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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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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?
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Before me is the abyss. How can I leap across it? And if I do not leap, how shall I ever be able to reach God?
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How does the light of a star set out and plunge into black eternity in its immortal course? The star dies, but the light never dies such also is the cry of freedom.
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I am a weak, ephemeral creature made of mud and dream. But I feel all the powers of the universe whirling within me.
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In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can.
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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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Free yourself from one passion to be dominated by another and nobler one. But is not that, too, a form of slavery? To sacrifice oneself to an idea, to a race, to God? Or does it mean that the higher the model the longer the longer the tether of our slavery?
Nikos Kazantzakis
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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.
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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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Monarch of earth, I shall confess my secret craft: I've always fought to purify wild flame to light, and kindle whatever light I found to burst in flame.
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God changes his appearance every second. Blessed is the man who can recognize him in all his disguises.
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Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.
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.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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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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I said to the almond tree, 'Sister, speak to me of God.' And the almond tree blossomed.
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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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Reach what you cannot
Nikos Kazantzakis
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As long as our souls remain strong, that is all that matters as long as they don't decline. Because with the fall of certain souls in this world, the world itself will collapse. These are the pillars which support it. They are few, but enough.
Nikos Kazantzakis
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God is action, complete with mistakes, fumblings, persistence, agony. God is not the power that has found eternal equilibrium, but the power that is forever breaking every equilibrium, forever searching for a higher one.
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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