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

Nikos Kazantzakis

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Nikos Kazantzakis
Age: 74 †
Born: 1883
Born: February 18
Died: 1957
Died: October 26
Journalist
Novelist
Philosopher
Playwright
Poet
Politician
Screenwriter
Translator
Writer
Heraclion
Nicos Kazantzakes
Sees
Instead
Around
Soul
Canary
Men
Canaries
Like
Despairing
Sings
Bars

More quotes by Nikos Kazantzakis

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I said to the almond tree, 'Sister, speak to me of God.' And the almond tree blossomed.
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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.
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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.
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All the political, social, and economic improvements, all the technical progress cannot have any regenerating significance, so long as our inner life remains as it is at present. The more the intelligence unveils and violates the secrets of Nature, the more the danger increases and the heart shrinks.
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As long as there are flowers and children and birds in the world, have no fears: everything will be fine.
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Beauty is merciless. You do not look at it, it looks at you and does not forgive.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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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.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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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
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Good Lord, how can the rich bear to die?
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A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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Be always restless, unsatisfied, unconforming. Whenever a habit becomes convenient, smash it! The greatest sin of all is satisfaction.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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Only after I've seen the visible can I imagine what the invisible is.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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The more devils we have within us, the more chance we have to form angels.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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Ah, if you could dance all that you've just said, then I'd understand.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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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
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The real meaning of enlightenment is to gaze with undimmed eyes on all darkness.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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The ultimate, most holy form of theory is action.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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The masses do not see the Sirens. They do not hear songs in the air. Blind, deaf, stooping, they pull at their oars in the hold of the earth. But the more select, the captains, harken to a Siren within them...and royally squander their lives with her.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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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
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I say one thing, you write another, and those who read you understand still something else! I say: cross, death, kingdom of heaven, God...and what do you understand? Each of you attaches his own suffering, interests and desires to each of these sacred words, and my words disappear, my soul is lost. I can't stand it any longer!
Nikos Kazantzakis