The Brad Pitt starrer Troy is one of my favourite movies. A war saga about glory. It not only inspires, but also gives quite a few lessons in audacity — a quality much-needed for great PR. So here, I list a few of my favourite dialogues from the movie for you.
Odysseus [voiceover]: “Men are haunted by the vastness of eternity. And so we ask ourselves — will our actions echo across the centuries? Will strangers hear our names long after we are gone, and wonder who we were, how bravely we fought, how fiercely we loved?”
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Messenger boy: “Are the stories about you true? They say your mother is an immortal goddess. They say you can’t be killed.”
Achilles: “I wouldn’t be bothering with the shield then, would I?”
Messenger boy: “The Thesselonian you’re fighting… he’s the biggest man I’ve ever seen. I wouldn’t want to fight him.”
Achilles: “That’s why no one will remember your name.”
Nestor: “One more thing, we need Achilles and his Myrmidons.”
Agamemnon: “Achilles? He can’t be controlled. He’s as likely to fight us as the Trojans.”
Nestor: “We don’t need to control him, we need to unleash him.”
Odysseus [as Achilles throws his spear besides him]: “Your reputation for hospitality is fast becoming legend.”
Odysseus to Achilles: “You don’t fear anyone. That’s your problem. Fear is useful.”
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When the great Greek warrior Achilles is undecided about going for the war in Troy, this is what his mother tells him: “If you stay in Larissa, you will find peace. You will find a wonderful woman, and you will have sons and daughters, who will have children. And they’ll all love you and remember your name. But when your children are dead, and their children after them, your name will be forgotten. If you go to Troy, glory will be yours. They will write stories about your victories for thousands of years! And the world will remember your name. But if you go to Troy, you will never come back… for your glory walks hand-in-hand with your doom. And I shall never see you again.”
Next morning Achilles leaves for Troy.
Achilles: “Myrmidons. My brothers of the sword. I would rather fight beside you than any army of thousands. Let no man forget how menacing we are. We are lions. Do you know what’s there, waiting beyond that beach? Immortality. Take it. It’s yours.”
Achilles: “There are no pacts between lions and men.”
Achilles: “The Gods envy us. They envy us because we’re mortal. Because any moment might be our last. Everything’s more beautiful because we’re doomed.”
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Odysseus [voiceover]: “If they ever tell my story let them say that I walked with giants. Men rise and fall like the winter wheat, but these names will never die. Let them say I lived in the time of Hector, tamer of horses. Let them say I lived in the time of Achilles.”