Quotes About Wisdom

Of all things I liked books the best.

Let people be, boss; don't open their eyes. And supposing you did, what'd they see? Their misery! Leave their eyes closed, boss, and let them go on dreaming!

How could I, who loved life so intensely, have let myself be entangled for so long in that balderdash of books and paper blackened with ink!

Life's true face is the skull.

What is truth? What is falsehood? Whatever gives wings to men, whatever produces great works and great souls and lifts up a man's height above the earth - that's true. Whatever clips off man's wings - that's false.

To think things out properly and fairly, a fellow's got to be calm and old and toothless: When you're an old gaffer with no teeth, it's easy to say: 'Damn it, boys, you mustn't bite!' But, when you've got all thirty-two teeth...

How ought we to love God, Father? he asked in a whisper. By loving men, my son And how ought we to love men? By trying to guide them along the right path And what is the right path? The one that rises - Nikos Kazanzakis, Christ Recrucified

Man hurries, God does not. That is why man's works are uncertain and maimed, while God's are flawless and sure. My eyes welling with tears, I vowed never to transgress this eternal law again. Like a tree I would be blasted by wind, struck by sun and rain, and would wait with confidence; the long-desired hour of flowering and fruit would come.

I hope you don't mind my saying so, boss, but I don't think your brain is quite formed yet. How old are you? —Thirty-five. —Then it never will be.

Madness, Brother Masseo, is the salt which prevents good sense from rotting.

What are you looking at, grandfather? he asked with curiosity. The old man raised his head and smiled sadly. At my life flowing and disappearing, son, flowing and disappearing. Don't worry, grandfather, it knows where it is going–toward the sea, everyone's life flows toward the sea. The old man sighed. Yes, my son, that is why the sea is salty—from the many tears. He turned back to the flowing stream and did not speak again.

An old fisherman heard all this and shook his head. "This is what happens to those who don't get married," he said. "All they want to do is save the world, by hook or by crook. The sperm rises to their heads and attacks their brains. For God's sake, all of you: get married, let your forces loose on women and have children in order to calm yourselves!

?eytan ya?lan?nca ke?i? oluverirmi?.

The bishop escorted Francis a short distance out into the courtyard. Bending over, he said to him in a hushed voice, careful Francis. You're overdoing it. That's how one finds God, Bishop. Francis answered. The bishop shook his head. Even virtue needs moderation; otherwise it can become arrogance. Man stands within the bounds of moderation; God stands outside them. I am heading for God, Bishop. said Francis, and he proceeded hastily towards the street door. He had no time to lose.

Everyman has his folly, but the greatest folly of all, in my view, is not to have one.

The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.

Ascult?, b?iete. Pe Dumnezeu nu pot s?-l încap? cele nou? colÅ£uri ale cerului ÅŸi nici cele ÅŸapte ale p?mântului; îl încape îns? inima omului. ?i d-aia, È›ine minte, Zorbas, ai binecuvântarea mea, ai grij? s? nu r?neÈ™ti niciodat? inima omului!

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.

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

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.

La ce te uiti, mosule? Batranul a ridicat capul si a zambit cu tristete: - La viata mea, care curge la vale, fiule, a raspuns; la viata mea, care curge si se duce...

The greatest prophet on earth can give men no more than a watchword, and the vaguer the watchword the greater the prophet.

Nu face nimic dac? n-ai cap; p?l?rie s? ai.

As far as I can see, your lordship's never been hungry, never killed, never stolen. what ever can you know of the world? You've got an innocent's brain and you skin's never felt the sun