The Hidden Oracle Quotes

“I made a mental note to put a safety label on my scalp: WARNING, TOP STEP IS NOT FOR STANDING.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Parting is sorrow Nothing about it is sweet Don’t step on my face”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“The last person to come through the line was Chiron himself, pushed in his wheelchair by Rachel Dare. The old centaur gave Leo a warm, fatherly smile. “My boy, I am so pleased to have you back. And you freed Calypso, I see. Well done, and welcome, both of you!” Chiron spread his arms for a hug. “Uh, thanks, Chiron.” Leo leaned forward. From underneath Chiron’s lap blanket, his equine foreleg shot out and implanted a hoof in Leo’s gut. Then, just as quickly, the leg disappeared. “Mr. Valdez,” Chiron said in the same kindly tone, “if you ever pull a stunt like that again—” “I got it, I got it!” Leo rubbed his stomach. “Dang, for a teacher, you got a heck of a high kick.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Leo glanced back, his face streaked with soot. "Apollo, you sense anything?"
"Why is it my job to sense things? Just because I used to be a god of prophecy-"
"You're the one who's been having visions," Calypso reminded me. "You said your friend Meg would be here."
Just hearing Meg's name gave me a twinge of pain. "That doesn't mean I can pinpoint her location with my mind!" Zeus has revoked my access to GPS!"
"GPS?" Calypso asked.
"Godly positioning system."
"That's not a real thing!”
― Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo: The Hidden Oracle

