"If we can't repair things with the Romans--well, the two sets of demigods have gotten along. That's why the gods kept us separate. I don't know if we could ever belong there." Percy didn't want to argue, but he couldn't let go of the hope. It felt important--not just for him, but for all the other demigods. It to be possible to belong in two different worlds at once. After all, that's what being a demigod was all about--not quite belonging in the mortal world or on Mount Olympus, but trying to make peace with both sides of their nature."
Plants are more courageous than almost all human beings: an orange tree would rather die than produce lemons, whereas instead of dying the average person would rather be someone they are not.
"I am wired by nature to love the same toys that the world loves. I start to fit in. I start to love what others love. I start to call earth "home." Before you know it, I am calling luxeries "needs" and using my money just the way unbelievers do. I begin to forget the war. I don't think much about people perishing. Missions and unreached people drop out of my mind. I stop dreaming about the triumphs of grace. I sink into a secular mind-set that looks first to what man can do, not what God can do. It is a terrible sickness. And I thank God for those who have forced me again and again toward a wartime mind-set."
"It will happen soon. Someday you will find yourself surrounded by people with the exact same interests as you, and you will never feel out of place again," I say, already wary of the incredible lie I am telling."