When Zarathustra was thirty years old, he left his home and the lake of his home, and went into the mountains. There he enjoyed his spirit and solitude, and for ten years did not weary of it. But at l...

When Zarathustra was thirty years old, he left his home and the lake of his home, and went into the mountains. There he enjoyed his spirit and solitude, and for ten years did not weary of it. But at l...

When Zarathustra was thirty years old, he left his home and the lake of his home, and went into the mountains. There he enjoyed his spirit and solitude, and for ten years did not weary of it. But at l...

Zarathustra went down the mountain alone, no one meeting him. When he entered the forest, however, there suddenly stood before him an old man, who had left his holy cot to seek roots. And thus spake t...

When Zarathustra arrived at the nearest town which adjoineth the forest, he found many people assembled in the marketplace; for it had been announced that a ropedancer would give a performance. And Za...

Zarathustra, however, looked at the people and wondered. Then he spake thus: Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman⁠—a rope over an abyss. A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfar...

When Zarathustra had spoken these words, he again looked at the people, and was silent. “There they stand,” said he to his heart; “there they laugh: they understand me not; I am not the mouth for thes...

Then, however, something happened which made every mouth mute and every eye fixed. In the meantime, of course, the ropedancer had commenced his performance: he had come out at a little door, and was g...

Meanwhile the evening came on, and the marketplace veiled itself in gloom. Then the people dispersed, for even curiosity and terror become fatigued. Zarathustra, however, still sat beside the dead man...

When Zarathustra had said this to his heart, he put the corpse upon his shoulders and set out on his way. Yet had he not gone a hundred steps, when there stole a man up to him and whispered in his ear...

Long slept Zarathustra; and not only the rosy dawn passed over his head, but also the morning. At last, however, his eyes opened, and amazedly he gazed into the forest and the stillness, amazedly he g...

This had Zarathustra said to his heart when the sun stood at noontide. Then he looked inquiringly aloft⁠—for he heard above him the sharp call of a bird. And behold! An eagle swept through the air in ...

Three metamorphoses of the spirit do I designate to you: how the spirit becometh a camel, the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child. Many heavy things are there for the spirit, the strong load-be...

People commended unto Zarathustra a wise man, as one who could discourse well about sleep and virtue: greatly was he honoured and rewarded for it, and all the youths sat before his chair. To him went ...

Once on a time, Zarathustra also cast his fancy beyond man, like all backworldsmen. The work of a suffering and tortured God, did the world then seem to me. The dream⁠—and diction⁠—of a God, did the w...

To the despisers of the body will I speak my word. I wish them neither to learn afresh, nor teach anew, but only to bid farewell to their own bodies⁠—and thus be dumb. “Body am I, and soul”⁠—so saith ...

My brother, when thou hast a virtue, and it is thine own virtue, thou hast it in common with no one. To be sure, thou wouldst call it by name and caress it; thou wouldst pull its ears and amuse thysel...

Ye do not mean to slay, ye judges and sacrificers, until the animal hath bowed its head? Lo! the pale criminal hath bowed his head: out of his eye speaketh the great contempt. “Mine ego is something w...

Of all that is written, I love only what a person hath written with his blood. Write with blood, and thou wilt find that blood is spirit. It is no easy task to understand unfamiliar blood; I hate the ...

Zarathustra’s eye had perceived that a certain youth avoided him. And as he walked alone one evening over the hills surrounding the town called “The Pied Cow,” behold, there found he the youth sitting...

There are preachers of death: and the earth is full of those to whom desistance from life must be preached. Full is the earth of the superfluous; marred is life by the many-too-many. May they be decoy...

By our best enemies we do not want to be spared, nor by those either whom we love from the very heart. So let me tell you the truth! My brethren in war! I love you from the very heart. I am, and was e...

Somewhere there are still peoples and herds, but not with us, my brethren: here there are states. A state? What is that? Well! open now your ears unto me, for now will I say unto you my word concernin...

Flee, my friend, into thy solitude! I see thee deafened with the noise of the great men, and stung all over with the stings of the little ones. Admirably do forest and rock know how to be silent with ...

I love the forest. It is bad to live in cities: there, there are too many of the lustful. Is it not better to fall into the hands of a murderer, than into the dreams of a lustful woman? And just look ...

