Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a literary classic and major work of philosophy published in 1885 by Friedrich Nietzsche. This work discusses many of the themes Nietzsche pursues in his works, as well as including his views regarding a myriad of issues, making it a major benchmark of his works.
Thus Spoke Zarathustra is composed of four parts. In the first part, it is described that the prophet Zarathustra was thirty years old when “he left his home and the lake of his home and went into the mountains” (121). He became a hermit, and he enjoyed the new lifestyle, and lived contentedly. However, after a decade of living a solitary life, he decided that he had gained enough wisdom, and that he should go down to humanity to spread his message of self-overcoming. In his own words, Zarathustra put it, “‘Behold, I am weary of my wisdom, like a bee that has gathered too much honey; I need hands outstretched to receive it. ‘I would give away and distribute, until the wise among men find joy once again in their folly, and the poor in their riches … ‘Behold, this cup wants to become empty again, and Zarathustra wants to become man again’” (122). Zarathustra then proceeds to leave his self-imposed solitude, and bumps into an old man who was a saint. The saint warns Zarathustra that most of humanity are too unintelligent and cowardly to follow his teachings, but Zarathustra isn’t deterred, saying that “‘God is dead!’” (124).
Zarathustra eventually reached a village, and he tries to teach the mass of humanity what the ubermensch/overman is. He describes religion, especially Christianity, as a surrender against cruel reality, and that his pity for humanity isn’t weakness, but strength. Unfortunately, when the people heard it, they didn't understand, and stated that they would rather watch a tightrope walker perform his act. Zarathustra, still undeterred, tells them that humankind is a curious mix, for “‘Man is a rope, tied between beast and overman-a rope over an abyss’” (126). He then describes who he loves, and some of his descriptions signify that he loves people who create their own system of morality and follow their own path in life, even if that involves taking risks. He ends his second speech by describing himself as a prophet, “‘a herald of the lightning and a heavy drop from the cloud; but this lightning is called overman” (128). The crowd received his speech by laughing, but Zarathustra still attempted to teach them of his learnings, warning them of the “last man” - a person who no longer strives for greatness, as all their ambition and inner turmoil has been stamped out. In Zarathustra’s own words, “‘I say unto you: one must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star … ‘Alas, the time is coming when man will no longer give birth to a star. Alas, the time of the most despicable man is coming, he that is no longer able to despise himself. Behold, I show you the last man” (129).
Zarathustra then elaborates that the last man cares solely for pleasure, and to pursue it full-time they are unwilling to challenge themselves in any way, relying on their neighbors as support for their mediocrity. Zarathustra entreats the audience to be owners of themselves, not to become unthinking, bleating sheep. The audience, responding to him, ask him to turn them into the last men, for they want pleasure above all else. Zarathustra became sad, saying that they didn't understand him, seeing that “‘I seem to have lived too long in the mountains; I listened too much to brooks and trees: now I talk to them as to goatherds. My soul is unmoved and bright as the mountains in the morning. But they think I am cold and I jeer and make dreadful jests’” (130). The tightrope walker started his act, but when he reached the middle of the rope, he fell, landing on the ground, maiming himself. Zarathustra tends to him, and the tightrope walker asks Zarathustra whether he will prevent the devil from taking him to hell. Zarathustra responds that the soul and the afterlife don’t exist, so he has nothing to fear. In his own words, “‘all that of which you speak does not exist: there is no devil and no hell. Your soul will be dead even before your body: fear nothing further’” (132). The man then remarks that if that is true, he is no better than beasts in the wild. Zarathustra tells him that that isn’t true, for the tightrope walker was willing to put himself at risk for his vocation, and that he has died pursuing it - “‘there is nothing contemptible in that. Now you perish of your vocation: for that I will bury you with my own hands’” (132). Zarathustra, upon burying the body in the evening, remarked “‘Verily, it is a beautiful catch of fish that Zarathustra has brought in today! Not a man has he caught but a corpse. Human existence is uncanny and still without meaning: a jester can become man’s fatality. I will teach men the meaning of their existence-the overman, the lightning out of the dark cloud of man” (132).
