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    Thus Spoke Zarathustra
    Thus Spoke Zarathustra
    Thus Spoke Zarathustra
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra

    Written by Friedrich Nietzsche

    Narrated by Alex Jennings

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    About this audiobook

    Thus Spoke Zarathustra was conceived and written by Friedrich Nietzsche during the years 1881–1885; the first three parts were published in 1883 and 1884. The book formed part of his ‘campaign against morality’, in which Nietzsche explored the ethical consequences of the ‘death of God’. Heavily critical not only of Christian values but also of their modern replacements, Thus Spoke Zarathustra argues for a new value-system based around the prophecy of the Übermensch or Superman. Its appropriation by the National Socialist movement in Germany early in the twentieth century has tainted its reputation unjustly; but there are signs that the rehabilitation of Nietzsche, and of this his most incendiary work, is almost complete. Read by Alex Jennings, there are helpful introductions to every chapter.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateNov 16, 2004
    ISBN9789629547400
    Author

    Friedrich Nietzsche

    Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher and author. Born into a line of Protestant churchman, Nietzsche studied Classical literature and language before becoming a professor at the University of Basel in Switzerland. He became a philosopher after reading Schopenhauer, who suggested that God does not exist, and that life is filled with pain and suffering. Nietzsche’s first work of prominence was The Birth of Tragedy in 1872, which contained new theories regarding the origins of classical Greek culture. From 1883 to 1885 Nietzsche composed his most famous work, Thus Spake Zarathustra, in which he famously proclaimed that “God is dead.” He went on to release several more notable works including Beyond Good and Evil and The Genealogy of Morals, both of which dealt with the origins of moral values. Nietzsche suffered a nervous breakdown in 1889 and passed away in 1900, but not before giving us his most famous quote, “From life's school of war: what does not kill me makes me stronger.”

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    Reviews for Thus Spoke Zarathustra

    4/5

    1,867 ratings40 reviews

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    • 4/5
      The narrator was really good but I found the book to be rambling a bit compared to the first time I read it. It's a powerful message but much more poetic than philisophical.

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Damn he really rap battled life, crazy boy Zarathustra yeah

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      best books I ever read, awesome, I suggest you to read it

      2 people found this helpful

    • 5/5
      A spectacularly beautiful work. Recommended and definitely a must read for everyone

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      This novel was extremely hard-going for me, not only because of the extremely rich language, poetry and metaphor employed, and not only because of the immense effort of interpretation required to come to a full personal understanding of it, but because I read it at a time where my life was topsy-turvy with emotional turmoil. Bizarrely, however, and totally unexpectedly, this philosophical bomb of a book ultimately did more in the way of rooting me firmly to the ground than it did to blow me out of orbit. So, while it is easy to see how Nietzsche may have driven himself to mental illness in the writing of this book, fortunately for me, it had completely the opposite effect.This important novel is not only a incisively written parody of the cackling buffoonery of the average prophet, with a firm digit jabbed accusingly at the Zoroastrian origins of popular monotheistic religion, but a forceful delivery of the values of the Übermensch, pulling no punches from what Nietzsche considers the culturally obsolete meek servant of God. I am hardly surprised that the devoutly religious detested this book, for it impels man to take charge of his own destiny, and not simply be the self-flagellating subject of an absent father, whether said father really exists or not.I like to think that, if there is a hell, Nietzsche is definitely in it, and he is grinning stubbornly with all his teeth to mock even God’s punishment, and that he is reading this book to Beelzebub himself.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      No book has influenced me as much as 'Zarathustra' did. Before the last pages were read, I already knew: "I will not read any comparable book ever again in my entire life" - because there probably isn't one. Nietzsche just steals the show with this book. The power that every single sentence contains cannot be described, therefore you just have to read it.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      The critic of the very existence of man and what he is to what he ought to be is well examined in this piece of writing. It's not just writing that is here it is beyond that but language fails me to express what it is here.
    • 5/5
      Good book i love and ilke it. Good work. H
    • 3/5
      Ah Nietzsche, you crazy old cat. Doesn't hold up nearly as well to a re-reading in my 40s, compared to the impression it made upon me in my 20s. Beautiful Folio Society edition.
    • 4/5
      The mind is a great creator
    • 5/5
      Wounderful book the man is a genius who reaches great heights but the concept of the “Superman” has clearly shaped the 20th century is some sad and scary ways
    • 5/5
      What is the point of Thus Spoke Zarathustra?

