people don't always do what they're told, but if they can pull it off and do something wonderful, sometimes they escape punishment. How's that?”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“I gotta say"—Apollo broke the silence—"these kids did okay." He cleared his throat and began to recite: "Heroes win laurels—"

Um, yes, first class," Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry.”
― Rick Riordan, The Titan’s Curse

“hermes has threatened me with slow mail. lousy Internet service and a horrible stock market if i publish this story. I hope he is just bluffing.”
― Rick Riordan, The Demigod Diaries

“George unhinged his jaw and coughed up a little plastic bottle filled with chewable vitamins.

"You're kidding," I said. "Are those Minotaur-shaped?"

Hermes picked up the bottle and rattled it. "The lemon ones, yes. The grape ones are Furies, I think. Or are they hydras? At any rate, these are potent."
”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“Hermes gazed up at the stars. "My dear young cousin, if there's one thing I've learned over the eons, it's that you can't give up on your family, no matter how tempting they make it. It doesn't matter if they hate you, or embarrass you, or simply don't appreciate your genius for inventing the Internet-"
"You invented the Internet?"
It was my idea, Martha said.
Rats are delicious, George said.
"It was my idea!" Hermes said. "I mean the Internet, not the rats.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“Hermes's eyes twinkled. "Martha, may I have the first package, please?"
Martha opened her mouth ... and kept opening it until it was as wide as my arm. She belched out a stainless steel canister-an old-fashioned lunch box thermos with a black plastic top. The sides of the thermos were enameled with red and yellow Ancient Greek scenes-a hero killing a lion; a hero lifting up Cerberus, the three-headed dog.
"That's Hercules," I said. "But how-"
"Never question a gift," Hermes chided. "This is a collector's item from Hercules Busts Heads. The first season."
"Hercules Busts Heads?"
"Great show." Hermes sighed. "Back before Hephaestus-TV was all reality programming. Of course, the thermos would be worth much more if I had the whole lunch box-”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“The jogger sighed. He pulled out his phone and my eyes got big, because it glowed with a bluish light. When he extended the antenna, two creatures began writhing around it-green snakes, no bigger than earthworms.

The jogger didn't seem to notice. He checked his LCD display and cursed. "I've got to take this. Just a sec ..." Then into the phone: "Hello?" He listened. The mini-snakes writhed up and down the antenna right next to his ear.

Yeah," the jogger said. "Listen-I know, but... I don't care if he is chained to a rock with vultures pecking at his liver, if he doesn't have a tracking number, we can't locate his package....A gift to humankind, great... You know how many of those we deliver-Oh, never mind. Listen, just refer him to Eris in customer service. I gotta go.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“Percy Jackson," Hermes said, "because you have taken on the curse of Achilles, I must spare you. You are in the hands of the Fates now. But you will never speak to me like that again. You have no idea how much I have sacrificed, how much—"
His voice broke, and he shrank back to human size. "My son, my greatest pride . . . my poor May . . ."
He sounded so devastated I didn't know what to say. One minute he was ready to vaporize us. Now he looked like he needed a hug.”
― Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian

“Curse Hermes and his multi-vitamins!”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“He raised an eyebrow. "You claim not to know me? Of course I'm Thoth. Also called Djehuti. Also called--"
I [Sadie] stifled a laugh. "Ja-hooty?"
Thoth looked offended. "In Ancient Egyptian, it's a perfectly fine name. The Greeks called me Thoth. Then later they confused me with their god Hermes. Even had the nerve to rename my sacred city Hermopolis, though we're nothing alike. Believe me, if you've ever met Hermes--”
― Rick Riordan, The Red Pyramid

“He liked such sharpness, for there was nothing in him that had any blood you might spill.”
― Madeline Miller, Circe

“He was a poison snake, and I was another, and on such terms we pleased ourselves.”
― Madeline Miller, Circe

“You're welcome to as much wine as you can drink, Ares."

...[Ares] watched two bare-breasted women stroll by. "Am I welcome to your worshippers as well?"

"If they'll have you. Force yourself on anyone, though, and the cat gets to gnaw on your anatomy." Dionysos nodded to Agria, who prowled around the crowd. "Those are the rules."

Ares smirked. ... "No problem there. I'm very persuasive."

