Nikos Kazantzakis quotes

Nikos Kazantzakis was a renowned Greek writer and philosopher, celebrated for works such as "Zorba the Greek" and "The Last Temptation of Christ." His novels, plays, and essays explored existential themes and reflected a deep engagement with spirituality and human struggle. He influenced modern Greek literature and remains a prominent figure in world literature. Here are 294 of his quotes:

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

Nikos Kazantzakis

My entire soul is a cry, and all my work the commentary on that cry.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Every perfect traveler always creates the country where he travels.

Nikos Kazantzakis

There is only one woman in the world. One woman, with many faces.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Beauty is merciless. You do not look at it, it looks at you and does not forgive.

Nikos Kazantzakis

All my life I struggled to stretch my mind to the breaking point, until it began to creak, in order to create a great thought which might be able to give a new meaning to life, a new meaning to death, and to console mankind.

Nikos Kazantzakis

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.

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

Nikos Kazantzakis

Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to unfasten your belt and look for a fight.

Nikos Kazantzakis

I said only one word, brought only one message: Love. Love - nothing else.

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

Nikos Kazantzakis

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.

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

Nikos Kazantzakis

I possess no weapon but love. With that I have come to do battle. Help me!

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

We come from a dark abyss, we end in a dark abyss, and we call the luminous interval life.

Nikos Kazantzakis

Let your youth have free reign, it won't come again, so be bold and no repenting.

Nikos Kazantzakis

The sole way to save oneself is to save others. Or to struggle to save others -even that is sufficient.

Nikos Kazantzakis

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

Nikos Kazantzakis