      Zarathustra argues that religions teach people to deny themselves, to deny the physical world, and to deny responsibility for their own values. He gives the name Despisers of the Body to religious doctrines of this kind.

      Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a work in which Nietzsche expounds upon several of his key concepts, including the superman, self-overcoming, nihilism, and eternal return. These concepts emerge through parables and literary scenarios in which the titular character, Zarathustra, speaks with figures who represent philosophical and psychological views. The main theme of Thus Spoke Zarathustra is the portrayal of values as either creative and life-affirming, or ascetic and conformist.

      The novel opens with Zarathustra descending from his cave in the mountains after ten years of solitude. He is brimming with wisdom and love, and wants to teach humanity about the overman. He arrives in the town of the Motley Cow, and announces that the overman must be the meaning of the earth. Mankind is just a bridge between animal and overman, and as such, must be overcome. The overman is someone who is free from all the prejudices and moralities of human society, and who creates his own values and purpose.

      The people on the whole seem not to understand Zarathustra, and not to be interested in the overman. The only exception is a tightrope walker who has fallen and who dies shortly thereafter. At the end of his first day among people, Zarathustra is saddened by his inability to move this "herd" of people in the marketplace. He resolves not to try to convert the multitudes, but rather to speak to those individuals who are interested in separating themselves from the herd.

      I name you three metamorphoses of the spirit: how the spirit shall become a camel, and the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child.

      There are many things for the spirit, for the strong, weight-bearing spirit in which dwell respect and awe: its strength longs for the heavy, for the heaviest.

      What is heavy? thus asks the weight-bearing spirit, thus it kneels down like the camel and wants to be well laden. […]

      Is it not this: to debase yourself in order to injure your pride? […]

      The weight-bearing spirit takes upon itself all these heaviest things: like a camel hurrying laden into the desert, thus it hurries into its desert.

      But in the loneliest desert the second metamorphosis occurs: the spirit here becomes a lion; it wants to capture freedom and be lord in its own desert.

      It seeks here its ultimate lord: it will be an enemy to him and to its ultimate God, it will struggle for victory with the great dragon.

      What is the great dragon which the spirit no longer wants to call lord and God? The great dragon is called ‘Thou shalt’. But the spirit of the lion says ‘I will!’ […]

      But tell me, my brothers, what can the child do that even the lion cannot? Why must the preying lion still become a child?

      The child is innocence and forgetfulness, a new beginning, a sport, a self-propelling wheel, a first motion, a sacred Yes. […]

      I have named you the three metamorphoses of the spirit: how the spirit became a camel, and the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child.

      Thus Spoke Zarathustra.

      The bulk of the first three parts is made up of individual lessons and sermons delivered by Zarathustra. They cover most of the general themes of Nietzsche's mature philosophy, though often in highly symbolic and obscure form. He values struggle and hardship, since the road toward the overman is difficult and requires a great deal of sacrifice. The struggle toward the overman is often symbolically represented as climbing a mountain, and the light-hearted free spirit of the overman is often represented through laughter and dance.

      Zarathustra is harshly critical of all kinds of mass movements, and of the "rabble" in general. Christianity is based upon a hatred of the body and of this earth, and an attempt to deny them both by believing in the spirit and in an afterlife. Nationalism and mass politics are also means by which weary, weak, or sick bodies try to escape from themselves. Those who are strong enough, Zarathustra suggests, struggle. Those who are not strong give up and turn to religion, nationalism, democracy, or some other means of escape.

