Nikos Kazantzakis Quotes - Page 5

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For I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Law, Today, Sin

Nikos Kazantzakis, Carl Wildman (1953). “Zorba the Greek”, p.121, Simon and Schuster

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The human soul is heavy, clumsy, held in the mud of the flesh. Its perceptions are still coarse and brutish. It can divine nothing clearly, nothing with certainty.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Soul, Perception, Flesh

Nikos Kazantzakis, Carl Wildman (1953). “Zorba the Greek”, p.7, Simon and Schuster

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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

Nikos Kazantzakis (2012). “The Last Temptation of Christ”, p.4, Simon and Schuster

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This book was not written because I wanted to offer a supreme model to the man who struggles; I wanted to show him that he must not fear pain, temptation or death - because all three can be conquered, all three have already been conquered. Christ suffered pain, and since then pain has been sanctified. Temptation fought until the very last moment to lead him astray, and Temptation was defeated. Christ died on the Cross, and at that instant death was vanquished forever.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Pain, Fear, Book

Nikos Kazantzakis (2012). “The Last Temptation of Christ”, p.4, Simon and Schuster

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I possess no weapon but love. With that I have come to do battle. Help me!

Nikos Kazantzakis

Life, Battle, Weapons

Nikos Kazantzakis, Peter Bien (1988). “The Last Temptation of Christ”, p.249, Simon and Schuster

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He who is invisible sees more clearly, hears more clearly, and is better able to read the thoughts of men.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Men, Able, Invisible

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Throughout my life, my greatest benefactors have been my dreams and my travels; very few men, living or dead, have helped me in my struggle.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Dream, Struggle, Men

"Journey to the Morea".

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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, Joy, Soul

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God sends rain, but He also sends hoods; and when the rain grows heavier, He sends a cave.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Rain, Caves, Hood

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Each man must have his own special route to lead him to God.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Men, Special, Routes

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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, Rain, Flower

Nikos Kazantzakis, Carl Wildman (1953). “Zorba the Greek”, p.94, Simon and Schuster

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The sole way to save oneself is to save others. Or to struggle to save others -even that is sufficient.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Struggle, Way, Sole

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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, Creative, Solitude

Nikos Kazantzakis, Carl Wildman (1953). “Zorba the Greek”, p.133, Simon and Schuster

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It was certainly not this mummified and outrageously painted old woman he was seeing before him, but the entire "female species," as it was his custom to call women. The individual disappeared, the features were obliterated, whether young or senile, beautiful or ugly - those were mere unimportant variations. Behind each woman rises the austere, sacred and mysterious face of Aphrodite.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Beautiful, Female, Variation

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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, Names, Light

Nikos Kazantzakis (2012). “Saviors of God”, p.61, Simon and Schuster

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Life's true face is the skull.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Skulls, Faces

Nikos Kazantzakis (2012). “Report to Greco”, p.120, Simon and Schuster

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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, Desire, Together

Nikos Kazantzakis (2012). “Report to Greco”, p.97, Simon and Schuster

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A woman's body is a dark and monstrous mystery; between her supple thighs a heavy whirlpool swirls, two rivers crash, and woe to him who slips and falls!

Nikos Kazantzakis

Fall, Dark, Two

Nikos Kazantzakis (1958). “the Odyssey a Modern Sequel”

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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

Mean, Men, Able

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Two equally steep and bold paths may lead to the same peak. To act as if death did not exist, or to act thinking every minute of death, is perhaps the same thing.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Thinking, Two, May

Nikos Kazantzakis, Carl Wildman (1953). “Zorba the Greek”, p.35, Simon and Schuster

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Once more there sounded within me the terrible warning that there is only one life for all men, that there is only one life for all men, that there is no other and that all that can be enjoyed must be enjoyed here. In eternity no other chance will be given to us.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Men, Warning, Chance

Nikos Kazantzakis (1964). “Zorba the Greek”

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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

Army, Men, Two

"The Last Temptation of Christ". Book by Nikos Kazantzakis, Simon and Schuster, Prologue, 2012.

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I surrender myself to everything. I love, I feel pain, I struggle. The world seems to me wider than the mind, my heart a dark and almighty mystery.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Pain, Struggle, Heart

Nikos Kazantzakis (2012). “Saviors of God”, p.38, Simon and Schuster

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Whoever climbed the Lord's mountain had to possess clean hands and an innocent heart; otherwise the Summit would kill him. Today the doorway is deserted. Soiled hands and sinful hearts are able to pass by without fear, for the Summit kills no longer.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Heart, Hands, Mountain

Nikos Kazantzakis (2012). “Report to Greco”, p.384, Simon and Schuster

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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

Communication, Mean, Army

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Born: February 18, 1883
Died: October 26, 1957
Occupation: Writer
Cite this Page: Citation

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