Day's Quotes - Nikos Kazanzakis

“I hope nothing. I fear nothing. I am free.” 
― Nikos Kazantzakis

“This is true happiness: to have no ambition and to work like a horse as if you had every ambition. To live far from men, not to need them and yet to love them. To have the stars above, the land to your left and the sea to your right and to realize of a sudden that in your heart, life has accomplished its final miracle: it has become a fairy tale.” 
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

“God changes his appearance every second. Blessed is the man who can recognize him in all his disguises.” 
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

“A person needs a little madness, or else they never dare cut the rope and be free.” 
― Nikos Kazantzakis
 
“You can knock on a deaf man's door forever.” 
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

“I said to the almond tree, 'Sister, speak to me of God.' And the almond tree blossomed.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco

“Since we cannot change reality, let us change the eyes which see reality.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis


“How simple and frugal a thing is happiness: a glass of wine, a roast chestnut, a wretched little brazier, the sound of the sea. . . . All that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis


“All my life one of my greatest desires has been to travel-to see and touch unknown countries, to swim in unknown seas, to circle the globe, observing new lands, seas, people, and ideas with insatiable appetite, to see everything for the first time and for the last time, casting a slow, prolonged glance, then to close my eyes and feel the riches deposit themselves inside me calmly or stormily according to their pleasure, until time passes them at last through its fine sieve, straining the quintessence out of all the joys and sorrows.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco


“For I realize today that it is a mortal sin to violate the great laws of nature. We should not hurry, we should not be impatient, but we should confidently obey the eternal rhythm.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“Happy is the man, I thought, who, before dying, has the good fortune to sail the Aegean sea.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

“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, Zorba the Greek

“True teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then, having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create their
own.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis


“You will, Judas, my brother. God will give you the strength, as much as you lack, because it is necessary—it is necessary for me to be killed and for you to betray me. We two must save the world. Help me."

Judas bowed his head. After a moment he asked, "If you had to betray your master, would you do it?"

Jesus reflected for a long time. Finally he said, "No, I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to. That is why God pitied me and gave me the easier task: to be crucified.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ


“Life is trouble. Only death is not. To be alive is to undo your belt and *look* for trouble.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“Look, one day I had gone to a little village. An old grandfather of ninety was busy planting an almond tree. ‘What, grandfather!’ I exclaimed. ‘Planting an almond tree?’ And he, bent as he was, turned around and said: ‘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.’

Which of us was right, boss?”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize - sometimes with astonishment - how happy we had been.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“You have your brush, you have your colors, you paint the paradise, then in you go.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis


“Every man has his folly, but the greatest folly of all … is not to have one.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“Man is able, and has the duty, to reach the furthest point on the road he has chosen. Only by means of hope can we attain what is beyond hope.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco


“When an almond tree became covered with blossoms in the heart of winter, all the trees around it began to jeer. 'What vanity,' they screamed, 'what insolence! Just think, it believes it can bring spring in this way!' The flowers of the almond tree blushed for shame. 'Forgive me, my sisters,' said the tree. 'I swear I did not want to blossom, but suddenly I felt a warm springtime breeze in my heart.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Saint Francis


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


“When everyone drowns and I'm the only one to escape, God is protecting me. When everyone else is saved and I'm the only one to drown, God is protecting me then too.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ



“We come from a dark abyss, we end in a dark abyss, and we call the luminous interval life.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis


“Truly, everything in this world depended on time. Time ripened all. If you had time, you succeeded in working the human mud internally and turning it into spirit. Then you did not fear death. If you did not have time, you perished.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ


“If a woman sleeps alone it puts a shame on all men. God has a very big heart, but there is one sin He will not forgive. If a woman calls a man to her bed and he will not go.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“Reach what you cannot”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco

“the highest point a man can attain is not Knowledge, or Virtue, or Goodness, or Victory, but something even greater, more heroic and more despairing: Sacred Awe!”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“When shall I at last retire into solitude alone, without companions, without joy and without sorrow, with only the sacred certainty that all is a dream? When, in my rags—without desires—shall I retire contented into the mountains? When, seeing that my body is merely sickness and crime, age and death, shall I—free, fearless, and blissful—retire to the forest? When? When, oh when?”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek



“Throughout my life my greatest benefactors have been my travels and my dreams. Very few men, living or dead, have helped me in my struggles.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis

