What happiness this is: to fly, skimming over the earth just as we do in our dreams! Life has become a dream. Can this be the meaning of paradise?
Interpretation
The quote expresses joy in the experience of flying and relates it to the idea of paradise and dreams.
Nikos Kazantzakis captures the exhilarating feeling of flying and connects it to the deeper notion of happiness and fulfillment found in our dreams. This sentiment suggests that such joyful experiences may represent a form of paradise, blurring the lines between reality and our idealized visions of life.
In practice
This quote is perfect for an inspirational speech about pursuing dreams.
A weak soul does not have the endurance to resist the flesh for very long. It grows heavy, becomes flesh itself, and the contest ends. But among responsible men, men who keep their eyes riveted day and night upon the Supreme Duty, the conflict between flesh and spirit breaks out mercilessly and may last until death.
This, I thought, is how great visionaries and poets see everything- as if for the first time. Each morning they see a new world before their eyes; they do not really see it, they create it.
I collect my tools: sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing, intellect. Night has fallen.
The dual substance of Christ - the yearning, so human, so superhuman, of man to attain God. [...] has always been a deep inscrutable mystery to me. [...] My principle anguish and source of all my joys and sorrows from my youth onward has been the incessant, merciless battle between the spirit and the flesh. [...] And my soul is the arena where these two armies have clashed and met.
I fight to embrace the entire circle of human activity to the full extent of my ability.
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.
When I am feeling depressed and anxious sullen _x000D_ all you have to do is take your clothes off _x000D_ and all is wiped away revealing life tenderness _x000D_ that we are flesh and breathe and are near us_x000D_ as you are really as you are I become as I_x000D_ really am alive and knowing vaguely what is_x000D_ and what is important to me above the intrusions_x000D_ of incident and accidental relationships_x000D_ which have nothing to do with my life
The happiest moments my heart knows are those in which it is pouring forth its affections to a few esteemed characters.
For everything bad, there's a million really exciting things, whether it's someone puts out a really great book, there's a new movie, there's a new detective, the sky is unbelievably golden, or you have the best cup of coffee you ever had in your life.
The art of living does not consist in preserving and clinging to a particular mode of happiness, but in allowing happiness to change its form without being disappointed by the change; happiness, like a child, must be allowed to grow up.
Be grateful for your life, every detail of it, _x000D_ and your face will come to shine like a sun, _x000D_ and everyone who sees it will _x000D_ be made glad and peaceful.
I try to enjoy what I do, and every moment of the life that I have is a blessing. What else can you do but to be happy and try to bring that joy to the other people around - especially in the tournaments. Everybody has bad days. I'm not always funny or laughing.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.