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What is the essence of our God? The struggle for freedom. In the indestructible darkness a flaming line ascends and emblazons the march of the Invisible. What is our duty? To ascend with this blood-drenched line. Whatever rushes upward and helps God to ascend is good. Whatever drags downward and impedes God from ascending is evil. All virtues and all evils take on a new value. They are freed from the moment and from earth, they exist completely within man, before and after man, eternally. For the essence of our ethic is not the salvation of man, who varies within time and space, but the salvation of God, who within a wide variety of flowing human forms and adventures is always the same, the indestructible rhythm which battles for freedom. We, as human beings, are all miserable persons, heartless, small, insignificant. But within us a superior essence drives us ruthlessly upward. From within this human mire divine songs have welled up, great ideas, violent loves, an unsleeping assault full of mystery, without beginning or end, without purpose, beyond every purpose.

Nikos Kazantzakis#75

StruggleFreedomGodMoralityEthics

About this quote

What does it mean?
Ethics revolve around aiding God's ascent through struggle for freedom.
In plain terms
Good helps God rise; evil holds God down. Our duty is to rise with God.
What can you take from it?
Align actions with the pursuit of freedom and growth.

Where it applies

  • moral decision making
  • spiritual practice
  • social reform

Putting it to work

  • service work
  • activism
  • personal growth

Questions to consider

  • What helps you ascend personally?
  • How do you define good and evil?

Another view

It frames morality in rigid metaphysical terms that may exclude nuance.

More from Nikos Kazantzakis

  1. My God and I are horsemen galloping in the burning sun or under drizzling rain. Pale, starving, but unsubdued, we ride and converse. 'Leader!' I cry. He turns …

    Permalink to quote #74
  2. Humanity is such a lump of mud, each one of us is such a lump of mud. What is our duty? To struggle so that a small flower may blossom from the dunghill of our…

    Permalink to quote #76
  3. My prayer is not the whimpering of a beggar nor a confession of love. Nor is it the petty reckoning of a small tradesman: Give me and I shall give you. My pray…

    Permalink to quote #73

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