Beauty is merciless. You do not look at it, it looks at you and does not forgive.
classic quote by Nikos Kazantzakis
Added by Veronica Serbanoiu
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A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.
classic quote by Nikos Kazantzakis
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I said to the almond tree, "Friend, speak to me of God," and the almond tree blossomed.
Nikos Kazantzakis in Report to Greco (1961), translated by Peter A. Bien
Added by Lucian Velea
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Where are we going? Do not ask! Ascend, descend. There is no beginning and no end. Only this present moment exists, full of bitterness, full of sweetness, and I rejoice in it all.
classic quote by Nikos Kazantzakis
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Life is not a goal; it is also an instrument, like death, like beauty, like virtue, like knowledge. Whose instrument? Of that God who fights for freedom. We are all one, we are all an imperiled essence.
quote by Nikos Kazantzakis
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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.
classic quote by Nikos Kazantzakis
Added by Lucian Velea
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The essence of our God is obscure. It ripens continuously; perhaps victory is strenghtened with our every valorous deed, but perhaps even all these agonizing struggles toward deliverance and victory are inferior to the nature of divinity. Whatever it might be, we fight on without certainty, and our virtue, uncertain of any rewards, acquires a profound nobility.
quote by Nikos Kazantzakis
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Maybe you're right, boss. It all depends on the way you look at it. Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. 'What, grandad' I exclaimed. 'Planting an almond tree' and he, bent as he was, turned round and said, 'My son, I carry on as if I should never die.' I replied, 'And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute.' Which of us was right, boss
classic quote by Nikos Kazantzakis
Added by Lucian Velea
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