Nikos Kazantzakis Quotes

As I watched the seagulls, I thought, That's the road to take; find the absolute rhythm and follow it with absolute trust.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.'

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

I am a weak, ephemeral creature made of mud and dream. But I feel all the powers of the universe whirling within me.

I felt once more how simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. Nothing else.

The only way to save yourself is to endeavor to save others.

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.

Everything in this world has a hidden meaning.

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.

How simple and frugal a thing is happiness.

God changes his appearance every second. Blessed is the man who can recognize him in all his disguises.

To succeed, you must first believe you can.

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

You can knock on a deaf man's door forever.

Every perfect traveler always creates the country where he travels.

There is no harsher means of punishment, than to answer malice with kindness.

The heart unites whatever the mind separates, pushes on beyond the arena of necessity and transmutes the struggle into love.

As long as there are flowers and children and birds in the world, have no fears: everything will be fine.

The more devils we have within us, the more chance we have to form angels.

When everyone drowns and I'm the only one to escape, God is protecting me. When everyone else is saved and I'm the only one to drown, God is protecting me then too.

What a strange machine man is! You fill him with bread, wine, fish, and radishes, and out comes sighs, laughter, and dreams.

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

Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and *look* for trouble.

Be sure to live up to your reputation for honesty and goodness, because many souls who believe you to be honest and good have placed themselves in your hands.

My principle anguish and the source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh.

Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.

As you walk, you cut open and create that river bed into which the stream of your descendants shall enter and flow.

the highest point a man can attain is not Knowledge, or Virtue, or Goodness, or Victory, but something even greater, more heroic and more despairing: Sacred Awe!

Reach what you cannot

Time is round, and it rolls quickly.

I collect my tools: sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing, intellect. Night has fallen.

The canary is like a man's soul. It sees bars around it, but instead of despairing, it sings.

If a woman sleeps alone it puts a shame on all men. God has a very big heart, but there is one sin He will not forgive. If a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go.

All those who actually live the mysteries of life haven't the time to write, and all those who have the time don't live them! D'you see?

The truth is that we all are one, that all of us together create god, that god is not man's ancestor, but his descendant.

There is only one sin god will not forgive Boss, and that is to deny a woman who is in wanting ~ Zorba

I felt this was my duty, my sole duty: to reconcile the irreconcilables, to draw the thick ancestral darkness out of my loins and transform it, to the best of my ability, into light.

It doesn't matter whether or not you have a head, you must wear the right sort of hat

Ah, if you could dance all that you've just said, then I'd understand.

The ultimate, most holy form of theory is action.