A glimpse of the "Zorbatic world"

Since he lives so deeply in my heart, Zorba is presenting the story for the day. Chuckling throughout, I am pressed into thought about my own life by his anecdotes, and read to hear of travels just as the narrator does. As he tells us at one point, he follows in the footsteps of his grandfather in entertaining himself with such a great world traveler as Zorba. After he had searched the town by lantern for visitors from abroad, the grandfather would invite them into his home with the promise of tobacco and a meal. "Talk!" he would shout at them; as the narrator found with Zorba, "he speaks and the world grows bigger."

"All that is required to feel that here and now is happiness is a simple, frugal heart." 93

"I was happy, I knew that. While experiencing happiness, we have difficulty in being conscious of it. Only when the happiness is past and we look back on it do we suddenly realize -- sometimes with astonishment -- how happy we had been." 77

"He interrogates himself with the same amazement when he sees a man, a tree in blossom, a glass of cold water. Zorba sees everything everyday as if it were for the first time." 61

"I can't help it, boss! That's how it is. I eat beans, I talk beans; I am Zorba. I talk like Zorba." 65