--- title: "3 Ascent Quotes By Nikos Kazantzakis" description: "3 Ascent quotes by Nikos Kazantzakis. Plus more from Nikos Kazantzakis and more Ascent sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/nikos-kazantzakis-1116_ascent_what-first-truly-stirred-my-soul-was-not_372475.jpg" --- > [What first truly stirred my soul was not fear or pain, nor was it pleasure or games; it was the yearning for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/what-first-truly-stirred-my-soul-was-not-fear-or-pain-nor-was-it/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/nikos-kazantzakis-1116_ascent_what-first-truly-stirred-my-soul-was-not_372475.jpg) > [What, then is our duty? It is to carefully distinguish the historic moment in which we live and to consciously assign our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/what-then-is-our-duty-it-is-to-carefully-distinguish-the-historic/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f16/nikos-kazantzakis-1116_adversity_what-then-is-our-duty-it-is-to-carefully_990928.jpg) > [“I tried to establish order over the chaos of my imagination, but this essence, the same that presented itself to me still…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-tried-to-establish-order-over-the-chaos-of-my-imagination-but-this/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2f5/nikos-kazantzakis-1116_ascent_i-tried-to-establish-order-over-the-chao_1907592.jpg) ## Other authors on Ascent ## More by Nikos Kazantzakis > [“We gaze with perplexity at the highest part of the spiral of force that governs the Universe. And we call it God. We could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/we-gaze-with-perplexity-at-the-highest-part-of-the-spiral-of-force/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [I collect my tools: sight, smell, touch, taste, hearing, intellect. Night has fallen...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-collect-my-tools-sight-smell-touch-taste-hearing-intellect-night/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Everything in this world has a hidden meaning, I thought. Men, animals, trees, stars, they are all hieroglyphics; woe to anyone who begins to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/everything-in-this-world-has-a-hidden-meaning-i-thought-men-animals/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Good Lord, how can the rich bear to die?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/good-lord-how-can-the-rich-bear-to-die/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“Religion is opium for the masses”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/religion-is-opium-for-the-masses/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [I possess no weapon but love. With that I have come to do battle. Help me!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-possess-no-weapon-but-love-with-that-i-have-come-to-do-battle-help/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Today, any action anywhere on earth has an immediate repercussion on all five continents. News of a victory of the Eastern armies in Morocco…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/today-any-action-anywhere-on-earth-has-an-immediate-repercussion-on/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“The Lord preserve us from sainthood”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/the-lord-preserve-us-from-sainthood/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“You have everything but one thing: madness. A man needs a little madness or else - he never dares cut the rope and be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/you-have-everything-but-one-thing-madness-a-man-needs-a-little/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“A man needs a little madness, or else... he never dares cut the rope and be free.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/a-man-needs-a-little-madness-or-else-he-never-dares-cut-the-rope-and/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [There's a devil inside me which cries, "You're not the son of the Carpenter, you're the son of King David! You are not a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/there-s-a-devil-inside-me-which-cries-you-re-not-the-son-of-the/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [Lions and Lambs, love and force, light and fire, good and evil: all things climb the same mountain, the mountain of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/lions-and-lambs-love-and-force-light-and-fire-good-and-evil-all/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/i-say-one-thing-you-write-another-and-those-who-read-you-understand/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [“No, you're not free," he said. "The string you're tied to is perhaps no longer than other people's. That's all. You're on a long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/no-you-re-not-free-he-said-the-string-you-re-tied-to-is-perhaps-no/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) > [The masses do not see the Sirens. They do not hear songs in the air. Blind, deaf, stooping, they pull at their oars in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/the-masses-do-not-see-the-sirens-they-do-not-hear-songs-in-the-air/) [Nikos Kazantzakis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikos-kazantzakis/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ascent/nikos-kazantzakis/#itemlist", "name": "3 Ascent Quotes By Nikos Kazantzakis", "numberOfItems": 3, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What first truly stirred my soul was not fear or pain, nor was it pleasure or games; it was the yearning for freedom. 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To gain freedom first of all from the Turk, that was the initial step; after that, later, this new struggle began: to gain freedom from the inner Turk-from ignorance, malice and envy, from fear and laziness, from dazzling false ideas; and finally from idols, all of them, even the most revered and beloved.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Nikos Kazantzakis" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikos-kazantzakis/what-first-truly-stirred-my-soul-was-not-fear-or-pain-nor-was-it/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/nikos-kazantzakis-1116_ascent_what-first-truly-stirred-my-soul-was-not_372475.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/nikos-kazantzakis-1116_ascent_what-first-truly-stirred-my-soul-was-not_372475.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/531/nikos-kazantzakis-1116_ascent_what-first-truly-stirred-my-soul-was-not_372475.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“What first truly stirred my soul was not fear or pain, nor was it pleasure or games; it was the yearning for…” — Nikos Kazantzakis", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "What, then is our duty? 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