The Philosopher Kings Quotes

“I knew what death meant now. It was conversations cut off.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“In reality, while we aim for excellence, we're always living on somebody's dunghill.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“Good,” I said. “And we will do the same. But I miss him. I miss him like I miss Mother. Of course we’ll honor their memory, and of course their souls have gone on to new lives, but I hadn’t finished talking to them in this life.” I knew what death meant now. It was conversations cut off.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“One thing I have learned about grief,” I said to her, “is that nothing anyone says to you is useful, but it can still be comforting sometimes to know you’re not alone”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“would savor this mortal life while I had it, learn and experience all I could. And when it ended, I would take what I had learned and be a more excellent god and make the world better.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“We, and Plato, meant nothing but the best for them! And when I say the best I mean it literally; what we wanted for them was nothing but excellence, virtue, arete. They say you can’t want that for somebody else, they have to want it for themselves. Well, perhaps they have a point. But Plato wrote that seeking to increase someone else’s excellence is the best form of love.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“I also pursue excellence, and Father told me that it can only ever be pursued, never caught—though”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“There is no perfection in human things, only in the world of Forms.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“And his mother, especially as Botticelli had painted her and Auge carved her, seemed like a perfectly nice goddess.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“Not even Necessity knows all ends.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings

“I swear by Zeus and Hera and Demeter and Apollo and Athene, by the figs and olives and barley and grapes, by the sea and the sky and the earth beneath my feet, that I will protect and defend the excellence of the Just City from all enemies, internal and external. I will fight bravely, judge fairly, and contribute to the best of my abilities. I will defend her laws and institutions, resist tyranny and foolishness, and the lures of wealth and honor, and strive ever to increase her excellence.”
― Jo Walton, The Philosopher Kings