Zarathustra soon came across an interesting sight: “An eagle soared through the sky in wide circles, and on him there hung a serpent, not like prey but like a friend: for she kept herself wound around his neck” (137). Zarathustra, upon seeing them, was happy, remarking that they were a perfect duo - the eagle is the proudest while the snake is the wisest. He then remarks ironically that living among people is more dangerous than around animals (though humans are animals - we’re mammals). He then gives speeches and discussions on various subjects, and many sections end with the phrase “Thus Spoke Zarathustra,” hence the title. In one instance, he feels amused upon hearing a teacher of virtue who stressed sleep, remarking that “‘Blessed are the sleepy ones: for they shall soon drop off’” (142). Zarathustra then discussed the psychology behind the concept of the afterlife, discussing that afterlives were only invented to deal with the harshness, suffering, and potential meaninglessness of existence - “It was suffering and incapacity that created all afterworlds-this and that brief madness of bliss which is experienced only by those who suffer most deeply. Weariness that wants to reach the ultimate with one leap, with one fatal leap, a poor ignorant weariness that does not want to want any more: this created all gods and afterworlds” (143). He continues, stating that humans want a better world, even if that meant willfully denying or fabricating a reality, seeing how many people realized the incompatibility between their ideals and reality: “the body that despaired of the earth … wanted to crash through these ultimate walls with its head” (143). Zarathustra then remarks ironically that even though those who believed and hoped in an afterlife strove mentally for a better world, they owed their “convulsions and raptures of their transport” to “their bodies and this earth” (145). Zarathustra then states that many who believed in an afterlife “hate the lover of knowledge and that youngest among the virtues, which is called ‘honesty,’” seeing how they want dark ages, viewing strength as weakness, “the rage of reason” as “godlessness,” and “doubt” as “sin” (145).
Zarathustra then states that being alive means having some elements which would be labelled “evil,” and that even though it would cause the owner suffering, it would also help them create masterpieces and concepts beyond themselves, therefore justifying their existence. He soon discusses writing and reading, maintaining that “Whoever writes in blood and aphorisms does not want to be read but to be learned by heart” (152). He also tells people who complain of the hardness of life to stop doing so, as life is indeed hard, but every individual partakes in their own hardship: “We are all of us fair beasts of burden, male and female asses. What do we have in common with the rosebud, which trembles because a drop of dew lies on it?” (153). Zarathustra soon states that life can also be justified with the pursuit of passions like love, seeing that people enjoy life to some degree “not because we are used to living but because we are used to loving. There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness” (153). Zarathustra states that he himself likes living, as he enjoys whatever he can. He states that he could only believe in a god who could dance, and he characterizes the devil as gravity: due to his seriousness, “all things fall” (153). Zarathustra then discusses the “preachers of death, “ saying that a true overman will affirm life no matter the circumstance, and that whenever someone refutes life on the basis of suffering, it is only from their vantage point. Zarathustra discusses many other things, among them, friends. He says that friends should also be one’s enemies, as friends are allowed to become intimate with a person, and are given greater license to criticize a person’s actions if they find them to be undesirable. Nietzsche’s misogyny is seen in the same section (likely because he never had a romantic partner in his life) in how he remarks that “Woman’s love involves injustice and blindness against everything that she does not love. And even in the knowing love of a woman there are still assault and lightning and night alongside light. Woman is not yet capable of friendship: women are still cats and birds. Or at best, cows” (169).
Zarathustra then proceeded on his journey, seeing a great diversity of people and lands, increasing his knowledge of “the good and evil of many peoples … Zarathustra found no greater power on earth than good and evil” (170). He then noted that every society had rules, some of which promoted people’s will to power. Zarathustra then noted that humanity was relatively lost, for it had no definite goal to achieve, causing Zarathustra to ask, “But tell me, my brothers, if humanity still lacks a goal-is humanity itself not still lacking too?” (172). Zarathustra then discusses the issue with loving one’s neighbor, stating that “One man goes to his neighbor because he seeks himself; another because he would lose himself. Your bad love of yourselves turns your solitude into a prison. It is those farther away who must pay for your love of your neighbor; and even if five of you are together, there is always a sixth who must die” (173). Zarathustra then noted that he doesn’t like popular festivals, for most are actors - few act as themselves. He then tells his audience to focus more on the friend than the neighbor. Zarathustra eventually talks that the ubermensch is a creative being, remarking that the ubermensch is capable of making their own moral systems - “Can you give yourself your own evil and your own good and hang your own will over yourself as a law? Can you be your own judge and avenger of your law? … Thus is a star thrown out into the void and into the icy breath of solitude” (175). Zarathustra then elevates consistency and perseverance, as he says that while it is easy to pursue one’s own path for a short while, in the long run “the time will come when solitude will make you weary, when your pride will double up and your courage gnash its teeth … There are feelings which want to kill the lonely; and if they do not succeed, well, then they themselves must die” (175). That is, to be great, great risks sometimes have to be taken, for if the path to true excellence is easy, everyone would be great. This is seen especially well when Zarathustra tells those who truly love life to “Go into your loneliness with your love and with your creation … only much later will justice limp after you. With my tears go into your loneliness, my brother. I love him who wants to create over and beyond himself and thus perishes” (177).