“For now.” Nico smiled. “We’re still trying to get in touch with the West Coast. You’ll have a few dozen people out there who will definitely want to hit you.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“My next important discovery: Children of Hermes cannot rap. At all.
Bless his conniving little heart, Cecil Markowitz tried his best, but he kept throwing off my rhythm with his spastic clapping and terrible air mic noises. After a few trial runs, I demoted him to dancer. His job would be to shimmy back and forth and wave his hands, which he did with the enthusiasm of a tent-revival preacher.
The others managed to keep up. They still looked like half-plucked, highly combustible chickens, but they bopped with the proper amount of soul.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“The journey is greater than the destination.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Oh.” My spirits fell. I remembered Grover as being quite resourceful, but if he was dealing with California’s natural disasters, he was unlikely to be back anytime in the next decade.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Can I have baby cows?” Meg asked.
“Well, Meg,” I said, “first you would have to have some mommy cows. You see—”
“Guys,” Percy interrupted. “So, just to recap, you have to be Meg’s servant for…?”
“Some unknown amount of time,” I said. “Probably a year. Possibly more.”
“And during that time —”
“I will undoubtedly face many trials and hardships.”
“Like getting me my cows,” Meg said.
I gritted my teeth.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Hey, I’m just stating the obvious. If this is Apollo, and he dies, we’re all in trouble.” Will turned to me. “I apologize for my boyfriend.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“(And FYI: the Black Death was not my fault. I took one century off to lie around the beach in Cabo and came back and found that the nosoi had got loose and a third of the continent was dead. Gods, I was so irritated.)”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Papadopoulos simply did not possess the power. ‘I can’t!’ I SHALT ASSIST, promised the Arrow of Dodona. STARTEST THOU: ‘PLAGUEY, PLAGUEY, PLAGUEY.’ ‘The enchantment does not start plaguey, plaguey, plaguey!’ ‘Who are you talking to?’ Austin demanded. ‘My arrow! I”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“They live in human memory, man. That's what keeps them alive.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Perhaps some of you are wondering how I felt seeing him with a boyfriend rather than a girlfriend. If that’s the case, please. We gods are not hung up about such things. I myself have had…let’s see, thirty-three mortal girlfriends and eleven mortal boyfriends?”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“I didn’t understand the purpose of the seeds, but it was comforting to know that in a dire emergency I could hit people with my ukulele while Meg planted geraniums.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Bacon is good.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Looking at Harley, my anger evaporated. I felt hollow, silly, ashamed of myself.
Yes, me, Apollo... ashamed.
Truly, it was an event so unprecedented, it should have ripped apart the cosmos.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“The circumference could have accommodated a Roman hippodrome. A”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Now, now!” Chiron called. His saddlebags were overflowing with extra first-aid kits and emergency flares. “We won’t need any help making this a dangerous challenge. Let’s have a good clean three-legged death race. And another thing, campers, given the problems our test group had this morning, please repeat after me: Do not end up in Peru.” “Do not end up in Peru,” everyone chanted.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“At any rate,’ he continued, ‘we hoped that once the war was over the Oracle might start working again. When it did not … Rachel became concerned.’ ‘Who’s Rachel?’ Meg asked. ‘Rachel Dare,’ I said. ‘The Oracle.’ ‘Thought the Oracle was a place.’ ‘It is.’ ‘Then Rachel is a place, and she stopped working?’ Had I still been a god, I would have turned her into a blue-belly lizard and released her into the wilderness never to be seen again. The thought soothed me. ‘The original Delphi was a place in Greece,’ I told her. ‘A cavern filled with volcanic fumes, where people would come to receive guidance from my priestess, the Pythia.’ ‘Pythia.’ Meg giggled. ‘That’s a funny word.’ ‘Yes. Ha-ha. So the Oracle is both a place and a person. When the Greek gods relocated to America back in … what was it, Chiron, 1860?’ Chiron see-sawed his hand. ‘More or less.’ ‘I brought the Oracle here to continue speaking prophecies on my behalf. The power has passed down from priestess to priestess over the years. Rachel Dare is the present Oracle.’ From the cookie platter, Meg plucked the only Oreo, which I had been hoping to have myself. ‘Mm-kay. Is it too late to watch that movie?’ ‘Yes,’ I snapped. ‘Now, the way I gained possession of the Oracle of Delphi in the first place was by killing this monster called Python who lived in the depths of the cavern.’ ‘A python like the snake,’ Meg said. ‘Yes and no. The snake species is named after Python the monster, who is also rather snaky, but who is much bigger and scarier and devours small girls who talk too much. At any rate, last August, while I was … indisposed, my ancient foe Python was released from Tartarus. He reclaimed the cave of Delphi. That’s why the Oracle stopped working.’ ‘But, if the Oracle is in America now, why does it matter if some snake monster takes over its old cave?’ That was about the longest sentence I had yet heard her speak. She’d probably done it just to spite me. ‘It’s too much to explain,’ I said. ‘You’ll just have to –’ ‘Meg.’ Chiron gave her one of his heroically tolerant smiles. ‘The original site of the Oracle is like the deepest taproot of a tree. The branches and leaves of prophecy may extend across the world, and Rachel Dare may be our loftiest branch, but if the taproot is strangled the whole tree is endangered. With Python back in residence at his old lair, the spirit of the Oracle has been completely blocked.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“turned to Kayla. “You can’t hear this arrow talking?” Judging from her wide eyes, I guessed the answer was, No, and does hallucinating run in the family? “Never mind.” I looked at the arrow. “What would you suggest, O Wise Missile of Dodona? My quiver is empty.” The arrow’s point dipped toward the statue’s left arm. LO, THE ARMPIT DOTH HOLD THE ARROWS THOU NEEDEST! Kayla yelled, “Colossus is heading for the cabins!” “Armpit!” I told Austin. “Flieth—er, fly for the armpit!” That wasn’t an order one heard much in combat,”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“The man snarled so deeply I could almost believe he was turning into a beast. I’d seen that happen enough times.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“I’ve forgotten! I hate being mortal!”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“This was my punishment for breaking an oath on the River Styx. Then, from somewhere above us, a voice yelled, ‘Hey, Bronze Butt!’ Over the Colossus’s head, a cloud of darkness formed like a cartoon dialogue bubble. Out of the shadows dropped a furry black monster dog – a hellhound – and astride his back was a young man with a glowing bronze sword. The weekend was here. Percy Jackson had arrived.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Being right so much of the time was a terrible burden.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Will, Kayla, Austin,” I said, “come with me.” “And Nico,” said Nico. “I have a doctor’s note.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“When one is a god, the world hangs on your every word. When one is sixteen…not so much.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“After everything I had done for Percy Jackson, I expected delight upon my arrival. A tearful welcome, a few burnt offerings, and a small festival in my honor would not have been inappropriate.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Is anything sadder than the sound of a god hitting a pile of garbage bags?”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle

“Another time, in a Stockholm tavern, I met this god who was smoking hot, except his talking sword just would not shut up.”
― Rick Riordan, The Hidden Oracle