      The culmination of Zarathustra's preaching is the doctrine of the eternal recurrence, which claims that all events will repeat themselves again and again forevermore. Only the overman can embrace this doctrine, since only the overman has the strength of will to take responsibility for every moment in his life and to wish nothing more than for each moment to be repeated. Zarathustra has trouble facing the eternal recurrence, as he cannot bear the thought that the mediocrity of the rabble will be repeated through all eternity without improvement.

      In Part IV, Zarathustra assembles in his cave a number of men who approximate, but who do not quite attain the position of the overman. There, they enjoy a feast and a number of songs. The book ends with Zarathustra joyfully embracing the eternal recurrence, and the thought that "all joy wants deep, wants deep eternity."

      At the age of thirty, Zarathustra goes into the wilderness and so enjoys his spirit and his solitude there that he stays for ten years. Finally, he decides to return among people, and share with them his over-brimming wisdom. Like the setting sun, he must descend from the mountain and "go under."

      On his way, he encounters a saint living alone in the forest. This saint once loved mankind, but grew sick of their imperfections and now loves only God. He tells Zarathustra that mankind doesn't need the gift he brings, but rather help: they need someone to lighten their load and give them alms. Taking his leave of the saint, Zarathustra registers with surprise that the old man has not heard that "God is dead!"

      Upon arriving in the town, Zarathustra begins to preach, proclaiming the overman. Man is a rope between beast and overman and must be overcome. The way across is dangerous, but it must not be abandoned for otherworldly hopes. Zarathustra urges the people to remain faithful to this world and this life, and to feel contempt for their all-too-human happiness, reason, virtue, justice, and pity. All this will prepare the way for the overman, who will be the meaning of the earth.

      On hearing this, the people laugh at Zarathustra. Zarathustra suggests that while it is still possible to breed the overman, humanity is becoming increasingly tame and domesticated, and will soon be able to breed only the last man. The last men will be all alike, like herd animals, enjoying simple pleasures and mediocrity, afraid of anything too dangerous or extreme. Zarathustra says, "'We have invented happiness,' say the last men, and they blink." The people cheer, and ask Zarathustra to turn them into these last men.

      Just then, a tightrope walker begins walking between two towers in the town. A jester comes out behind him, following him, and mocking him for being so awkward and moving so slowly. Suddenly, the jester jumps right over the tightrope walker, upsetting him and making him fall to the ground. Zarathustra approaches the dying man, and allays his fear of damnation by explaining that there is no devil and no hell. But then, the tightrope walker suggests that his life has been meaningless and that he has been a mere beast. Not at all, Zarathustra suggests to the dying man: "You have made danger your vocation; there is nothing contemptible in that."

      That night, Zarathustra leaves town with the dead tightrope walker to bury him in the countryside. A poor day of fishing, he muses metaphorically: he has caught no men, but only a corpse. On his way out, the jester approaches him and warns him to leave. The jester says that Zarathustra is disliked here by the good and the just, and by the believers in the true faith. Only because Zarathustra isn't taken seriously is he allowed to live.

      This prologue contains the two moments in Nietzsche's writings that loom largest in popular consciousness: the declaration of the death of God and the declaration of the overman. Nietzsche first wrote "God is dead" in section 108 of The Gay Science, the book immediately preceding Zarathustra. People often mistake this phrase for the metaphysical assertion that God does not exist. In fact, Nietzsche is making the cultural observation that our idea of God is no longer strong enough to serve as the foundation for truth and morality. He is not saying that God does not exist, but that God is no longer universally accepted as giving meaning to our lives. If God was what previously gave meaning to our lives, a world without God is meaningless. Nietzsche believes his age is characterized by nihilism, lacking strong, positive goals.

      The portrait of the "last man" is meant to give us the ultimate result of nihilism. Lacking any positive beliefs or needs, people will aim for comfort and to struggle as little as possible. Soon we will all become the same—all mediocre, and all perfectly content. We will "invent happiness" by eliminating every source of worry and strife from our lives.