“I say one thing, you write another, and those who read you understand still something else! I say: cross, death, kingdom of heaven, God...and what do you understand? Each of you attaches his own suffering, interests and desires to each of these sacred words, and my words disappear, my soul is lost. I can't stand it any longer!”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ




“My principle anguish and the source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ


“Every man has his folly, but the greatest folly of all, in my view, is not to have one.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek
 

“Freedom was my first great desire. The second, which remains hidden within me to this day, tormenting me, was the desire for sanctity. Hero together with saint: such is mankind's supreme model.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Report to Greco



“Beauty is merciless. You do not look at it, it looks at you and does not forgive.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis

“Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis

“With the passage of days in this godly isolation [desert], my heart grew calm. It seemed to fill with answers. I did not ask questions any more; I was certain. Everything - where we came from, where we are going, what our purpose is on earth - struck me as extremely sure and simple in this God-trodden isolation. Little by little my blood took on the godly rhythm. Matins, Divine Liturgy, vespers, psalmodies, the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening, the constellations suspended like chandeliers each night over the monastery: all came and went, came and went in obedience to eternal laws, and drew the blood of man into the same placid rhythm. I saw the world as a tree, a gigantic poplar, and myself as a green leaf clinging to a branch with my slender stalk. When God's wind blew, I hopped and danced, together with the entire tree.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis

“All those who actually live the mysteries of life haven't the time to write, and all those who have the time don't live them! D'you see?”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“Free yourself from one passion to be dominated by another and nobler one. But is not that, too, a form of slavery? To sacrifice oneself to an idea, to a race, to God? Or does it mean that the higher the model the longer the longer the tether of our slavery?”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek



Nikos Kazantzakis quotes (showing 51-80 of 80)
“Once more there sounded within me the terrible warning that there is only one life for all men, that there is only one life for all men, that there is no other and that all that can be enjoyed must be enjoyed here. In eternity no other chance will be given to us.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek


“We are not men, to have need of another, an eternal life; we are women, and for us one moment with man we love is everlasting Paradise, one moment far from the man we love is everlasting hell. It is here on earth that we women love out eternity”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ

Yes, the purpose of earth is not life, it is not man, earth has existed without these, and it will live on without them. They are but the ephemeral sparks of its violent whirling.
Let us unite, let us hold each other tightly, let us merge our hearts, let us create –so long as the warmth of this earth endures, so long as no earthquakes, cataclysms, icebergs or comets come to destroy us – let us create for earth a brain and a heart, let us give a human meaning to the superhuman struggle. ”
― Nikos Kazantzakis


“Discipline is the highest of all virtues. Only so may strength and desire be counterbalanced and the endeavors of man bear fruit.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Rock Garden



“There is only one sin god will not forgive Boss, and that is to deny a woman who is in wanting ~ Zorba”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Zorba the Greek

“Overdraw me Lord, and who cares if I break!”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Last Temptation of Christ


“Every perfect traveler always creates the country where he travels.” 

― Nikos Kazantzakis



“The canary began to sing again. The sun had struck it, and its throat and tiny breast had filled with song. Francis gazed at it for a long time, not speaking, his mouth hanging half opened, his eyes dimmed with tears.
"The canary is like man's soul," he whispered finally. "It sees bars round it, but instead if despairing, it sings. It sings, and wait and see, Brother Leo: one day its song shall break the bars.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, Saint Francis


“My entire soul is a cry, and all my work is a commentary on that cry.”
― 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



