402 Quotes by Nikos Kazantzakis

Man cannot sprout wings unless he has first reached the brink of the abyss!

What is the definition of heaven? Complete happiness. But how can anyone be completely happy when he looks out from heaven and sees his brothers and sisters being punished in hell? How can paradise exist if the inferno exists also? That is why I say – and let this sink deep down into your minds, my sisters – that either we shall all be saved, all of us together, or else we shall all be damned. If a person is killed at the other end of the earth, we are killed; if a person is saved, we are saved.

Lord, bend me, or I shall rot. Lord do not bend me too much, for I shall break. Lord bend me too much, who cares if I break!

Our body is a ship that sails on deep blue waters. What is our goal? To be shipwrecked!

Leave nothing for death but a burned-out castle.

There, in the desert, there’s hunger, thirst, prostrations – and God. Here there’s food, wine, women – and God. Everywhere God. So, why go look for him in the desert?

Leave your books alone. Aren’t you ashamed? Man is a wild beast, and wild beasts don’t read.

Once, I saw a bee drown in honey, and I understood.

A prophet is the one who, when everyone else despairs, hopes. And when everyone else hopes, he despairs. You’ll ask me why. It’s because he has mastered the Great Secret: that the Wheel turns.