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.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the importance of human agency and hope in pursuing one's goals.
Nikos Kazantzakis suggests that humans have both the capability and responsibility to strive towards their chosen path. The idea that hope is essential in achieving our aspirations beyond what we currently see implies that it acts as a guiding force that enables us to pursue lofty goals, pushing the boundaries of what we believe is possible.
In practice
This quote can be used in a motivational 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.
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?
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.
I was well motivated. What I wanted to do was work for myself. I had twenty two jobs before I started my business at the age of twenty three and I didn't want one more boss telling me what to do. So I was motivated simply because I didn't want a boss.
People are afraid to pursue their most important dreams, because they feel that they don't deserve them, or that they'll be unable to achieve them.
Always focus on your effort, instead of the results of that effort.
I always did something I was a little not ready to do. I think that's how you grow.
What strikes me every single time is that the aspirations of Indians are unique and unparalleled. They're very demanding, regardless of background.
We will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating it again and again until we reach our destination.
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