Hermes shook his head at Dionysos and mouthed in comical exaggeration, *No, he's not.*”
― Molly Ringle, Underworld's Daughter

“Hermes made it sound pretty ridiculous—hordes of monsters going up in the elevator twenty at a time, listening to “Stayin’ Alive.”
― Rick Riordan, The Last Olympian

“Still? I have never understood why helping mortals made Zeus so angry.”
“Tell me,” he said, “who gives better offerings, a miserable man or a happy one?”
“A happy one, of course.”
“Wrong,” he said. “A happy man is too occupied with his life. He thinks he is beholden to no one. But make him shiver, kill his wife, cripple his child, then you will hear from him. He will starve his family for a month to buy you a pure-white yearling calf. If he can afford it, he will buy you a hundred.”
“But surely,” I said, “you have to reward him eventually. Otherwise, he will stop offering.”
“Oh, you would be surprised how long he will go on. But yes, in the end, it’s best to give him something. Then he will be happy again. And you can start over.”
“So this is how Olympians spend their days. Thinking of ways to make men miserable.”
― Madeline Miller, Circe

“Hekate smacked the mirror down. "I'd never fancy you," she retorted to Hermes. "And if you ever try to kiss me, I'll--I'll keep a snake hidden in my clothes and make it bite you. On the lips. And on both ears."

"See, your threats are still age twelve," Hermes said. "I'll help you work on that.”
― Molly Ringle, Underworld's Daughter

“Psychologically, if we do not reject old habits and beliefs when confronted with the possibility of a better way of being, we end up imprisoned by a tyrannical ego complex that will perpetuate any illusion just to keep control.”
― Dennis William Hauck, The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation

“My country's where my comfort's best secured.”
― Aristophanes, Plutus

“The purpose of our life is twofold: to abide by the laws of the Universe, and to awaken spiritually.”
― Jack Freestone

“Take it all, all of it!" Greg cried out. "These things here...I've been making them better, fixing them. It doesn't matter...they don't matter. I've been here before." He paused to try to collect himself. "It's my past, my present...these things--" He lifted a hand out to the objects around him. "These things are me." Now whispering, "Can't you see me?”
― Dayna Rubin, Running Parallel

“Ex ‘Fleet man?”
“He was a full Commander, last I heard, sir.”
“Interesting.” Falconer commented. “Get me his specs. If I have to take him aboard my ship, I want to know all about him.”
She swallowed. “Yes sir.”
Falconer returned his attention to Nordyke.
“What’s their location?”
“They’re about a week outside the Hermes system, Captain.”
“Helm, set a course – best possible speed!”
“Um – sir, we’re on conversion drive at the moment.” The helmsman reported.
“I know, Linson – d’you think I’m senile?”
“No, sir – I…” The young helmsman stammered.
“I did say ‘best possible speed’, didn’t I?”
“Yes, sir.”
― Christina Engela, Blachart

“Twenty paces away, he shimmered and vanished, leaving me alone with a thermos, a bottle of chewable vitamins, and five minutes to make an impossible decision.”
― Rick Riordan, The Sea of Monsters

“Hermes Trismegistus is the most famous Gnostic. He was the founder of the pre-Christian lineage of Greek Gnosticism.”
― Laurence Galian, Alien Parasites: 40 Gnostic Truths to Defeat the Archon Invasion!

“I’m Hermes!” this guy hissed. “See the wings on the helmet?”
“Are you here to deliver flowers?”
Hermes rolled his eyes.
“A typical centaur, ignorant as a beast.”
― Amy Wolf, The Further Labors of Nick

“flurry of tuna that ate a caduceus because they had a lot of mercury in them”
― J.S. Mason, The Satyrist...And Other Scintillating Treats

“Hermes, dear Hermes, Maia's son from Kyllene,
I pray to you, for I'm frozen and I shiver.
Give Hipponax a woolen overcoat, a Persian
cape, some sandals and felt slippers,
and sixty gold staters for his inner wall.

Give Hipponax a woolen overcoat. I tell you,
his teeth are rattling in his head!

But from you never even a shabby coat against the very cold
or slippers to keep my toes from freezing.”
― Hipponax

“I am Hermes. I stand in the crossroads by a windy
belt of trees near the gray shore of the sea
where the weary traveler may rest: here a fountain
bubbles forth a cold and stainless water.”
― Anyte

“The buckle on Babak’s belt was a big, heavy golden H. H for Hermes. Javad didn’t know that but he knew the English alphabet. Javad looked at the cleaner and said, “Thank God, we didn’t have money for belts like that.” He nodded his head and continued, “Imagine the beatings I would get from my dad if he wore something heavy like that.”
― Soroosh Shahrivar, Tajrish