Zarathustra then talks about the nature of revenge, as seen in a parable: one day Zarathustra was bitten by an adder, and seized it. He then told it to get the poison out, which it did. Zarathustra stated that “if you have an enemy, do not requite him evil with good, for that would put him to shame. Rather prove that he did you some good. And rather be angry than put to shame. And if you are cursed, I do not like it that you want to bless. Rather join a little in the cursing … A little revenge is more human than no revenge. And if punishment is not also a right and an honor for the transgressor, then I do not like your punishments either” (180). Zarathustra states that those who should marry and have children should be qualified to do so, and this is seen especially well in their self-overcoming. Zarathustra eventually left the town known as the Motley Cow, and his disciples gave him “a staff with a golden handle on which a serpent coiled around the sun” (186). Zarathustra tells his disciples that the main reason gold is so valuable is due its rarity, not to any technical value. He then tells his disciples to be daring in their lives, and to not allow themselves to be hindered by moral systems - “‘Dead are all gods: now we want the overman to live’” (191).
In the second part of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Nietzsche writes that Zarathustra returned to his hermitage. After years of reflection, which “caused him pain with its fullness,” Zarathustra woke up from a terrible nightmare one morning. In the dream, when he was presented with a mirror by a small child, he saw not his face, but the face of a devil accompanied by mocking laughter (195). Zarathustra then realized that “My enemies have grown powerful and have distorted my teaching till those dearest to me must be ashamed of the gifts I gave them. I have lost my friends; the hour has come to seek my lost ones’” (195). Zarathustra then spotted the eagle and the serpent before making his way down the mountain. Zarathustra then mentions that “An evil deed is like a boil: it itches and irritates and breaks open-it speaks honestly … But a petty thought is like a fungus: it creeps and stoops and does not want to be anywhere-until the whole body is rotten and withered with little fungi. But to him who is possessed by the devil I whisper this word: ‘Better for you to rear up your devil! Even for you there is still a way to greatness!’” (201). Zarathustra then states that pity can harm a person, as it sometimes prevents real action. He remarks humorously that the devil once told him that “‘God too has his hell: that is his love of man,’” and that “‘God is dead; God died of his pity for man’” (202). Zarathustra then continues discussing his views on priests, calling them “‘evil enemies: nothing is more vengeful than their humility’” (203). He then says that Christianity has put fetters on people’s potential for greatness, which has damaged them from the inside. He also says that Christianity degrades people in that it makes them feel guilty for doing something which was outside of their control (especially prevalent in the concept of original sin), turning people capable of greatness into mindless sheep who follow a shepherd who may not even be fit to lead. Nietzsche then quotes a passage which was also found in The Antichrist, which reads, “They wrote signs of blood on the way they walked, and their folly taught that with blood one proved truth. But blood is the worst witness of truth; blood poisons even the purest doctrine and turns it into delusion and hatred of the heart. And if a man goes through fire for his doctrine-what does that prove? Verily, it is more if your own doctrine comes out of your own fire” (205). Zarathustra then states that humanity has massive room for improvement, for even the greatest he found to be too human - it was by luck alone that they became successful in a worldly manner.
Zarathustra comes to say that equality is against his teachings, for no two people are truly equal. He then derides famous wise people, saying that they are more concerned with their popularity and accessibility than with the truth. That is, to maintain their popularity, they remain simplistic by limiting what they discuss and think about: their spirits are “no eagles: hence you have never experienced the happiness that is in the terror of the spirit. And he who is not a bird should not build his nest over abysses … Have you never seen a sail go over the sea, rounded and taut and trembling like the violence of the wind? Like the sail, trembling with the violence of the spirit, my wisdom goes over the sea-my wild wisdom” (217). Zarathustra then tells the audience that they can overcome themselves, and that this process never ends: “Verily, I say unto you: good and evil that are not transitory, do not exist. Driven on by themselves, they must overcome themselves again and again. With your values and words of good and evil you do violence when you value; and this is your hidden hidden love and the splendor and trembling and overflowing of your soul. But a more violent force and a new overcoming grow out of your values and break egg and eggshell” (228). Due to what was elaborated before, Zarathustra stated that creators must also be destroyers, for the creation of many things require the destruction of others - “And whoever must be a creator in good and evil, verily, he must first be an annihilator and break values. Thus the highest evil belongs to the highest goodness: but this is creative. Let us speak of this, you who are wisest, even if it is bad. Silence is worse; all truths that are kept silent become poisonous” (228).
