The dual substance of Christ - the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain God. [...] has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me. [...] My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh. [...] And my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Categorized in : Two Men Army

What is love? It is not simply compassion, not simply kindness. In compassion there are two: the one who suffers and the one who feels compassion. In kindness there are two: the one who gives and the one who receives. But in love there is only one; the two join, unite, become inseparable. The I and the you vanish. To love means to lose oneself in the beloved.

Nikos Kazantzakis

compassion kindness mean

I hope for nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.

Nikos Kazantzakis

fear-nothing freedom

My soul comes from better worlds and I have an incurable homesickness of the stars.

Nikos Kazantzakis

stars soul world

The only thing I know is this: I am full of wounds and still standing on my feet.

Nikos Kazantzakis

standing stills feet

All my life one of my greatest desires has been to travel-to see and touch unknown countries, to swim in unknown seas, to circle the globe, observing new lands, seas, people, and ideas with insatiable appetite, to see everything for the first time and for the last time, casting a slow, prolonged glance, then to close my eyes and feel the riches deposit themselves inside me calmly or stormily according to their pleasure, until time passes them at last through its fine sieve, straining the quintessence out of all the joys and sorrows.

Nikos Kazantzakis

eye sea country

True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their own.

Nikos Kazantzakis

education teacher inspirational

You have your brush, you have your colors, you paint the paradise, then in you go.

Nikos Kazantzakis

paradise paint color

Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.

Nikos Kazantzakis

eye change opportunity

God changes appearances every second. Blessed is the man who can recognize him in all his disguises. One moment he is a glass of fresh water, the next, your son bouncing on your knees or an enchanting woman, or perhaps merely a morning walk.

Nikos Kazantzakis

blessed morning son

Be always restless, unsatisfied, unconforming. Whenever a habit becomes convenient, smash it! The greatest sin of all is satisfaction.

Nikos Kazantzakis

habit sin satisfaction

The landscape affects the human psyche - the soul, the body and the innermost contemplations - like music. Every time you feel nature deeper you resonate better with her, finding new elements of balance and freedom.

Nikos Kazantzakis

balance music soul

I said to the almond tree, 'Sister, speak to me of God.' And the almond tree blossomed.

Nikos Kazantzakis

almonds faith tree

By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not sufficiently desired.

Nikos Kazantzakis

creativity believe art

Everything in this world has a hidden meaning, I thought. Men, animals, trees, stars, they are all hieroglyphics; woe to anyone who begins to decipher them and guess what they mean.... When you see them, you do not understand them. You think they are really men, animals, trees, stars. It is only years later, too late, that you understand.

Nikos Kazantzakis

stars animal men

I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been.

Nikos Kazantzakis

astonishment looks past

In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.

Nikos Kazantzakis

faith success motivational

No! No! Never acknowledge the limitations of man. Smash all boundaries! Deny whatever your eyes see. Die every moment, but say: Death does not exist.'

Nikos Kazantzakis

eye doe men

Go as far as you can. Go further than you can!

Nikos Kazantzakis

A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.

Nikos Kazantzakis

cutting photography inspirational

Three kinds of souls, three prayers: 1) I am a bow in your hands, Lord. Draw me, lest I rot. 2) Do not overdraw me, Lord. I shall break. 3) Overdraw me, Lord, and who cares if I break.

Nikos Kazantzakis

soul prayer hands