“The people cast themselves down by the fuming boards
while servants cut the roast, mixed jars of wine and water,
and all the gods flew past like the night-breaths of spring.
The chattering female flocks sat down by farther tables,
their fresh prismatic garments gleaming in the moon
as though a crowd of haughty peacocks played in moonlight.
The queen’s throne softly spread with white furs of fox
gaped desolate and bare, for Penelope felt ashamed
to come before her guests after so much murder.
Though all the guests were ravenous, they still refrained,
turning their eyes upon their silent watchful lord
till he should spill wine in libation for the Immortals.
The king then filled a brimming cup, stood up and raised
it high till in the moon the embossed adornments gleamed:
Athena, dwarfed and slender, wrought in purest gold,
pursued around the cup with double-pointed spear
dark lowering herds of angry gods and hairy demons;
she smiled and the sad tenderness of her lean face,
and her embittered fearless glance, seemed almost human.
Star-eyed Odysseus raised Athena’s goblet high
and greeted all, but spoke in a beclouded mood:
“In all my wandering voyages and torturous strife,
the earth, the seas, the winds fought me with frenzied rage;
I was in danger often, both through joy and grief,
of losing priceless goodness, man’s most worthy face.
I raised my arms to the high heavens and cried for help,
but on my head gods hurled their lightning bolts, and laughed.
I then clasped Mother Earth, but she changed many shapes,
and whether as earthquake, beast, or woman, rushed to eat me;
then like a child I gave my hopes to the sea in trust,
piled on my ship my stubbornness, my cares, my virtues,
the poor remaining plunder of god-fighting man,
and then set sail; but suddenly a wild storm burst,
and when I raised my eyes, the sea was strewn with wreckage.
As I swam on, alone between sea and sky,
with but my crooked heart for dog and company,
I heard my mind, upon the crumpling battlements
about my head, yelling with flailing crimson spear.
Earth, sea, and sky rushed backward; I remained alone
with a horned bow slung down my shoulder, shorn of gods
and hopes, a free man standing in the wilderness.
Old comrades, O young men, my island’s newest sprouts,
I drink not to the gods but to man’s dauntless mind.”
All shuddered, for the daring toast seemed sacrilege,
and suddenly the hungry people shrank in spirit;
They did not fully understand the impious words
but saw flames lick like red curls about his savage head.
The smell of roast was overpowering, choice meats steamed,
and his bold speech was soon forgotten in hunger’s pangs;
all fell to eating ravenously till their brains reeled.
Under his lowering eyebrows Odysseus watched them sharply:
"This is my people, a mess of bellies and stinking breath!
These are my own minds, hands, and thighs, my loins and necks!"
He muttered in his thorny beard, held back his hunger
far from the feast and licked none of the steaming food.”
― Nikos Kazantzakis, The Odyssey: A Modern Sequel

Blogger Philosophy

My Philosophy of Blogging



There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or to be the mirror that reflects it.


- Edith Wharton

Ms. Wharton sums up how I think of blogs. My desire is to reflect the articles and pictures that inspire me when surfing the Web by posting them on my blogs. Blogs create a scrapbook of events to review later inspiring me for a second time. This is a great pleasure and an educational activity providing me with learning missed when I was in school. The Web has demonstrated its great value in generating and spreading new ideas. Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Occupy Wall Street and other revolutions have gained momentum on the Web.
If you have a favorite cause like animal rights, you can play a part in education the world by posting to your blog. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.


"To read means to borrow; to create out of one's reading is paying off one's debts."


- Charles Lillard
Communicating my worldview, as seen from my backwater home town situated on an island in the Pacific, is my way of staying engaged with current events.  Multiple Sclerosis has reduced my physical energy and keeps close to home so I need to adapt and find new ways of relating to the world at large

Principles of Investing

1. Start Investing Now


We say this not just to discourage procrastination, but because an early start can make all the difference. In general, every six years you wait doubles the required monthly savings to reach the same level of retirement income. Another motivational statistic: If you contributed some amount each month for the next nine years, and then nothing afterwards, or if you contributed nothing for the first nine years, then contributed the same amount each month for the next 41 years, you would have about the same amount. Compounding is a beautiful thing.

2. Know Thyself

The right course of action depends on your current situation, your future goals,and your personality. If you don't take a close look at these, and make them explicit, you might be headed in the wrong direction.
Current Situation: How healthy are you, financially? What's your net worth right now?What's your monthly income? What are your expenses (and where could they be reduced)? How much debt are you carrying? At what rate of interest? How much are you saving?How are you investing it? What are your returns? What are your expenses?
Goals: What are your financial goals? How much will you need to achieve them?Are you on the right track?
Risk Tolerance: How much risk are you willing and able to accept in pursuit of your objectives? The appropriate level of risk is determined by your personality, age, job security, health, net worth, amount of cash you have to cover emergencies, and the length of your investing horizon.3. Get Your Financial House In Order

Even though investing may be more fun than personal finance, it makes more sense to get started on them in the reverse order.If you don't know where the money goes each month, you shouldn't be thinking about investing yet. Tracking your spending habits is the first step toward improving them.If you're carrying debt at a high rate of interest (especially credit card debt), you should unburden yourself before you begin investing. If you don't know how much you save each month and how much you'll need to save to reach your goals, there's no way to know what investments are right for you.