      The overman is meant to be the solution to nihilism, the meaning we should give to our lives. The German word Ubermensch is often translated as "superman," but Kaufmann's choice of "overman" is more accurate, as it brings out the way that this word evokes "overcoming" and "going under." The overman faces a world without God, and rather than finding it meaningless, gives it his own meaning. In so doing, he upsets the "good and just" and the "believers in the true faith" who have not yet come to recognize the bankruptcy of the idea of God. Essentially, the difference between regular humans and the overman is that we need to put our faith in something—be it God or science or truth—while the overman puts all his faith in himself and relies on nothing else.
    • 2/5
      Zeer taaie lectuur. Mooie openingscene: ik leer u de Uebermens, God is dood...
    • 1/5
      tedious drivel best left to pompous idiots to quote from
    • 1/5
      I wasn't sure what I was expecting but it wasn't that. I couldn't stop thinking that he was writing this while picking up silk underwear for Cosima Wagner on Richard Wagner's orders. People simp for this dude? So much stolen from Schopenhauer which he in turn has stolen from Mainlander. Also Calvinism? I feel like that's the real problem here. I feel terrible for him, like. To be that miserable and that filled with self loathing and not even have anything pretty to look at in return. It's kind of a weird sad bad Blake, a weird sad bad Schopenhauer. Schopenhauer hated this book so props to him for that. If I was 12 and read this I'd probably turn into a school shooter too.
    • 2/5
      My 2nd or 3rd attempt to read this alleged masterpiece. this time as hörbuch. Indigestible. Lots of irritable criticism of his hearers, Moralising from an amoral point of view. A certain rolling elegance to the language.The narrator sounded a bit too old for the part, but perhaps that is what prophets sound like. Am I too old-fashioned, strait-laced, petit bourgeois to get the point? Gave up -again.
    • 5/5
      First off, Nietzsche is not a Nazi. He doesn't share Nazi ideas and most likely would have hated the Nazis. There is a Nazi connection to this book, but it has nothing to do with Nietzsche or his writing. His horrible sister, who was a Nazi, rewrote a few of his text to make it look like her brother supported her goals. The Nazi's read this book for moral reason, but at the same time they misread his ideas. There are several articles and books that go deeper into this part of Nietzsche's life that explain things better than me. I'm only bringing this up first because I see people still misread this book today thinking it's pro-Nazi or something similar to that. It's not! Don't be afraid to read this book.

      Nobody ever told me how well Nietzsche wrote. I read bits and pieces of him in college, but not full text. Wasn't aware this book is kind written like a long poem. It's both beautiful and haunting at the same time. I can of compare this to an anti-Bible or an anti-self-help book. I just finished read the whole Bible last year and didn't care for it honestly, but it was an important read, but I found this book similar in the writing style and more effective.

      On a personal note, I've been having issues with religion lately. I use to think I was Christian/Protestant. Last year kind of had a realization that maybe I'm not as religious as I thought. I'm not sure I'd label myself atheist or agnostic, I don't really like labels, but I tend to agree with them more. Reading this book was just what I need for now. I'll admit reading Marquis de Sade, George Eliot, and René Descartes made me shift, but was having a hard time mentally coping with the idea that it's okay to question and even not believe. Reading books like these now are much easier for me than in the past.