“One, is always too many about me”⁠—thinketh the anchorite. “Always once one⁠—that maketh two in the long run!” I and me are always too earnestly in conversation: how could it be endured, if there wer...

Many lands saw Zarathustra, and many peoples: thus he discovered the good and bad of many peoples. No greater power did Zarathustra find on earth than good and bad. No people could live without first ...

Ye crowd around your neighbour, and have fine words for it. But I say unto you: your neighbour-love is your bad love of yourselves. Ye flee unto your neighbour from yourselves, and would fain make a v...

Wouldst thou go into isolation, my brother? Wouldst thou seek the way unto thyself? Tarry yet a little and hearken unto me. “He who seeketh may easily get lost himself. All isolation is wrong”: so say...

“Why stealest thou along so furtively in the twilight, Zarathustra? And what hidest thou so carefully under thy mantle? “Is it a treasure that hath been given thee? Or a child that hath been born thee...

One day had Zarathustra fallen asleep under a fig-tree, owing to the heat, with his arms over his face. And there came an adder and bit him in the neck, so that Zarathustra screamed with pain. When he...

I have a question for thee alone, my brother: like a sounding-lead, cast I this question into thy soul, that I may know its depth. Thou art young, and desirest child and marriage. But I ask thee: Art ...

Many die too late, and some die too early. Yet strange soundeth the precept: “Die at the right time!” Die at the right time: so teacheth Zarathustra. To be sure, he who never liveth at the right time,...

When Zarathustra had taken leave of the town to which his heart was attached, the name of which is “The Pied Cow,” there followed him many people who called themselves his disciples, and kept him comp...

When Zarathustra had taken leave of the town to which his heart was attached, the name of which is “The Pied Cow,” there followed him many people who called themselves his disciples, and kept him comp...

Here paused Zarathustra awhile, and looked lovingly on his disciples. Then he continued to speak thus⁠—and his voice had changed: Remain true to the earth, my brethren, with the power of your virtue! ...

When Zarathustra had spoken these words, he paused, like one who had not said his last word; and long did he balance the staff doubtfully in his hand. At last he spake thus⁠—and his voice had changed:...

After this Zarathustra returned again into the mountains to the solitude of his cave, and withdrew himself from men, waiting like a sower who hath scattered his seed. His soul, however, became impatie...

After this Zarathustra returned again into the mountains to the solitude of his cave, and withdrew himself from men, waiting like a sower who hath scattered his seed. His soul, however, became impatie...

The figs fall from the trees, they are good and sweet; and in falling the red skins of them break. A north wind am I to ripe figs. Thus, like figs, do these doctrines fall for you, my friends: imbibe ...

My friends, there hath arisen a satire on your friend: “Behold Zarathustra! Walketh he not amongst us as if amongst animals?” But it is better said in this wise: “The discerning one walketh amongst me...

And one day Zarathustra made a sign to his disciples, and spake these words unto them: “Here are priests: but although they are mine enemies, pass them quietly and with sleeping swords! “Even among th...

With thunder and heavenly fireworks must one speak to indolent and somnolent senses. But beauty’s voice speaketh gently: it appealeth only to the most awakened souls. Gently vibrated and laughed unto ...

Life is a well of delight; but where the rabble also drink, there all fountains are poisoned. To everything cleanly am I well disposed; but I hate to see the grinning mouths and the thirst of the uncl...

Lo, this is the tarantula’s den! Wouldst thou see the tarantula itself? Here hangeth its web: touch this, so that it may tremble. There cometh the tarantula willingly: Welcome, tarantula! Black on thy...

The people have ye served and the people’s superstition⁠—not the truth!⁠—all ye famous wise ones! And just on that account did they pay you reverence. And on that account also did they tolerate your u...

’Tis night: now do all gushing fountains speak louder. And my soul also is a gushing fountain. ’Tis night: now only do all songs of the loving ones awake. And my soul also is the song of a loving one....

One evening went Zarathustra and his disciples through the forest; and when he sought for a well, lo, he lighted upon a green meadow peacefully surrounded with trees and bushes, where maidens were dan...

“Yonder is the grave-island, the silent isle; yonder also are the graves of my youth. Thither will I carry an evergreen wreath of life.” Resolving thus in my heart, did I sail o’er the sea.⁠— Oh, ye s...

