82 quotes
I know well that only words, that words alone,
like the high mountains, have no fear of age or death.
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938)
Who holds a sword is tempted, who has youth must play,
he who does not fear death on earth does not fear God.
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938)
Beauty is merciless. You do not look at it, it looks at you and does not forgive.
Report to Greco (1965)
I am a mariner of Odysseus with heart of fire but with mind ruthless and clear.
Toda Raba (1934)
This book is not a biography; it is the confession of every man who struggles.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1955)
Blessed are those eyes that have seen more water than any man!
Blessed be that haughty mind that aimed at the greatest hope!
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938)
A woman's body is a dark and monstrous mystery;
between her supple thighs a heavy whirlpool swirls,
two rivers crash, and woe to him who slips and falls!
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938)
The highest point a man can obtain is not Knowledge, or Virtue, or Goodness, or Victory, but something even greater, more heroic and more despairing: Sacred Awe!
Zorba the Greek (1946)
Every village has its simpleton, and if one does not exist they invent one to pass the time.
Zorba the Greek (1946)
The heart unites whatever the mind separates, pushes on beyond the arena of necessity and transmutes the struggle into love.
The Saviors of God (1923)
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.
Zorba the Greek (1946)
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.
Zorba the Greek (1946)
I said to the almond tree: "Speak to me of God."
And the almond tree blossomed.
The Fratricides (1961)
To cleave that sea in the gentle autumnal season, murmuring the name of each islet, is to my mind the joy most apt to transport the heart of man into paradise.
Zorba the Greek (1946)
A slave's soul has no worth, my brothers; it lacks strength
to tread on this great earth with gallantry and freedom.
The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938)
What a strange machine man is! You fill him with bread, wine, fish, and radishes, and out comes sighs, laughter, and dreams.
Zorba the Greek (1946)
I said only one word, brought only one message: Love. Love — nothing else.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1955)
All that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart.
Zorba the Greek (1946)
How can anyone see the only way the world can be saved and not be forced to weep?
The Last Temptation of Christ (1955)
The more devils we have within us, the more chance we have to form angels.
The Last Temptation of Christ (1955)