If you've transitioned from a debt situation to a paycheck-to-paycheck situation to a saving some money every month situation, you're ready to begin investing what you save. You should start by amassing enough to cover three to six months of expenses, and keep this money in a very safe investment like a money market account, so you're prepared in the event of an emergency. Once you've saved up this emergency reserve, you can progress to higher risk(and higher return) investments: bonds for money that you expect to need in the next few years, and stocks or stock mutual funds for the rest. Use dollar cost averaging, by investing about the same amount each month. This is always a good idea,but even more so with the dramatic fluctuations in the market in the past 10 years. Dollar cost averaging will make it easier to stomach the inevitable dips.

And remember, never invest in anything you don't understand.

4. Develop A Long Term Plan

Now that you know your current situation, goals, and personality, you should have a pretty good idea of what your long term plan should be. It should detail where the money will go: cars, houses, college, retirement. It should also detail where the money will come from. Hopefully the numbers will be about the
same.

Don't try to time the market. Get in and stay in. We don't know what direction the next 10% move will be, but we do know what direction the next100% move will be.

Review your plan periodically, and whenever your needs or circumstances change. If you are not confident that your plan makes sense, talk to an investment advisor or someone you trust.

5. Buy Stocks

Now that you've got a long term view, you can more safely invest in 'riskier' investments, which the market rewards (in general). This requires patience and discipline, but it increases returns. This approach reduces the entire universe of investment vehicles to two choices: stocks and stock mutual funds. In the long run, they're the winners: In this century, stocks beat bonds 8 out of 9 decades, and they're well in the lead again. According to Ibbotson's Stocks, Bonds, Bills and Inflation 1995 Yearbook, here are the average annual returns from 1926 to 1994 (before inflation):
Stocks: 10.2% (and small company stocks were 12.1%)
Intermediate term treasury bonds: 5.1%
30-day T-bills: 3.7%But is it really worth the additional risk just for a few percentage points?The answer is yes. 10% a year for 20 years is 570%, but 7% a year for 20 years is only 280%. Compounding is God's gift to long term planners.

If you buy outstanding companies, and hold them through the market's gyrations, you will be rewarded. If you aren't good at selecting stocks, select some mutual funds.If you aren't good at selecting mutual funds, go with an index fund(like the Vanguard S&P 500).

6. Investigate Before You Invest

Always do your homework. The more you know, the better off you are.This requires that you keep learning, and pay attention to events that might affect you.Understand personal finance matters that could affect you (for example, proposed tax changes). Understand how each of your investments fits in with the rest of your portfolio and with your overall strategy. Understand the risks associated with each investment.Gather unbiased, objective information. Get a second opinion, a third opinion, etc. Be cautious when evaluating the advice of anyone with a vested interest.

If you're going to invest in stocks, learn as much as you can about the companies you're considering. Understand before you invest. Research, research, research.Read books. Consider joining an investment club or an organization like the American Association of Individual Investors . Experiment with various strategies before you put your own money on the line. Examine historical data or participate in a stock market simulation. Try a momentum portfolio, a technical analysis portfolio, a bottom fisher portfolio, a dividend portfolio,a price/earnings growth portfolio, an intuition portfolio, a megatrends portfolio,and any others you think of. In the process you'll find out which ones work best for you. Learn from your own mistakes, and learn from the mistakes of others.

If you don't have time for all this work, consider mutual funds, especially index funds.

7. Develop The Right Attitude

The following personality traits will help you achieve financial success:

Discipline: Develop a plan, and stick with it. As you continue to learn,you'll become more confident that you're on the right track. Alter your asset allocation based on changes in your personal situation, not because of some short term market fluctuation.
Confidence. Let your intelligence, not your emotions, make your decisions for you.Understand that you will make mistakes and take losses; even the best investors do.Re-evaluate your strategy from time to time, but don't second-guess it.
Patience: Don't let your emotions be ruled by today's performance.In most cases, you shouldn't even be watching the day-to-day performance, unless you like to.Also, don't ever feel like it's now or never; don't be pressured into an investment you don't yet understand or feel comfortable with.The following personality traits will hurt your chances of financial success:
Fear. If you are unwilling to take any risk, you will be stuck with investments that barely beat inflation.
Greed. As an investment class, 'get rich quick' schemes have the worst returns.If your expectations are unrealistically high, you'll go for the big scores, which usually don't work.It is generally a good idea to avoid making financial decisions based on emotional factors.