“Will to Truth” do ye call it, ye wisest ones, that which impelleth you and maketh you ardent? Will for the thinkableness of all being: thus do I call your will! All being would ye make thinkable: for...

Calm is the bottom of my sea: who would guess that it hideth droll monsters! Unmoved is my depth: but it sparkleth with swimming enigmas and laughters. A sublime one saw I today, a solemn one, a penit...

Too far did I fly into the future: a horror seized upon me. And when I looked around me, lo! there time was my sole contemporary. Then did I fly backwards, homewards⁠—and always faster. Thus did I com...

When yester-eve the moon arose, then did I fancy it about to bear a sun: so broad and teeming did it lie on the horizon. But it was a liar with its pregnancy; and sooner will I believe in the man in t...

When I lay asleep, then did a sheep eat at the ivy-wreath on my head⁠—it ate, and said thereby: “Zarathustra is no longer a scholar.” It said this, and went away clumsily and proudly. A child told it ...

“Since I have known the body better”⁠—said Zarathustra to one of his disciples⁠—“the spirit hath only been to me symbolically spirit; and all the ‘imperishable’⁠—that is also but a simile.” “So have I...

There is an isle in the sea⁠—not far from the Happy Isles of Zarathustra⁠—on which a volcano ever smoketh; of which isle the people, and especially the old women amongst them, say that it is placed as...

“⁠—And I saw a great sadness come over mankind. The best turned weary of their works. “A doctrine appeared, a faith ran beside it: ‘All is empty, all is alike, all hath been!’ “And from all hills ther...

When Zarathustra went one day over the great bridge, then did the cripples and beggars surround him, and a hunchback spake thus unto him: “Behold, Zarathustra! Even the people learn from thee, and acq...

Not the height, it is the declivity that is terrible! The declivity, where the gaze shooteth downwards, and the hand graspeth upwards. There doth the heart become giddy through its double will. Ah, fr...

What hath happened unto me, my friends? Ye see me troubled, driven forth, unwillingly obedient, ready to go⁠—alas, to go away from you! Yea, once more must Zarathustra retire to his solitude: but unjo...

Then, when it was about midnight, Zarathustra went his way over the ridge of the isle, that he might arrive early in the morning at the other coast; because there he meant to embark. For there was a g...

Then, when it was about midnight, Zarathustra went his way over the ridge of the isle, that he might arrive early in the morning at the other coast; because there he meant to embark. For there was a g...

When it got abroad among the sailors that Zarathustra was on board the ship⁠—for a man who came from the Happy Isles had gone on board along with him⁠—there was great curiosity and expectation. But Za...

When it got abroad among the sailors that Zarathustra was on board the ship⁠—for a man who came from the Happy Isles had gone on board along with him⁠—there was great curiosity and expectation. But Za...

“Halt, dwarf!” said I. “Either I⁠—or thou! I, however, am the stronger of the two:⁠—thou knowest not mine abysmal thought! It⁠—couldst thou not endure!” Then happened that which made me lighter: for t...

With such enigmas and bitterness in his heart did Zarathustra sail o’er the sea. When, however, he was four day-journeys from the Happy Isles and from his friends, then had he surmounted all his pain⁠...

O heaven above me, thou pure, thou deep heaven! Thou abyss of light! Gazing on thee, I tremble with divine desires. Up to thy height to toss myself⁠—that is my depth! In thy purity to hide myself⁠—tha...

When Zarathustra was again on the continent, he did not go straightway to his mountains and his cave, but made many wanderings and questionings, and ascertained this and that; so that he said of himse...

When Zarathustra was again on the continent, he did not go straightway to his mountains and his cave, but made many wanderings and questionings, and ascertained this and that; so that he said of himse...

I pass through this people and keep mine eyes open: they do not forgive me for not envying their virtues. They bite at me, because I say unto them that for small people, small virtues are necessary⁠—a...

I pass through this people and let fall many words: but they know neither how to take nor how to retain them. They wonder why I came not to revile venery and vice; and verily, I came not to warn again...

Winter, a bad guest, sitteth with me at home; blue are my hands with his friendly handshaking. I honour him, that bad guest, but gladly leave him alone. Gladly do I run away from him; and when one run...

