Quotes from Nikos Kazantzakis

Conquer the last, the greatest temptation of all: Hope. This is the third duty.

AÈ™a cum îmi ap?rea acest peisaj cretan, aveam impresia c? seam?n? cu o proz? bun?: bine lucrat?, schiÈ›at? în puÈ›ine vorbe, f?r? înflorituri inutile, puternic? È™i reÈ›inut?.

Do you think love is the way of God—love? Look here—" He stretched forth his bony, hairy hand and pointed to the Dead Sea, which stank like a rotting carcass. "Have you ever bent over to see the two whores, Sodom and Gomorrah, at her bottom? God became angry, hurled fire, stamped on the earth: dry land turned to sea and swallowed up Sodom and Gomorrah. That is God's way—follow

Sino a quando esisterà il concetto di Patria, l'uomo si comporterà come un animale selvaggio e spietato.

I ask and ask again, beating on chaos: "Who plants us on this earth without asking our permission? Who uproots us from this earth without asking our permission?

If today I were to choose a spiritual guide from the whole wide world—a "guru," as they say in India, a "venerable father" as the monks say at Mount Athos—the one I would choose without fail would be Zorba.

He uttered a triumphant cry: It is Accomplished! And it was as though he had said: Everything has begun.

He answered me: "Forgive me for saying this, Boss, but you are a pen pusher. You poor creep, you had the chance of a lifetime to see a beautiful green stone, and you didn't see it. By God, sometimes when I have no work to do, I sit down and ask myself, 'Is there a hell or isn't there?' But yesterday, when I received your letter, I said to myself, 'There sure is a hell for certain pen pushers!'

That little pipsqueak! ... I'd like to pick him up by the scruff of his neck and thump him on the ground like a young octopus!

in your heart life has accomplished its final miracle: it has become a fairy tale.

Every man has his folly. But the greatest folly of all is not to have one

He's dead." "His deliverance has come," said someone else. "The two friends have parted and returned to their homes," a third person whispered, "the flesh to the soil and the soul to God.

we were both joyous, not because of drinking so much wine, but because of the excessive happiness that we had inward. we both had understood, in our own ways, that we were two insects with short life spans, sticked for good onto the earth's crust, that we found a nice place by the sea behind some canes and gas cans, that we cuddled tightly, that in front of us we had good things and food, and inside of us we had peace, love and trust.

we were both joyous, not because of drinking so much wine, but because of the excessive happines that we had inward. we both had understood, in our own ways, that we were two insects with short life spans, sticked for good onto the earth's crust, that we found a nice place by the sea behind some canes and gas cans, that we cuddled tightly, that in front of us we had good things and food, and inside of us we had peace, love and trust.

It is a deadly sin to bring centuries old laws to a fait accompli; it is men's debt to watch immortal harmony with trust.

Keep your distance, boss! Don't make men too bold, don't go telling them we're all equal, we've got the same rights,, or they'll go straight and trample on YOUR rights; they'll steal your bread and leave you to die of hunger. Keep your distance, boss, by all the good things I wish you!

I think I am going to die of anguish. I cannot do it. I do not have the strength any longer to begin. My mind is fully armed, but I am unable to take the frightening leap.

Behind all appearances, I divine a struggling essence. I want to merge with it. I feel that behind appearances this struggling essence is also striving to merge with my heart. But the body stands between us and separates us. The mind stands between us and separates us.

Dios cambia de rostros, y dichoso aquel que puede distinguirlo detrás de cada máscara. A veces es un vaso de agua fresca, a veces un hijo que brinca sobre nuestras rodillas, a veces una mujer coqueta y a veces un breve paseo matutino.

I lack nothing, I tell you!" "Nothing?" I asked. "Not even heaven?" He lowered his head and was silent. But after a moment: "Heaven is too high for me. The earth is good, exceptionally good–and near me!" "Nothing is nearer to us than heaven. The earth is beneath our feet and we tread upon it, but heaven is within us.

Solange es Kinder gibt die hungern, gibt es keinen Gott!

Sa??r?n, istediÄŸin kadar kap?s?n? çal.

Opet sam se uverio koliko je sre?a jednostavna stvar i koliko joj malo treba – ?aša vina, kesten, jeftini mangal, huka mora; ništa više.

there are those who aim at living the life of the entire universe - everything, men, animals, trees, stars, we are all one, we are all one substance involved in the same terrible struggle. What struggle?... Turning matter into spirit.