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It is as though we had buried Someone we thought dead, and now hear him calling in the night: Help me! Heaving and panting, he raises the gravestone of our soul and body higher and still higher, breathing more freely at every moment. Every word, every deed, every thought is the heavy gravestone he is forever trying to lift. And my own body and all the visible world, all heaven and earth, are the gravestone which God is struggling to heave upward.

Nikos Kazantzakis#56

SpiritualityStruggleDivinePhilosophyPurposeMoralityBurden

About this quote

What does it mean?
We are burdened by the weight of our deeds, which act as a gravestone that God strives to lift, symbolizing the struggle to transcend our limitations.
In plain terms
Our actions are heavy stones that divine effort lifts.
What can you take from it?
Strive to lighten your deeds so they become uplifting rather than burdensome.

Where it applies

  • moral decision making
  • creative endeavor
  • spiritual practice

Putting it to work

  • reflect on impact of actions
  • seek purposeful work

Questions to consider

  • What stones are you carrying?
  • How can you transform burdens into uplift?

Another view

Metaphor may be too abstract for concrete moral guidance.

More from Nikos Kazantzakis

  1. Behind the stream of my mind and body, behind the stream of my race and all mankind, behind the stream of plants and animals, I watch with trembling the Invisi…

    Permalink to quote #55
  2. God huddles in a knot in every cell of flesh. When I break a fruit open, this is how every seed is revealed to me. When I speak to men, this what I discern in …

    Permalink to quote #57
  3. The bodies breathe, feed, store up strength, and then in an erotic moment are shattered, are spent and drained utterly, that they may bequeath their spirit to …

    Permalink to quote #54

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