      Maybe God really is truly dead for me?
    • 5/5
      The philosophy within the book make it something to read and consider for your own life.
    • 3/5
      Reminded me of the Koran. Short, Sweet and Authoritarian. Nietzsche being Nietzsche nonetheless, very difficult not to appreciate the satirical, nihilistic effect of the big metaphorical picture.
    • 3/5
      Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a difficult book to read. In fact, literary critic like Harold Bloom called it "unreadable"! Why, then is it one of Nietzsche's most famous works? Why is it reprinted generation after generation? What made it "the book of choice" (345) for German soldiers on the battlefield?Zarathustra is the story of a man who leaves his contemplation to share his wisdom with the rest of humanity. The book contains eighty short chapters on various repetitive themes and ideas that have no logical order. This is not a carefully crafted philosophical argument—it is a collection of ideas thrown out to take root in people's minds.Three themes stand out above the rest:1) It was here that Nietzsche first claimed that God is dead.2) Humanity needs to evolve into the Superman (or Overman), a person beyond good and evil.3) The Superman embraces "eternal recurrence"(341) by taking ownership of everything that has happened and will happen again.In Zarathustra, Nietzsche called on people to reject the moral claims of the religious and embrace the will to power. Nietzsche viewed Christianity as a religion of weakness (which, ironically, it is—God's strength demonstrated in weakness).Nietzsche's desire to evolve beyond mere humanity to the Superman is a lonely task. In the end, Zarathustra leaves all his weak followers behind. There is no room for a community of Supermen—only a lone powermonger. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is no less than a manifesto for an anti-Christ.
    • 3/5
      This book is of a very odd type. It is presented very much as one would envision a prophet's tale from any number of religious backgrounds. This seems like an attempt to create a following for a gnostic religious outlook, and a way for Nietzsche to live on in a form similar to the christian prophets and stories he so adamantly spoke out against in his book "Beyond Good and Evil".
    • 4/5
      This book is so different from anything else I've ever read that I don't quite know what to say. Don't... try... this... at home?
    • 5/5
      Seductively attractive writing style.
    • 3/5
      I find it very difficult to rate or access--or even make much sense of this book. Reading it I often thought to myself it was little wonder Nietzsche ended his life in an insane asylum. I don't know that I can say I really "liked" it (three stars) or found it "OK" (two stars on Goodreads) but I just can't say I had a "meh" reaction or hated it--I did find it worthwhile a read--thought-provoking and even beautiful in parts.It's not what I expected. I'd heard various things about Nietzsche. That he was Ayn Rand on steroids. That he was a seminal philosopher and this his most important (or just infamous?) work. That he is the "Godfather of Fascism." I can't say I saw any of those things in this work. Whatever you might think of Ayn Rand's arguments, she does have them, even in her novels--indeed, it's what many readers complain about in her speechifying. Whatever I might think of Plato or Kant or Rousseau, or find difficult or abstruse, I do recognize they are presenting reasoned logical arguments for their positions worthy of philosophy. Nietzsche is different, or at least Thus Spake Zarathustra is. It's famously full of aphorisms--that is strikingly stated views we're supposed to take on faith so to speak--as in sacred texts. Indeed, the style very deliberately echoes the rhythms and rhetoric of scripture. Zarathustra is the character and mouthpiece for a philosophy presented through speeches, parables and stories--such as what happens when he's bitten by a snake--but not really through reasoned argument. To my mind that takes it out of the realm of philosophy and makes this more akin to Lao-Tzu's Tao Te Ching than Plato's Republic.And I admit, for all the notorious calls for the "Superman" and references to a "will to power" I found it hard to see the roots of fascism here--unless you really, really twist things. In contrast it was easy to see the roots of the totalitarian left in Plato's Republic and Rousseau's Social Contract. Maybe it's just that given we're much more sympathetic to the totalitarian left in America (I had several Marxist professors) I'm much more alive to the implications in works that tend that way. But I could see Nietzsche's call for the Superman as a call to aspire to the best in ourselves--I didn't detect anything racist or particularly Darwinian in it. Similarly I could see the "will to power" as more ambitious striving than a call for domination. Nor did I find anything anti-semitic in its thrust--Nietzsche seems an equal opportunity iconoclast. I do resonate a bit with his message about religion presenting a "slave" mentality. That's one of the things I find most disturbing about religion, besides its basis in the supernatural. That the call of religion above all is for unquestioning obedience, and every time I see a reference to God using "He" in uppercase I'm reminded of and am disturbed by that. But then the assessment above means assuming I read Nietzsche right, and I'm by no means sure about that on a first read, and am doubtful I'd go in for seconds. He's certainly an interesting if disturbing thinker.
