On Nikos Kazantzakis' statement that "We do not fight our dark passions with a sober, bloodless, neutral virtue which rises above passion, but with other, more violent passion"

Abstract

This moral injunction by Nikos Kazantzakis can be found in his brief philosophical creed translated as Spiritual Exercises (Kazantzakis, 1960: ·117), in one of its culminating chapters on "The relationship between Man and Man". Unquestionably it stands out as one of the most interesting ethical statements contained in the book, expressing almost a complete reversal of a substantial tradition of Western moral theory.