I loved my body and did not want it to perish; I loved my soul and did not want it to decay. I have fought to reconcile these two primordial forces. Nikos Kazantzakis More Quotes by Nikos Kazantzakis More Quotes From Nikos Kazantzakis By believing passionately in that which doesn't exist, you create it and that which has not been sufficiently desired is what we call the non existent. Nikos Kazantzakis believe A slave's soul has no worth, my brothers; it lacks strength to tread on this great earth with gallantry and freedom. I pity the poor slaves, they're nought but airy mist, a light breeze scatters them, a fragrance knocks them down; it's only just they crawl on the earth on hands and knees. Today I'll write a hymn to God and pray for this great grace. Nikos Kazantzakis light brother writing This, I thought, is how great visionaries and poets see everything- as if for the first time. Each morning they see a new world before their eyes; they do not really see it, they create it. Nikos Kazantzakis perspective eye morning Freedom was my first great desire. The second, which remains hidden within me to this day, tormenting me, was the desire for sanctity. Hero together with saint: such is mankind's supreme model. Nikos Kazantzakis hero together desire When shall I at last retire into solitude alone, without companions, without joy and without sorrow, with only the sacred certainty that all is a dream? When, in my rags—without desires—shall I retire contented into the mountains? When, seeing that my body is merely sickness and crime, age and death, shall I—free, fearless, and blissful—retire to the forest? When? When, oh when? Nikos Kazantzakis fearless dream joy God, what is all this talk put out by the popes? Paradise is here, my good man. God, give me no other paradise! Nikos Kazantzakis good-man giving men Every obstacle in his journey became a milestone, an occasion for further triumph. We have a model in front of us now, a model who blazes our trail and gives us strength. Nikos Kazantzakis strength journey giving In religions which have lost their creative spark, the gods eventually become no more than poetic motifs or ornaments for decorating human solitude and walls. Nikos Kazantzakis wall solitude creative Today, any action anywhere on earth has an immediate repercussion on all five continents. News of a victory of the Eastern armies in Morocco or Shanghai travels instantly, thanks to modern means of communication, to all Eastern peoples and fills them with enthusiasm and faith. This phenomenon is, of course, unprecedented in the history of man. Nikos Kazantzakis army communication mean If only we know, boss, what the stones and rain and flowers say. Maybe they call-call us-and we don't hear them. When will people's ears open, boss? When shall we have our eyes open to see? When shall we open our arms to embrace everything-stones, rain, flowers, and people? What do you think about that, boss? And what do your books have to say about that? Nikos Kazantzakis nature flower rain Yes, there is weeping, even in heaven, but it is for those who are still crawling on the earth. Nikos Kazantzakis judgement earth heaven I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free. inscription on Kazantakis's tomb in Heraklion, Greece Nikos Kazantzakis inscriptions hope fear I've stopped thinking all the time of what happened yesterday. And stopped asking what's going to happen tomorrow. What's happening today, this minute, is what I care about. Nikos Kazantzakis asking yesterday thinking What, then is our duty? It is to carefully distinguish the historic moment in which we live and to consciously assign our small energies to a specific battlefield. The more we are in phase with the current which leads the way, the more we aid man in his difficult, uncertain, danger-fraught ascent toward salvation. Nikos Kazantzakis military war life Each man must have his own special route to lead him to God. Nikos Kazantzakis routes special men Before me is the abyss. How can I leap across it? And if I do not leap, how shall I ever be able to reach God? Nikos Kazantzakis abyss leap able We have seen the highest circle of spiraling powers. We have named this circle God. We might have given it any other name we wished: Abyss, Mystery, Absolute Darkness, Absolute Light, Matter, Spirit, Ultimate Hope, Ultimate Despair, Silence. Nikos Kazantzakis circles light names Man is able, and has the duty, to reach the furthest point on the road he has chosen. Only by means of hope can we attain what is beyond hope. Nikos Kazantzakis able men mean When everything goes wrong, what a joy to test your soul and see if it has endurance and courage! An invisible and all-powerful enemy—some call him God, others the Devil, seem to rush upon us to destroy us; but we are not destroyed. Nikos Kazantzakis powerful soul joy Lord, bend me, or I shall rot. Nikos Kazantzakis who-cares too-much lord