Thus slowly wandering through many peoples and divers cities, did Zarathustra return by roundabout roads to his mountains and his cave. And behold, thereby came he unawares also to the gate of the gre...

Ah, lieth everything already withered and grey which but lately stood green and many-hued on this meadow! And how much honey of hope did I carry hence into my beehives! Those young hearts have already...

Ah, lieth everything already withered and grey which but lately stood green and many-hued on this meadow! And how much honey of hope did I carry hence into my beehives! Those young hearts have already...

“We have again become pious”⁠—so do those apostates confess; and some of them are still too pusillanimous thus to confess. Unto them I look into the eye⁠—before them I say it unto their face and unto ...

O lonesomeness! My home, lonesomeness! Too long have I lived wildly in wild remoteness, to return to thee without tears! Now threaten me with the finger as mothers threaten; now smile upon me as mothe...

In my dream, in my last morning-dream, I stood today on a promontory⁠—beyond the world; I held a pair of scales, and weighed the world. Alas, that the rosy dawn came too early to me: she glowed me awa...

In my dream, in my last morning-dream, I stood today on a promontory⁠—beyond the world; I held a pair of scales, and weighed the world. Alas, that the rosy dawn came too early to me: she glowed me awa...

Voluptuousness: unto all hair-shirted despisers of the body, a sting and stake; and, cursed as “the world,” by all backworldsmen: for it mocketh and befooleth all erring, misinferring teachers. Volupt...

My mouthpiece⁠—is of the people: too coarsely and cordially do I talk for Angora rabbits. And still stranger soundeth my word unto all ink-fish and pen-foxes. My hand⁠—is a fool’s hand: woe unto all t...

My mouthpiece⁠—is of the people: too coarsely and cordially do I talk for Angora rabbits. And still stranger soundeth my word unto all ink-fish and pen-foxes. My hand⁠—is a fool’s hand: woe unto all t...

He who one day teacheth men to fly will have shifted all landmarks; to him will all landmarks themselves fly into the air; the earth will he christen anew⁠—as “the light body.” The ostrich runneth fas...

Here do I sit and wait, old broken tables around me and also new half-written tables. When cometh mine hour? —The hour of my descent, of my down-going: for once more will I go unto men. For that hour ...

Here do I sit and wait, old broken tables around me and also new half-written tables. When cometh mine hour? —The hour of my descent, of my down-going: for once more will I go unto men. For that hour ...

When I came unto men, then found I them resting on an old infatuation: all of them thought they had long known what was good and bad for men. An old wearisome business seemed to them all discourse abo...

There was it also where I picked up from the path the word “Superman,” and that man is something that must be surpassed. —That man is a bridge and not a goal⁠—rejoicing over his noontides and evenings...

Behold, here is a new table; but where are my brethren who will carry it with me to the valley and into hearts of flesh?⁠— Thus demandeth my great love to the remotest ones: be not considerate of thy ...

Thus wisheth the type of noble souls: they desire to have nothing gratuitously, least of all, life. He who is of the populace wisheth to live gratuitously; we others, however, to whom life hath given ...

O my brethren, he who is a firstling is ever sacrificed. Now, however, are we firstlings! We all bleed on secret sacrificial altars, we all burn and broil in honour of ancient idols. Our best is still...

To be true⁠—that can few be! And he who can, will not! Least of all, however, can the good be true. Oh, those good ones! Good men never speak the truth. For the spirit, thus to be good, is a malady. T...

When the water hath planks, when gangways and railings o’erspan the stream, verily, he is not believed who then saith: “All is in flux.” But even the simpletons contradict him. “What?” say the simplet...

There is an old illusion⁠—it is called good and evil. Around soothsayers and astrologers hath hitherto revolved the orbit of this illusion. Once did one believe in soothsayers and astrologers; and the...

“Thou shalt not rob! Thou shalt not slay!”⁠—such precepts were once called holy; before them did one bow the knee and the head, and take off one’s shoes. But I ask you: Where have there ever been bett...

It is my sympathy with all the past that I see it is abandoned⁠— —Abandoned to the favour, the spirit and the madness of every generation that cometh, and reinterpreteth all that hath been as its brid...

O my brethren, I consecrate you and point you to a new nobility: ye shall become procreators and cultivators and sowers of the future;⁠— —Verily, not to a nobility which ye could purchase like traders...

