My son, I carry on as if I should never die.' I replied: 'And I carry on as if I was going to die any minute. - Nikos Kazantzakis

كنت أعجب لقوته هذة وقدرته على احتقار البشر إلى هذا الحد، وفي نفس الوقت لوجود هذة الرغبة عنده في أن يعيش ويعمل معهم. أما أنا فإما أن أصبح ناسكاً، وإما أن أزين البشر بريشٍ زائف كي أستطيع تحملهم.

...I spent the whole morning coiled up in front of the fire, with my hands over it, eating nothing, motionless, just listening to the first rain of the season, softly falling. I was thinking of nothing. Rolled up in a ball, like a mole in damp soil, my brain was resting. I could hear the slight movements, murmurings and nibblings of the earth, and the rain falling and the seeds swelling. I could feel the sky and the earth copulating as in primitive times when they mated like a man and woman and had children. I could hear the sea before me, all along the shore, roaring like a wild beast and lapping with its tongue to slake its thirst.

The centuries are thick, dark waves that rise and fall, steeped in blood. Every moment is a gaping abyss. Gaze on the dark sea without staggering, confront the abyss every moment without illusion or impudence or fear. … But this is not enough; take a further step: battle to give meaning to the confused struggles of man.