    • 4/5
      How do you overcome your life? Perhaps by reading Schopenhauer or better yet by reading Friedrich Nietzsche. Thus Spoke Zarathustra is Nietzsche as poet philosopher. The titular character and protagonist of the book, Zarathustra, is portrayed in the chapter "Thousand and One Goals" as "the creator" (p 58). Through his travels and speeches and especially his introspective monologues we experience discourse on the nature of knowledge (gnosis), spirit, language, judgement and consciousness. This is a work that expounds some of Nietzsche's key ideas such as "eternal recurrence" and the "death of god". The latter represents a shift in the grounding of morality as Nietzsche rejects the traditional view the morality comes from God above. Instead replacing this view with a morality based in the existence of the individual, thus making Nietzsche a precursor if not one of the founders of existentialist philosophy. The mythic poetical style of this work mark its literary quality and make it read like a spiritual work. It also has an aphoristic quality that permeates Nietzsche's writing. While it is a difficult book to read the questions it raises make it worth the effort of those interested in a more literary approach to philosophy.
    • 5/5
      It will excite any teenager, but highly recommended to anyone.
    • 4/5
      Thus Spake Zarathustra differs from most of Nietzsche's other works in that it has as much in common with a novel as a philosophical work. This makes it more difficult to interpret than his more traditionally academic works, as he tries to convey his philosophy not only in words, but in narration of actions, moods, and tone, more so than elsewhere. Sometimes the message is too loud, or the writing too exuberant for it to possess the clarity found in his more restrained works. It would be more difficult to attempt a summary of what this book says than to describe what it variously is: bombastic, profound, lyrical, sentimental, ruthless, tender, and hearty in several senses of the word.Though the book appears to be full of meaning, some of Nietzsche's thoughts come across less ambiguously than others. One of these being the exaltation of the strong and despising of the weak; this he justifies on a moral level, which is in itself worth discussing. How can someone be truly good, unless he has the power to do evil and refrains? How can someone be truly virtuous who is weak and lacks the strength for proper wickedness? This mirrors the other aspect of the question of morality: who can be evil who knows not what wickedness is? Can only the wise, who has an intellectual understanding of moral questions be truly virtuous, as they can knowingly choose between good and evil? This elevation of power and knowledge as necessary for virtue is at least partly why he places the superman, or ubermensch, as the goal of humanity – as they alone are capable of true virtue, a state which Nietzsche describes as being beyond good and evil. There is also the recurring theme of the mountain, which he implies to be where the Ubermensch belongs, at least some of the time. This is surely metaphorical for, amongst other things, surpassing oneself and others, solitude, and elevation. This, I feel, is partly just him justifying post hoc what he feels instinctively; Nietzsche was very athletic in his youth, and undoubtedly an intellect, and he could be accused of praising the qualities that he feels that he himself possesses. Whether this was a conscious undertaking, or something driven from the subconscious, it would be difficult to say, but I think that it is mainly the latter. I don't think Nietzsche was dishonest or vain, I think he is was driven to write in support of what he thought was the truth. Even if the delivery of his message might be objectionable to some, which I cannot doubt, I think his thoughts deserve an open-minded scrutiny. To react emotionally to a question inhibits one from making a fair answer, yet this plays both ways for Nietzsche, much of what he writes is written in a way that makes it palatable and attractive by way of the lifefulness of it. The final third of the book then goes onto what seems like a partly separate track, and I don't think it was quite obvious what Nietzsche meant by it all. He talks about the "Higher Man" a lot, but this idea is then broken down into a multiplicity of things which do not seem higher at all, and it is doubtful at the end whether this can either be reassembled, or if it ever existed in the first place. Night, and then Day, also replace the mountain in importance in the final section. There is