8. Get Help If You Need It

The do-it-yourself approach isn't for everyone. If you try it and it's not working, or you're afraid to try it at all, or you just don't have the time or desire, there's nothing wrong with seeking professional assistance.

If you want others to handle your financial affairs for you, you will nevertheless want to remain involved to some degree, to make sure your money is being spent wisely.

source:
http://www.investorguide.com/igu-article-418-investing-basics-principles-of-investing.html

Knowledge without action pays few dividends.

"Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves,
or we know where we can find information upon it." 
- Samuel Johnson

Compassion for all living things needs to be practiced to save our Planet...

Jane Goodall


‎"AND IF WE DARE TO LOOK INTO THOSE EYES, THEN WE SHALL FEEL THEIR SUFFERING IN OUR HEARTS.

MORE AND MORE PEOPLE HAVE SEEN THAT APPEAL AND FELT IT IN THEIR HEARTS.

ALL AROUND THE WORLD THERE IS AN AWAKENING OF UNDERSTANDING AND COMPASSION, AND UNDERSTANDING THAT REACHES OUT TO HELP THE SUFFERING ANIMALS IN THEIR VANISHING HOMELANDS.

THAT EMBRACES HUNGRY, SICK, AND DESPERATE HUMAN BEINGS, PEOPLE WHO ARE STARVING WHILE THE FORTUNATE AMONG US HAVE SO MUCH MORE THAN WE NEED.

AND IF, ONE BY ONE, WE HELP THEM, THE HURTING ANIMALS, THE DESPERATE HUMANS, THEN TOGETHER WE SHALL ALLEVIATE SO MUCH OF THE HUNGER, FEAR, AND PAIN IN THE WORLD.

TOGETHER WE CAN BRING CHANGE TO THE WORLD, GRADUALLY REPLACING FEAR AND HATRED WITH COMPASSION AND LOVE. LOVE FOR ALL LIVING BEINGS."

                     

If you don't see our "shared something" in his eyes, look again.

Lewis and Clark

Confucius: The Enduring Power of Virtue

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2011/03/the-enduring-power-of-virtue/73149/

Virtue, not technocratic solutions, is what I claimed our world needs more of, but I'm not saying anything new. Virtue goes back at least two-and-a-half millennia.

Western accounts of virtue start with Aristotle, but let's go back instead to Confucius. Depending on what you paid attention to in school, you might remember Confucius by the Silver Rule ("Do not do to others..."), his exotic concepts (e.g., filial piety), or a series of grammar-challenged jokes ("Confucius say...").

Confucius did have a lot to say, but if there is one principle that runs through his philosophy, it's that personal virtue is the way to the good life and the good society. He posed the cultivation of virtue as a superior alternative to the manipulation or coercion of behavior through policy.

Three virtues from Confucius's thought are the basic building blocks for all other virtues:

1. One is rén, benevolence or compassion.
2. Another is self-control, which Confucius believed was enforced and nurtured by adhering to
proper forms of behavior, or lǐ .

3. And, the third is wise judgment about how to turn benevolent intention into action of a kind that avoids the proverbial road to hell.

Confucius, who in referring to ancient role models wrote: 


"Because their persons were cultivated, their families were in order. Because their families were in order, their states were well-governed. Because their states were well-governed, the whole kingdom prospered. From the sovereign down to the people, all must consider the cultivation of the person the root of everything besides."

Angry Alligator

Angry American alligator - Animal Pictures - Pictures

The Lewis Gun, a light machine gun, was developed in the United States in 1911. At 12 kg it was far lighter than the Vickers Machine-Gun and in 1915 the British Army decided to purchase the gun for use on the Western Front. Another advantage of the Lewis is that six of these guns could be made in the time taken to produce one Vickers gun. Although too heavy for efficient portable use, it became the standard support weapon for the British infantry during the First World War.