“Why should one live? All is vain! To live⁠—that is to thrash straw; to live⁠—that is to burn oneself and yet not get warm.”⁠— Such ancient babbling still passeth for “wisdom”; because it is old, howe...

“To the clean are all things clean”⁠—thus say the people. I, however, say unto you: To the swine all things become swinish! Therefore preach the visionaries and bowed-heads (whose hearts are also bowe...

Such sayings did I hear pious backworldsmen speak to their consciences, and verily without wickedness or guile⁠—although there is nothing more guileful in the world, or more wicked. “Let the world be ...

“He who learneth much unlearneth all violent cravings”⁠—that do people now whisper to one another in all the dark lanes. “Wisdom wearieth, nothing is worth while; thou shalt not crave!”⁠—this new tabl...

There standeth the boat⁠—thither goeth it over, perhaps into vast nothingness⁠—but who willeth to enter into this “Perhaps”? None of you want to enter into the death-boat! How should ye then be world-...

O my brethren, there are tables which weariness framed, and tables which slothfulness framed, corrupt slothfulness: although they speak similarly, they want to be heard differently.⁠— See this languis...

I form circles around me and holy boundaries; ever fewer ascend with me ever higher mountains: I build a mountain-range out of ever holier mountains.⁠— But wherever ye would ascend with me, O my breth...

O my brethren, am I then cruel? But I say: What falleth, that shall one also push! Everything of today⁠—it falleth, it decayeth; who would preserve it! But I⁠—I wish also to push it! Know ye the delig...

I love the brave: but it is not enough to be a swordsman⁠—one must also know whereon to use swordsmanship! And often is it greater bravery to keep quiet and pass by, that thereby one may reserve onese...

If they had⁠—bread for nothing, alas! for what would they cry! Their maintainment⁠—that is their true entertainment; and they shall have it hard! Beasts of prey, are they: in their “working”⁠—there is...

Thus would I have man and woman: fit for war, the one; fit for maternity, the other; both, however, fit for dancing with head and legs. And lost be the day to us in which a measure hath not been dance...

Your marriage-arranging: see that it be not a bad arranging! Ye have arranged too hastily: so there followeth therefrom⁠—marriage-breaking! And better marriage-breaking than marriage-bending, marriage...

He who hath grown wise concerning old origins, lo, he will at last seek after the fountains of the future and new origins.⁠— O my brethren, not long will it be until new peoples shall arise and new fo...

O my brethren! With whom lieth the greatest danger to the whole human future? Is it not with the good and just?⁠— —As those who say and feel in their hearts: “We already know what is good and just, we...

O my brethren, have ye also understood this word? And what I once said of the “last man”?⁠⸺ With whom lieth the greatest danger to the whole human future? Is it not with the good and just? Break up, b...

Ye flee from me? Ye are frightened? Ye tremble at this word? O my brethren, when I enjoined you to break up the good, and the tables of the good, then only did I embark man on his high seas. And now o...

“Why so hard!”⁠—said to the diamond one day the charcoal; “are we then not near relatives?”⁠— Why so soft? O my brethren; thus do I ask you: are ye then not⁠—my brethren? Why so soft, so submissive an...

O thou, my Will! Thou change of every need, my needfulness! Preserve me from all small victories! Thou fatedness of my soul, which I call fate! Thou In-me! Over-me! Preserve and spare me for one great...

One morning, not long after his return to his cave, Zarathustra sprang up from his couch like a madman, crying with a frightful voice, and acting as if someone still lay on the couch who did not wish ...

One morning, not long after his return to his cave, Zarathustra sprang up from his couch like a madman, crying with a frightful voice, and acting as if someone still lay on the couch who did not wish ...

Hardly, however, had Zarathustra spoken these words, when he fell down as one dead, and remained long as one dead. When however he again came to himself, then was he pale and trembling, and remained l...

O my soul, I have taught thee to say “today” as “once on a time” and “formerly,” and to dance thy measure over every Here and There and Yonder. O my soul, I delivered thee from all by-places, I brushe...

“Into thine eyes gazed I lately, O Life: gold saw I gleam in thy night-eyes⁠—my heart stood still with delight: “⁠—A golden bark saw I gleam on darkened waters, a sinking, drinking, reblinking, golden...