Zarathustra, after many experiences, eventually met some cripples. A hunchback asked Zarathustra to convince them of his doctrine by performing miracles which would heal their deformities. Zarathustra replied that everyone is disabled in a certain way, not just them, and that if he were to remove the source of their pain, he would also be taking away some of their potential: “‘When one takes away the hump from the hunchback one takes away his spirit … when one restores his eyes to the blind man he sees too many wicked things on earth, and he will curse whoever healed him. But whoever makes the lame walk does him the greatest harm: for when he can walk his vices run away with him-thus teach the people about cripples’” (249). He then continues, stating that he had seen many who were disabled in a variety of ways, considering that he saw “‘one lacks an eye and that one an ear and a third a leg, while there are others who have lost their tongues or their noises or their heads … there are human beings who lack everything, except one thing of which they have too much-human beings who are nothing but a big eye or a big mouth or a big belly or anything at all that is big. Inverse cripples I call them’” (250).
In the third section of Thus Spoke Zarathustra, Zarathustra left his disciples once again, and eventually embarked on a voyage. While he was on the ship, he told the sailors of the principle of the eternal recurrence - the ultimate demonstration of amor fati. Zarathustra describes that the true test for an ubermensch is to see whether or not they are willing to live their entire life again, repeatedly, for all eternity: “‘From this gateway, Moment, a long, eternal lane leads backward: behind us lies an eternity. Must not whatever can walk have walked on this lane before? Must not whatever can happen have happened, have been done, have passed by before? … And are not all things knotted together so firmly that that moment draws after it all that is to come? Therefore-itself too? For whatever can walk-in this long lane out there too, it must walk once more” (270). He then later on that “all things have been baptized in the well of eternity and are beyond good and evil; and good and evil themselves are but intervening shadows and damp depressions and drifting clouds” (277-8). He described that many authorities declared him as being godless in an attempt to insult him, but he took it as a compliment, for no one was more godless than him - he had full autonomy over himself, unlike those who have surrendered their bodies and minds to a comforting doctrine. Zarathustra then remarks on the nature of solitude, calling it a blessing, for he exclaimed “O solitude! O my home, solitude! How happily and tenderly your voice speaks to me! We do not question each other, we do not complain to each other, we often walk together through open doors. For where you are, things are open and bright; and the hours to walk on lighter feet here” (296). He continues to praise solitude, for solitude also means emancipation of the presence of others: “He who would grasp everything human would have to grapple with everything. But for that my hands are too clean. I do not even want to inhale their breath; alas, that I lived so long among their noises and vile breath! O happy silence around me! O clean smells around me! Oh, how this silence draws deep breaths of clean air! Oh, how it listens, this happy silence!” (296).
Zarathustra then defended three things which were considered to be “evil” by those who refused to enjoy them: sex (“only for the wilted, a sweet poison; for the lion-willed, however, the great invigoration of the heart and the reverently reversed wine of wines”), the lust ro rule (“the earthquake that breaks and breaks open everything worm-eaten and hollow; the rumbling, grumbling punisher that breaks open whited sepulchers; the lightning-like question mark beside premature answers”), and selfishness (“the wholesome, healthy selfishness that wells from a powerful soul-from a powerful soul to which belongs the high body, the dancer whose parable and epitome is the self-enjoying soul)” (300-2). Zarathustra then defends egoism, remarking that selfishness is perfectly healthy behavior, and that many of those who are supposedly selfless are “priests, the world-weary, and all those whose souls are womanish and servile” (303). Zarathustra soon spoke about self-confidence, saying that there is no need for people to wander around with no goal in mind if one can be fully comfortable with themselves. He also criticizes those who have Leibnizian optimism, for those who view this world as being the best of all possible worlds have in fact low standards. As Voltaire wrote in Candide, if this world is the best, what are the others? Or Nietzsche put it, “Omni-satisfaction, which knows how to taste everything, that is not the best taste. I honor the recalcitrant choosy tongues and stomachs, which have learned to say ‘I’ and ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ But to chew and digest everything-that is truly the swine’s manner” (306).
