The Gospel According to Jesus Christ Quotes

“...for human words are like shadows, and shadows are incapable of explaining light and between shadow and light there is the opaque body from which words are born..”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“السبب الرئيسي لتقدمه ببطء كان إيمانه الراسخ بإنه سينجح، كأنه يفكر في نفسه، أكاد أصل، لكن في أعماقة شيئاً آخر يؤخره، هاجساً يمكن التعبير عنه بهذه الكلمات، كلما أسرعت في الوصول كلما تحتم علىّ الإسراع بالمغادرة”
― جوزيه ساراماجو, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Yet human experience and the practice of communication have shown throughout the ages that definitions are an illusion, like having a speech defect and trying to say love but unable to get the word out, or, better, having a tongue in one's head but unable to feel love.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Unlike Joseph her husband, Mary is neither upright nor pious, but she is not blame for this, the blame lies with the language she speaks if not with the men who invented it, because that language has no feminine form for the words upright and pious.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“God will save you.
Surely you're forgetting that God saves souls rather than bodies.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“God does not forgive the sins He makes us commit.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“..."o Bem e o Mal não existem em si mesmos, cada um deles é somente a ausência do outro.”
― José Saramago, O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo

“The time for miracles has either passed or not come yet, besides, miracles, genuine miracles, whatever people say, are not such a good idea, if it means destroying the very order of things in order to improve them.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“The angel told her, An honest man who committed a crime, you have no idea how many honest men have committed crimes, their crimes are countless, and contrary to popular belief these are the only crimes that cannot be forgiven.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Are dreams perhaps the soul’s memories of the body,”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Então Jesus compreendeu que viera trazido ao engano como se leva o cordeiro ao sacrifício, que a sua vida fora traçada para morrer assim desde o princípio dos princípios, e, subindo-lhe à lembrança o rio de sangue e de sofrimento que do seu lado irá nascer e alagar toda a terra, clamou para o céu aberto onde Deus sorria, Homens, perdoai-lhe, porque ele não sabe o que fez.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Olharei a tua sombra se não quiseres que te olhe a ti, disse-lhe, e ele respondeu, Quero estar onde minha sombra estiver, se lá é que estiverem os teus olhos. Amavam-se e diziam palavras como estas, não apenas por serem belas ou verdadeiras, se é possível ser-se o mesmo ao mesmo tempo, mas porque pressentiam que o tempo das sombras estava chegando na sua hora, e era preciso que começassem a acostumar-se, ainda juntos, à escuridão da ausência definitiva.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Morrerão milhares, Morrerão centenas de milhares, Morrerão centenas de milhares de homens e mulheres, a terra encher-se-á de gritos de dor, de uivos e roncos de agonia, o fumo dos queimados cobrirá o sol, a gordura deles rechinará sobre as brasas, o cheiro agoniará, e tudo isto será por minha culpa, Não por tua culpa, por tua causa, Pai, afasta de mim este cálice, Que tu o bebas é a condição do meu poder e da tua glória, Não quero esta glória, Mas eu quero esse poder.”
― José Saramago, O Evangelho Segundo Jesus Cristo

“It just isn't possible for you to ask me all the questions, or for me to give you all the answers.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“كان الرب قد أخبر يسوع ستكون لي في دمك منذ الآن، أما الشيطان، إن كان ذلك هو، فقد رفضه بازدراء، لم تتعلم شيئاً، فاغرب عني، ومريم المجدلية التي يجري العرق من أسفل نهديها، وجدائلها المتراخية يتعالى منها البخور، شفتاها منتفختان، وعيناها مثل بحيرتين داكنتين، قالت له، لن تمكث معي بسبب ما علمتك أياه، ولكن إمض الليلة هنا. وأجابها يسوع وهو يعلوها، ما تعلميني إياه ليس سجناً بل هو الحرية”
― جوزيه ساراماجو, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“The sun appears in one of the upper corners of the rectangle, on the left of anyone looking at the picture.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“[...] todos nós, onde quer que estejamos e quem quer que sejamos, não fazemos mais na vida do que procurar o lugar onde iremos ficar para sempre.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“whether in peace or in war, man generally speaking is the best thing that ever happened to the gods.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“لماذا انقذ الرب اسحاق ولم يفعل شيئا لحماية الأطفال المساكين الذين كانوا ابرياء كطفل
ابراهيم ؟”
― جوزيه ساراماجو, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“The instant is gone, time has carried us into the realm of memory, it was like this, no, it was not, and everything becomes what we choose to invent.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“he called out to the open sky, where God could be seen smiling, Men, forgive Him, for He knows not what He has done.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“São coisas que não se sabem explicar, como, sendo as pessoas feitas das mesmas humaníssimas matérias, esta carne, estes ossos, este sangue, esta pele e este riso, este suor e esta lágrima, vemos que saem uns cobardes e outros sem medo, uns de guerra e outros de paz.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“the doves, as we know, must be killed according to the law before Mary’s purification can be acknowledged and ratified. Any ironic or irreverent disciple of Voltaire will find it difficult to resist making the obvious remark that, things being what they are, purity can be maintained only so long as there are innocent creatures to sacrifice in this world, whether turtledoves, lambs, or others.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Los pensamientos son lo que son, sombras que pasan, no son buenos ni malos en sí, sólo las acciones cuentan.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Jesus wiped his tears on the back of his hand, blew his nose, who knows where, and yes, there is no point spending the whole day here, the desert is what it is, it surrounds us, in some ways protects us, but when it comes to giving, it gives us nothing, it simply looks on, and when the sun suddenly clouds over, so that we find ourselves thinking, The sky mirrors our sorrow, we are being foolish, because the sky is quite impartial and neither rejoices in our happiness nor is cast down by our grief.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“O artesão no seu trabalho não deve levantar-se ante o maior doutor, podemos imaginar com que orgulho profissional começava José a instruir os seus filhos mais velhos, um após outro, à medida que chegavam à idade, primeiro Jesus, depois Tiago, depois José, depois Judas, nos segredos e tradições da arte carpinteira, atento ele, também, à antiga sentença popular que assim reza, O trabalho do menino é pouco, mas quem o desdenha é louco, foi o que veio a chamar-se trabalho infantil.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“Somewhere in the infinite that He occupies, God advances and withdraws the pawns of the other games He plays, but it is too soon to worry about this one, all He need do for the present is allow things to take their natural course, apart from the occasional adjustment with the tip of His little finger to make sure some stray thought or action does not interfere with the harmony of destinies.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“ცოდვა და ეშმაკი ერთი და იმავე არსების ორი სხვადასხვა სახელია. რა არსების? ჰკითხა იესომ. უჩემობის. მერე რად არ ხარ - შენ შორდები ადამიანს თუ ის გშორდება? მე არასდროს არ ვშორდები. აბა, როდესაც გშორდებიან ეგუები? თუ მშორდებიან ეს ნიშნავს, რომ დამეძებენ. აჰა, და თუკი ვერ გპოულობენ, ეშმაკს ბრალდება? არა, ეშმაკის ბრალი არ არის, არამედ ჩემი - თავის დროზე არ აღმოვჩნი იქ, სადაც მეძებდნენ - და ეს სიტყვები მოულოდნელად იმანირი სევდითა და სიმწრით წარმოთქვა, თითქოს უეცრად საკუთარი ძალმოსილების საზღვრები აღმოაჩინაო.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“But why sacrifice Your own son’s life for so little, surely all You have to do is send a prophet. The time when people listened to prophets has passed, nowadays one must administer stronger medicine, shock treatment, to touch men’s hearts and stir their feelings. Such as a son of God hanging from a cross. Yes, why not.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ

“The lamb, having survived the storm unharmed and no longer afraid, came up to Jesus and put its mouth to his lips, there was no sniffing, one touch was all that was needed. Jesus opened his eyes, saw the lamb, then the livid sky like a black hand blocking whatever light remained. The olive tree still burned. His bones ached when he tried to move, but at least he was in one piece, if that can be said of a body so fragile that it takes only a clap of thunder to knock it to the ground. He sat up with some effort and reassured himself, more by touch than by sight, that he was neither burned nor paralyzed, none of his bones were broken, and apart from a loud buzzing in his head as insistent as the drone of a trumpet, he was all right. He drew the lamb to him and said, Don’t be afraid, He only wanted to show you that you would have been dead by now if that was His will, and to show me that it was not I who saved your life but He. One last rumble of thunder slowly tore the air like a sigh, while below, the white patch of the flock seemed a beckoning oasis.
Struggling to overcome his weakness, Jesus descended the slope. The lamb, kept on its cord simply as a precaution, trotted at his side like a little dog.”
― José Saramago, The Gospel According to Jesus Christ