“Into thine eyes gazed I lately, O Life: gold saw I gleam in thy night-eyes⁠—my heart stood still with delight: “⁠—A golden bark saw I gleam on darkened waters, a sinking, drinking, reblinking, golden...

Then did Life answer me thus, and kept thereby her fine ears closed: “O Zarathustra! Crack not so terribly with thy whip! Thou knowest surely that noise killeth thought⁠—and just now there came to me ...

One! O man! Take heed! Two! What saith deep midnight’s voice indeed? Three! “I slept my sleep⁠— Four! “From deepest dream I’ve woke and plead:⁠— Five! “The world is deep, Six! “And deeper than the day...

If I be a diviner and full of the divining spirit which wandereth on high mountain-ridges, ’twixt two seas⁠— Wandereth ’twixt the past and the future as a heavy cloud⁠—hostile to sultry plains, and to...

If I be a diviner and full of the divining spirit which wandereth on high mountain-ridges, ’twixt two seas⁠— Wandereth ’twixt the past and the future as a heavy cloud⁠—hostile to sultry plains, and to...

If ever my wrath hath burst graves, shifted landmarks, or rolled old shattered tables into precipitous depths: If ever my scorn hath scattered mouldered words to the winds, and if I have come like a b...

If ever a breath hath come to me of the creative breath, and of the heavenly necessity which compelleth even chances to dance star-dances: If ever I have laughed with the laughter of the creative ligh...

If ever I have drunk a full draught of the foaming spice- and confection-bowl in which all things are well mixed: If ever my hand hath mingled the furthest with the nearest, fire with spirit, joy with...

If I be fond of the sea, and all that is sealike, and fondest of it when it angrily contradicteth me: If the exploring delight be in me, which impelleth sails to the undiscovered, if the seafarer’s de...

If my virtue be a dancer’s virtue, and if I have often sprung with both feet into golden-emerald rapture: If my wickedness be a laughing wickedness, at home among rose-banks and hedges of lilies: —For...

If ever I have spread out a tranquil heaven above me, and have flown into mine own heaven with mine own pinions: If I have swum playfully in profound luminous distances, and if my freedom’s avian wisd...

—And again passed moons and years over Zarathustra’s soul, and he heeded it not; his hair, however, became white. One day when he sat on a stone in front of his cave, and gazed calmly into the distanc...

—And again passed moons and years over Zarathustra’s soul, and he heeded it not; his hair, however, became white. One day when he sat on a stone in front of his cave, and gazed calmly into the distanc...

The next day sat Zarathustra again on the stone in front of his cave, whilst his animals roved about in the world outside to bring home new food⁠—also new honey: for Zarathustra had spent and wasted t...

Ere Zarathustra had been an hour on his way in the mountains and forests, he saw all at once a strange procession. Right on the path which he was about to descend came two kings walking, bedecked with...

Ere Zarathustra had been an hour on his way in the mountains and forests, he saw all at once a strange procession. Right on the path which he was about to descend came two kings walking, bedecked with...

With those rhymes of Zarathustra the kings were delighted; the king on the right, however, said: “O Zarathustra, how well it was that we set out to see thee! “For thine enemies showed us thy likeness ...

And Zarathustra went thoughtfully on, further and lower down, through forests and past moory bottoms; as it happeneth, however, to everyone who meditateth upon hard matters, he trod thereby unawares u...

When however Zarathustra had gone round a rock, then saw he on the same path, not far below him, a man who threw his limbs about like a maniac, and at last tumbled to the ground on his belly. “Halt!” ...

When however Zarathustra had gone round a rock, then saw he on the same path, not far below him, a man who threw his limbs about like a maniac, and at last tumbled to the ground on his belly. “Halt!” ...

—Here, however, Zarathustra could no longer restrain himself; he took his staff and struck the wailer with all his might. “Stop this,” cried he to him with wrathful laughter, “stop this, thou stage-pl...

Not long, however, after Zarathustra had freed himself from the magician, he again saw a person sitting beside the path which he followed, namely a tall, black man, with a haggard, pale countenance: t...

—And again did Zarathustra’s feet run through mountains and forests, and his eyes sought and sought, but nowhere was he to be seen whom they wanted to see⁠—the sorely distressed sufferer and crier. On...