also the recurring theme of "God is dead", and while this seems to mean something in some places, it doesn't in others, yet the meaning does seem clear in Nietzsche's Joyful Wisdom. In addition to this there are numerous other Biblical allusions and quotation.Something I found curious was a parallel between events and moods in the book and stages in Carl Jung's description of individuation, which would probably be worth closer examination. Nietzsche had psychological problems, and went mad, and that his writing has parallels with stages of psychological development is intriguing.The questions and thoughts mentioned above are all to be found in the book, though more often than not they must be read from between the lines. Sometimes a sentence in itself will contain an hours worth of thought, but much of the philosophy in this book runs below the surface, and must be extracted by the thinking reader. This book is not a good introduction to the philosophy of Nietzsche as it is more challenging than most of his other works. His Joyful Wisdom has many of the same themes as this and a somewhat similar tone; much of what he says here in a roundabout way he says there clearly.
    • 5/5
      Being Nietzsche's attempt to provide a summary of his Weltanschauung in an unsystematic, literary format (for a somewhat more conventional version of same, try Beyond good and evil). The book is wonderful, heady reading, though Nietzsche's philosophy, never conventional anyway, does sometimes become a trifle difficult to excavate from the poetic turns.
    • 4/5
      Nietzsche was one tortured dude. He suffered to an extreme physically, with insomnia, stomach cramps, migraines, bloody vomiting, hemorrhoids, lack of appetite, and night sweats, and on top of all that, he was nearly blind. He spent long, lonely hours hunched over his writings and ultimately suffered a complete mental breakdown at the age of 45 that left him in the care of his mother for most of what remained of his life. It’s ironic that such a cowed man would write feverishly of transcending the all-too-human in the form of the “Ubermensch” (Overman, or Superman). Zarathustra is the prophet who descends down from the mountains in Biblical fashion to deliver this message to humanity. His main principles:1. God is dead.2. Traditional virtues and the morality of the masses (e.g. Christianity) promote mediocrity.3. Education of the masses and popular culture also promotes mediocrity, lowering social standards.4. Man must rise above the masses and the “all-too-human” to give his life meaning, and he who does this will be the Ubermensch. “What is the ape to man? A laughing-stock or a painful embarrassment. And man shall be just that for the overman…”5. Power and strength of will characterize the Ubermensch, as do lightness of mind and exuberance, as seen in dance.As with a lot of original thinkers, Nietzsche was controversial all around: radicals claimed him for #1 and #2; conservatives for #3 and #4. The German military used portion of Nietzsche as a part of the mindset for both WWI and WWII; it was easy to extrapolate “Ubermensch” to “Master Race”, which is obviously an ugly association.There are elements of truth in #3 and #4 but the reverse, to over-stratify society and threaten a return to conditions at the time of the Industrial Revolution or prior, rubs me the wrong way. It’s a fine balance and it seems to me Nietzsche was too much of a reactionary. Another theme in this book, eternal recurrence, also seems a little odd in the extreme he takes it, and I’m not a big fan of his views on women.However, I do like and agree with the concept of needing to develop meaning for ourselves in this bleak universe and all-too-short life, and of needing to transcend the baser aspects of humanity. I also appreciate the strength of his writing, his originality, and elements of his arguments. In that way I am reminded of Ayn Rand, who I also like in spite of my liberal political views. I guess what I’m saying is, thumbs up, even if you’re not a Nazi.Quotes:On the lightness of being, and individuality:“I would believe only in a god who could dance. And when I saw my devil I found him serious, thorough, profound, and solemn: it was the spirit of gravity - through him all things fall.Not by wrath does one kill but by laughter. Come, let us kill the spirit of gravity!I have learned to walk: ever since, I let myself run. I have learned to fly: ever since, I do not want to be pushed before moving along.Now I am light, now I fly, now I see myself beneath myself, now a god dances through me.”On loneliness:“O you loving fool, Zarathustra, you are trust-overfull. But thus you have always been: you have always approached everything terrible trustfully. You have wanted to pet every monster. A whiff of warm breath, a little soft tuft on the paw - and at once you were ready to love and to lure it.Love is the danger of the loneliest; love of everything if only it is alive. Laughable, verily, are my folly and my modesty in love.”
    • 2/5
      Zeer taaie lectuur. Mooie openingscene: ik leer u de Uebermens, God is dood...