The International Peace Prize was awarded to Kazantzakis in 1956 in Vienna. At the award ceremony he said: "Armed with diabolical power, we entered the wild jungle that is called the individual age. Between the progress of the intellect and the moral level of today's man there is a deviation, extremely dangerous. The gorilla discovered fire too early. If we do not want to let people sink into chaos, we must liberate the forces hidden within matter and free the love that is imprisoned in the heart of every human being as well. The forces of evil have been recruited, let us recruit forces of good as well. Let us call to alarm anything human which remains in us and around us. Let us fight with all our might for the peace and brotherhood of the people".