Skip to content

May he be cursed on earth who gives his trust to virtue,
that bankrupt crone who takes our life's pure gold and gives
but bad receipts for payment in the lower world.
Ah, passers-by that stroll, travelers that come and go,
all that I had, I placed on virtue, and lost the game!

— Nikos Kazantzakis The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel (1938)

Another quote →

More quotes by Nikos Kazantzakis

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)

All Nikos Kazantzakis quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Nikos Kazantzakis (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.