Zarathustra talks about the crossroads that history was at, for even though he found old moral systems to be bankrupt, he doesn’t know what moral system humanity would choose next, for no one knows what is good and evil for themselves if they don’t experiment first. Zarathustra then remarked that it was ironic that exclamations against robbing and killing existed, for life itself consisted of it (ex. natural selection in the wild), and when they did occur, they were frequently ignored, causing Zarathustra to remark “was not truth itself killed thereby? Or was it the preaching of death was called holy, which contradicted and contravened all life?” (314). Zarathustra soon spoke of the nature of the world, saying that although “There is much filth in the world,” the world is not solely composed of negativity, as “that does not make the world itself a filthy monster” - trouble and problems can create solutions and create growth, “nausea itself creates wings and water-divining powers. Even in the best there is still something that must be overcome. O my brothers, there is much wisdom in this, that there is much filth in the world” (317). Zarathustra went back to his cave, and for seven days underwent agony while considering the world.
While he was basically paralyzed, an eagle brought him food, so that when he rose, he “lay among yellow and red berries, grapes, rose apples, fragrant herbs, and pine cones … at his feet two lambs lay spread out, which the eagle had with difficulty robbed from their shepherds” (328). When Zarathustra recovered, he talked to the animals, and was surprised about hearing that they watched his ordeal for days on end: “‘But now I lie here, still weary of this biting and spewing, still sick from my own redemption. And you watched all this? O my animals, are even you cruel? Did you want to watch my great pain as men do? For man is the cruelest animal. ‘At tragedies, bullfights, and crucifixions he has so far felt best on earth; and when he invented hell for himself, behold, that was his heaven on earth. ‘When the great man screams, the small man comes running with his tongue hanging from lasciviousness. But he calls it ‘pity.’” (330). Zarathustra then continued, saying that humans were also the cruelest against themselves, for they degrade and debase themselves by condemning themselves as “sinners,” “cross-bearers,” and “penitents.” Zarathustra then remarked that it bothered him greatly as to how people do very little, for sometimes what is needed to do the most good is some evil from the traditional standpoint. He then revealed that he couldn’t deal with the thought that if the eternal recurrence was true, the lives of petty human beings - the mass of humanity, indeed - would be repeated. This, to him, is a terrible fate, for they would be doomed to make the same mistake over and over again, without end, without any improvement. He then stated that “‘Naked I had once seen both, the greatest man and the smallest man: all-too-similar to each other, even the greatest all-too-human. All-too-small, the greatest!-that was my disgust with man. And the eternal recurrence even of the smallest-that was my disgust with all existence’” (331). The animals then implored with him to keep living, as his work was not yet complete. Zarathustra promptly fell asleep, and the hawk and the serpent left him to his peace.
Zarathustra, upon awakening, then noted that he loved eternity, going so far as to personify it as a woman, stating that “Never yet have I found the woman from whom I wanted children, unless it be this woman whom I love: for I love you, O eternity” (340). He then stated that he loved struggle, as it testified to an individual’s strength: “If I am fond of the sea and of all that it is of the sea’s kind, and fondest when it angrily contradicts me; if that delight in searching which drives the sails toward the undiscovered is in me, if a seafarer’s delight is in my delight; if ever my jubilation cried, ‘The coast has vanished, now the last chain has fallen from me; the boundless roars around me, far out glisten space and time; be of good cheer, old heart!’ Oh, how should I not lust after eternity and after the nuptial ring of rings, the ring of recurrence?” (342).
The fourth part of Thus spoke Zarathustra involves the significant passage of time, for his hair became white as he continued living in solitude. The animals asked him whether he was searching for happiness, causing Zarathustra to state that being happy was trivial compared to having a goal - in this case, his goal, his work, is to educate humanity. He then heard a cry coming from down the mountain, and he proceeded to investigate. On his way to find the person who cried, he saw kings who had been disinherited by their kingdoms. Upon closer examination, he was impressed by their wisdom, for they stated that “‘Man’s fate knows no harsher misfortune that when those who have power on earth are not also the first men. That makes everything false and crooked and monstrous. And when they are even the last, and more beast than man, then the price of the mob rises and rises, and eventually the virtue of the mob even says, ‘Behold, I alone am virtue!’” (358). Zarathustra then revealed himself to the kings, and he gave them the location of his cave, telling them that they would probably have to wait awhile. He eventually came across a person who was letting leeches suck his blood. Surprised, Zarathustra inquired as to what he was doing, and the man stated that he represented the conscientious in spirit, for he was damaging his own vitality. Zarathustra pointed him towards the cave.