When Zarathustra had left the ugliest man, he was chilled and felt lonesome: for much coldness and lonesomeness came over his spirit, so that even his limbs became colder thereby. When, however, he wa...

Scarcely however was the voluntary beggar gone in haste, and Zarathustra again alone, when he heard behind him a new voice which called out: “Stay! Zarathustra! Do wait! It is myself, forsooth, O Zara...

—And Zarathustra ran and ran, but he found no one else, and was alone and ever found himself again; he enjoyed and quaffed his solitude, and thought of good things⁠—for hours. About the hour of noonti...

It was late in the afternoon only when Zarathustra, after long useless searching and strolling about, again came home to his cave. When, however, he stood over against it, not more than twenty paces t...

For at this point the soothsayer interrupted the greeting of Zarathustra and his guests: he pressed forward as one who had no time to lose, seized Zarathustra’s hand and exclaimed: “But Zarathustra! “...

When I came unto men for the first time, then did I commit the anchorite folly, the great folly: I appeared on the marketplace. And when I spake unto all, I spake unto none. In the evening, however, r...

When I came unto men for the first time, then did I commit the anchorite folly, the great folly: I appeared on the marketplace. And when I spake unto all, I spake unto none. In the evening, however, r...

Before God!⁠—Now however this God hath died! Ye higher men, this God was your greatest danger. Only since he lay in the grave have ye again arisen. Now only cometh the great noontide, now only doth th...

The most careful ask today: “How is man to be maintained?” Zarathustra however asketh, as the first and only one: “How is man to be surpassed?” The Superman, I have at heart; that is the first and onl...

Have ye courage, O my brethren? Are ye stouthearted? Not the courage before witnesses, but anchorite and eagle courage, which not even a God any longer beholdeth? Cold souls, mules, the blind and the ...

“Man is evil”⁠—so said to me for consolation, all the wisest ones. Ah, if only it be still true today! For the evil is man’s best force. “Man must become better and eviler”⁠—so do I teach. The evilest...

Ye higher men, think ye that I am here to put right what ye have put wrong? Or that I wished henceforth to make snugger couches for you sufferers? Or show you restless, miswandering, misclimbing ones,...

It is not enough for me that the lightning no longer doeth harm. I do not wish to conduct it away: it shall learn⁠—to work for me.⁠— My wisdom hath accumulated long like a cloud, it becometh stiller a...

Do not will anything beyond your power: there is a bad falseness in those who will beyond their power. Especially when they will great things! For they awaken distrust in great things, these subtle fa...

Have a good distrust today ye, higher men, ye enheartened ones! Ye openhearted ones! And keep your reasons secret! For this today is that of the populace. What the populace once learned to believe wit...

If ye would go up high, then use your own legs! Do not get yourselves carried aloft; do not seat yourselves on other people’s backs and heads! Thou hast mounted, however, on horseback? Thou now ridest...

Ye creating ones, ye higher men! One is only pregnant with one’s own child. Do not let yourselves be imposed upon or put upon! Who then is your neighbour? Even if ye act “for your neighbour”⁠—ye still...

Ye creating ones, ye higher men! Whoever hath to give birth is sick; whoever hath given birth, however, is unclean. Ask women: one giveth birth, not because it giveth pleasure. The pain maketh hens an...

Be not virtuous beyond your powers! And seek nothing from yourselves opposed to probability! Walk in the footsteps in which your fathers’ virtue hath already walked! How would ye rise high, if your fa...

Shy, ashamed, awkward, like the tiger whose spring hath failed⁠—thus, ye higher men, have I often seen you slink aside. A cast which ye made had failed. But what doth it matter, ye dice-players! Ye ha...

The higher its type, always the seldomer doth a thing succeed. Ye higher men here, have ye not all⁠—been failures? Be of good cheer; what doth it matter? How much is still possible! Learn to laugh at ...

What hath hitherto been the greatest sin here on earth? Was it not the word of him who said: “Woe unto them that laugh now!” Did he himself find no cause for laughter on the earth? Then he sought badl...

Tortuously do all good things come nigh to their goal. Like cats they curve their backs, they purr inwardly with their approaching happiness⁠—all good things laugh. His step betrayeth whether a person...

