All my life I have known fear. But I have acted in spite of it. I urge you to do the same. Your father used to say that it is preferable to die rather than to live fearing death.

— Karen Essex

Are you ready to be rejoined for all time with your fellow gods? Oh yes, she explained, For not only was he a god, but so were all mortals gods in disguise, divorced from their divine lineage, their true identities, shrouded from their earthly selves. That is what she now revealed to him; He had been one of the rare humans who had not forgotten the connection with his divine self, and had lived like a god his mortal life.

— Karen Essex

Can you not see that we still might win? We lost a battle, not a war.

— Karen Essex

He did not smile. 'We are the keepers of the world's greatest treasures. Does that mean nothing to you?' "My children are my greatest treasures,' she said. 'Stone no matter how old, means nothing to me when compared to their welfare.

— Karen Essex

Hungry men are not known for their patience or their kindness.

— Karen Essex

I am more human than rational.

— Karen Essex

I am telling you that the child will not out live the buildings. Do you understand that whereas women may touch the immortal by giving birth, men--great men-- must build monuments and seek fame?

— Karen Essex

I'm afraid that the gift of visiting the past is all that we have. We can revisit it, but only as it happened.

— Karen Essex

I was a married woman! She said. Why does every generation believe it is the discoverer of pleasure? Your father was a spectacular lover. Even through the wall, I could hear the triumph in her voice.

— Karen Essex

Lovers of words have no place where honest work must be done.

— Karen Essex