Zarathustra then came across a man “who threw his limbs around like a maniac and finally flopped down on his belly” (363-4). Zarathustra thought he was the overman, and interpreted his distress as being self-overcoming. He then went to help him, but was disappointed to see that he was only a magician, an actor. He soon came across the last pope, who was melancholy and devastated due to the collapse of his religion. He lamented the loss of previous moral systems, and Zarathustra pointed him towards his cave in turn. Zarathustra then came across the ugliest man alive, who served to show the danger of pity and the idea of a divine entity - “‘The god who saw everything, even man-this god had to die! Man cannot bear it that such a witness should live’” (379). The ugliest man also went to Zarathustra’s cave. Zarathustra soon came across the voluntary beggar, a man who was once extremely rich who threw away his worldly possessions but was rejected by the poor. While they had a good conversation, it took a turn for the worse when the beggar, revealing that he lived with cows due to their non-judgemental nature, complimented Zarathustra, saying that he was even better than a cow. Zarathustra, upon hearing this, was so angry that he “cried with malice” and “brandished his stick at the affectionate beggar, who ran away quickly” (384).
Zarathustra then encountered his shadow. His shadow was lamenting, for it had lost its goal, which it had pursued for a long time. It wisely stated that “‘only he who knows where he is sailing also knows which wind is good and the right wind for him. What is left to me now? A heart, weary and impudent, a restless will, flutter-wings, a broken backbone” (386). Zarathustra then told the shadow that “‘You have had a bad day; see to it that you do not have a still worse evening,’” recommending that it settle down, for “‘those who are as restless as you, even a jail will at least seem bliss. Have you ever seen how imprisoned criminals sleep? They sleep calmly, enjoying their new security … ‘You have lost your goal; alas, how will you digest and jest over this loss? With this you have also lost your way … go up to my cave. Up there goes the path to my cave’” (387). Zarathustra then returned to his cave and had a Last Supper, giving the people he had sent to his cave an extended lecture on various life lessons. He tells them to enjoy living (especially seen in laughter) and to embrace what society may deem “evil” due to its weakness. Zarathustra states that laughter is a key sign of the overman, as they are able to show their superiority to the state of affairs. Zarathustra left the cave only briefly before he heard a most awful din - they seemed to be praying and worshipping again. When he ran back, he noted that they were worshipping an ass (donkey) who was braying “Yea-Yuh.” Zarathustra, seeing this, was both amused and enraged. He asked the pope why he was worshipping the ass, and the pope said that it is better to worship a God in the form of a donkey than no god at all. Zarathustra then notes that even though they weren’t overmen, they had at least improved from their earlier state, for they were now able to make fun of a concept they had held in complete reverence before. Or as he himself would say, “‘To be sure: except ye become as little children, ye shall not enter into that kingdom of heaven. (And Zarathustra pointed upward with his hands.) But we have no wish whatever to enter into the kingdom of heaven: we have become men-so we want the earth’” (428).
Zarathustra, after participating in a drunken song which excited powerful passions within him, woke up the following morning to a sign - all the animals in the area were crowding around him, from birds to lions. Zarathustra then realized that the only thing that was holding him back at that point was his pity for the higher man. Finding inner peace, he states that “‘My suffering and my pity for suffering-what does it matter? Am I concerned with happiness? I am concerned with my work. ‘Well then! The lion came, my children are near, Zarathustra has ripened, my hour has come: this is my morning, my day is breaking: rise now, rise, thou great noon!’” (439). The book ends with the following sentence: “Thus spoke Zarathustra, and he left his cave, glowing and strong as a morning sun that comes out of dark mountains” (439).
Personal thoughts:
Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Nietzsche deserves its reputation as a philosophical and literary masterpiece, for it encapsulates much of Nietzsche’s comprehensive philosophy, like the higher man, self-overcoming, the potential danger of pity, the death of God, the essence of true greatness, the nature of the mass of humanity, nature itself, and suffering. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a milestone of Nietzsche’s works, and it is well worth reading due to it having the format of a narrative/parable. I was baffled the first time I read it, and I still am very baffled now. This book operates on a deep level, which mandates that it be read more than once. I highly recommend Thus Spoke Zarathustra to anyone interested in philosophy, literature, and Nietzsche’s works.
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