This crown of the laughter, this rose-garland crown: I myself have put on this crown, I myself have consecrated my laughter. No one else have I found today potent enough for this. Zarathustra the danc...

Lift up your hearts, my brethren, high, higher! And do not forget your legs! Lift up also your legs, ye good dancers, and better still if ye stand upon your heads! There are also heavy animals in a st...

Do like unto the wind when it rusheth forth from its mountain-caves: unto its own piping will it dance; the seas tremble and leap under its footsteps. That which giveth wings to asses, that which milk...

When Zarathustra spake these sayings, he stood nigh to the entrance of his cave; with the last words, however, he slipped away from his guests, and fled for a little while into the open air. “O pure o...

When Zarathustra spake these sayings, he stood nigh to the entrance of his cave; with the last words, however, he slipped away from his guests, and fled for a little while into the open air. “O pure o...

Hardly, however, had Zarathustra left the cave when the old magician got up, looked cunningly about him, and said: “He is gone! “And already, ye higher men⁠—let me tickle you with this complimentary a...

In evening’s limpid air, What time the dew’s soothings Unto the earth downpour, Invisibly and unheard⁠— For tender shoe-gear wear The soothing dews, like all that’s kind-gentle⁠—: Bethinkst thou then,...

Thus sang the magician; and all who were present went like birds unawares into the net of his artful and melancholy voluptuousness. Only the spiritually conscientious one had not been caught: he at on...

“Go not away!” said then the wanderer who called himself Zarathustra’s shadow, “abide with us⁠—otherwise the old gloomy affliction might again fall upon us. “Now hath that old magician given us of his...

“Go not away!” said then the wanderer who called himself Zarathustra’s shadow, “abide with us⁠—otherwise the old gloomy affliction might again fall upon us. “Now hath that old magician given us of his...

The deserts grow: woe him who doth them hide! —Ha! Solemnly! In effect solemnly! A worthy beginning! Afric manner, solemnly! Of a lion worthy, Or perhaps of a virtuous howl-monkey⁠— —But it’s naught t...

After the song of the wanderer and shadow, the cave became all at once full of noise and laughter: and since the assembled guests all spake simultaneously, and even the ass, encouraged thereby, no lon...

After the song of the wanderer and shadow, the cave became all at once full of noise and laughter: and since the assembled guests all spake simultaneously, and even the ass, encouraged thereby, no lon...

All on a sudden however, Zarathustra’s ear was frightened: for the cave which had hitherto been full of noise and laughter, became all at once still as death;⁠—his nose, however, smelt a sweet-scented...

At this place in the litany, however, Zarathustra could no longer control himself; he himself cried out Ye‑a, louder even than the ass, and sprang into the midst of his maddened guests. “Whatever are ...

At this place in the litany, however, Zarathustra could no longer control himself; he himself cried out Ye‑a, louder even than the ass, and sprang into the midst of his maddened guests. “Whatever are ...

Then, however, did it come to pass that Zarathustra, astonished at such merely roguish answers, jumped back to the door of his cave, and turning towards all his guests, cried out with a strong voice: ...

And once more began Zarathustra to speak. “O my new friends,” said he⁠—“ye strange ones, ye higher men, how well do ye now please me⁠— “⁠—Since ye have again become joyful! Ye have, verily, all blosso...

Meanwhile one after another had gone out into the open air, and into the cool, thoughtful night; Zarathustra himself, however, led the ugliest man by the hand, that he might show him his night-world, ...

Meanwhile one after another had gone out into the open air, and into the cool, thoughtful night; Zarathustra himself, however, led the ugliest man by the hand, that he might show him his night-world, ...

When, however, this took place with the ugliest man, Zarathustra stood there like one drunken: his glance dulled, his tongue faltered and his feet staggered. And who could divine what thoughts then pa...

Ye higher men, it is getting on to midnight: then will I say something into your ears, as that old clock-bell saith it into mine ear⁠— —As mysteriously, as frightfully, and as cordially as that midnig...

Woe to me! Whither hath time gone? Have I not sunk into deep wells? The world sleepeth⁠— Ah! Ah! The dog howleth, the moon shineth. Rather will I die, rather will I die, than say unto you what my midn...

It carrieth me away, my soul danceth. