Ancient Quotes

“Don't close eyes and wait for path to choose you. Choose path and follow it,”
― Erin Hunter, The Last Hope

“Our brains dream lost ancient dreams as well as throw ropes in the air as though to catch what is uncatchable – the future.”
― Loren Eiseley, Notes of an Alchemist

“Epic art is founded on action, and the model of a society in which action could play out in greatest freedom was that of the heroic Greek period; so said Hegel, and he demonstrated it with The Iliad: even though Agamemnon was the prime king, other kings and princes chose freely to join him and, like Achilles, they were free to withdraw from the battle. Similarly the people joined with their princes of their own free will; there was no law that could force them; behavior was determined only by personal motives, the sense of honor, respect, humility before a more powerful figure, fascination with a hero's courage, and so on. The freedom to participate in the struggle and the freedom to desert it guaranteed every man his independence. In this way did action retain a personal quality and thus its poetic form.

Against this archaic world, the cradle of the epic, Hegel contrasts the society of his own period: organized into the state, equipped with a constitution, laws, a justice system, an omnipotent administration, ministries, a police force, and so on. The society imposes its moral principles on the individual, whose behavior is thus determined by far more anonymous wishes coming from the outside than by his own personality. And it is in such a world that the novel was born.”
― Milan Kundera, The Curtain: An Essay in Seven Parts

“Quetzalcoatl, the Feathered Serpent, [...] came to teach [the ancient inhabitants of Mexico] the benefits of settled agriculture and the skills necessary to build temples. Although this deity is frequently depicted as a serpent, he is more often shown in human form--the serpent being his symbol and his alter ego--and is usually described as "a tall bearded white man" ... "a mysterious person ... a white man with a strong formation of body, broad forehead, large eyes and a flowing beard." Indeed, [...] the attributes and life history of Quetzalcoatl are so human that it is not improbable that he may have been an actual historical character ... the memory of whose benefactions lingered after his death, and whose personality was eventually deified. The same could very well be said of Oannes--and just like Oannes at the head of the Apkallu (likewise depicted as prominently bearded) it seems that Quetzalcoatl traveled with his own brotherhood of sages and magicians. We learn that they arrived in Mexico "from across the sea in a boat that moved by itself without paddles," and that Quetzalcoatl was regarded as having been "the founder of cities, the framer of laws and the teacher of the calendar.”
― Graham Hancock, Magicians of the Gods: The Forgotten Wisdom of Earth's Lost Civilization

“Ancient aphorisms outlived centuries. Modern aphorisms can barеly survive from book to book.”
― Ljupka Cvetanova, The New Land

“One could only wish there were more who understood the love of family, of history, and of ancient, sacred bonds that grow deep within us all. If family is not worthy of our time and attention, who or what is?”
― Laurence Overmire, One Immigrant's Legacy: The Overmyer Family in America, 1751-2009: A Biographical Record of Revolutionary War Veteran Capt. John George Overmire and His Descendants

“How many stories are there that have been lived, but will never be told? Far too many for me to squander the one that I’m living.”
― Craig D. Lounsbrough

“What is this power of words? In our everyday routine, we use words to carry out all our transactions. If someone praises us then we get happy and if someone criticizes us then we get annoyed. If we take a closer look at this phenomenon then we will easily understand that when somebody is praising us or calling us names, that time no material comes and hits us. All that happens is, we just get to hear the sound of the words uttered by the other person. When that sound reaches our ears, our mind starts analyzing and interpreting that sound. If the interpretation given by the mind is positive then we get happy. If the interpretation given by the mind is negative then we get annoyed. It is true that the meaning of those words is already present in our mind. Words only invoke the meaning already present in our mind. This relationship between words and their meanings is known as ‘Shakti’ (power) in philosophy.”
― Harsha Yardi, Ashtavakra Gita: The Ultimate Solace

“The Artist started painting the Ancient Fire, inhaling the wine in search of philosophical beginnings…”
― Talismanist Giebra

“Those who gave thee a body furnished it with weakness, but he who gave you a soul armed you with resolution. Use it, and be wise.”
― Akhenaten

“The evidence presented by the ancient maps appears to suggest the existence in remote times, before the rise of any of the known cultures, of a true civilization, of a comparatively advanced sort, which either was localized in one area but had worldwide commerce, or was, in a real sense, a worldwide culture. This culture, at least in some respects, may well have been more advanced than the civilizations of Egypt, Babylonia, Greece, and Rome. In astronomy, nautical science, mapmaking and possibly ship-building, it was perhaps more advanced than any state of culture before the 18th Century of the Christian Era. It was in the 18th Century that we first developed a practical means of finding longitude. It was in the 18th Century that we first accurately measured the circumference of the earth. Not until the 19th Century did we begin to send out ships for purposes of whaling or exploration into the Arctic or Antarctic Seas. The maps indicate that some ancient people may have done all these things.”
― Charles H. Hapgood, Maps of the Ancient Sea Kings: Evidence of Advanced Civilization in the Ice Age

“It SMELLS ancient," - Dan Cahill”
― Jude Watson, Nowhere to Run

“The distance of time’s separation brings us remnants of memories so ancient that most are lost in the mists of illusion…”
― AJ Vosse

“Hello Mauna Kea, aloha Hawaiian spirits.”
― Steven Magee

“Everything is decided here... you cannot comprehend the magnitude, the rapture and the tragedy of this moment..." - Kain in Soul Reaver 2”
― Amy Hennig

“You took me once
to an older part of earth
I'd never seen—
where monsters were born
and killed.
They sacrificed everything
and nothing
for a taste of this
life.”
― Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses

“It looks ancient," - Amy Cahill”
― Jude Watson, Nowhere to Run

“So we found ourselves in an ancient place, the very
air around us bound by chains.”
― Laura Kasischke, Space, in Chains

“She is ancientness. She has lived forever. It has driven her insane.”
― Laura Kasischke, Space, in Chains

“The ancient sages used divine characters to create mythologies and scriptures to make them more believable. All scriptures are said to be the words of God so that people are convinced about their veracity and believe them.”
― Awdhesh Singh, Myths are Real, Reality is a Myth

“As I studied the e-mail from Glenn Milne, I knew just how ancient the U-shaped structure [found a few kilometers away from the Indian coast] really might be - at least 11,000 years old. That's 6000 years older than the first monumental architecture of ancient Egypt or of ancient Sumer in Mesopotamia - traditionally thought of as the oldest civilizations of antiquity. Certainly, no civilization known to history existed in southern India - or anywhere else - 11,000 years ago. Yet the U-shaped structure off the Tranquebar-Poompuhur coast invites us to consider the possibility that it was the work of a civilization that archaeologists have as yet failed to identify - one whose primary ruins could have been missed because they are submerged so deep beneath the sea.”
― Graham Hancock, Underworld: The Mysterious Origins of Civilization

“Aloha sacred mountain, aloha ancient Hawaiians.”
― Steven Magee

“He held the ribbon that tied her bodice. "You like to read about vampires but your mother thinks its unhealthy. Do you really want so desperately to become aligned with the night?"
She frantically shook her head.
"I can show you a more ancient evil," he promised in a soothing voice. He tugged on the ribbon, untying the bow. "One that has existed since the beginning of time."
"Right." She tried to force the word out with a sarcastic tone, but failed.
"Not many people know about the Atrox and its Followers, but you will," he assured her.
"You're not being funny anymore," she answered with more whimper than anger.
He let his finger trace up her body to her chin and lifted her face until she was forced to look in his eyes. "I was never trying to be. I was only trying to explain what I am."
She looked quickly behind her as if searching for a way to escape.
He paused for a moment, hoping she would run. When she didn't, he continued, "I can dissolve into shadow. Stay that way for days if I want. It's one of my powers."
"Stop teasing me," she whined. "You're scaring me now."
He leaned closer. "I can also enter your mind and take you into mine. Do you want me to show you?"
"No," she pleaded. It wasn't the strange light in the graveyard that gave her face such an unnatural pallor now. The true beauty of fear shimmered in her eyes.
"Let me show you." He seeped into her mind and brought her back into his. He could feel her struggle and then stop. He let her feel what he was, the emptiness and evil.”
― Lynne Ewing, The Sacrifice

“The spring was still mysteriously swooning,
Across the hills wandered transparent wind
And the deep lake was growing blue among us --
A temple forged and kept not by mankind.

You were affrighted of our first encounter,
And prayed already for the second one,
And now today once more is the hot evening --
How low over the mountain dropped the sun.

You aren't with me, but this is not a parting:
For me triumphant news is in each moment.
I know that you can't even pronounce a word
For so complete within you is the torment.”
― Anna Akhmatova

“Think, ” she added, with a bite, “instead of going on blindly wanting. There is some power deep in your valley, some strangeness beyond mortal magic that draws men in, plants roots in them—and not only men. Whatever thing it is that lives in the Wood, that puts out corruption, it’s come to live there and drink from that power like a cup. It killed the people of the tower, and then it slumbered for a thousand years because no one was fool enough to bother it. Then along we come, with our armies and our axes and our magic, and think that this time we can win.”
― Naomi Novik

“There are still ancient
symbols
alive”
― Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses

“I’m half child, half ancient.”
― Björk

“The ancient and the modern blended together in haunting harmony. The war looked like a dream here; a fantasy dwarfed by the sands of time.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt

“Hieroglyphs and dark painted figures covered the walls in patterns. Bestial, doe-eyed faces peered out above archways. Half-naked, animal-headed people. Some had wings. They knelt, crouched, played board games, raised their bare arms towards heaven.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt

“One woman appeared everywhere. A barefoot, black-haired beauty in robes of white. She wore strange horned crowns—feathers of gold sprouted from her forehead. The walls told her story. She played board games with the animal-headed monsters, bowed to jackal-faced men and danced among winged serpents. Sunrays enveloped her figure. Her beady white eyes stared from all surfaces. No corner of the underground maze was free of her strange spell.”
― Zita Steele, The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt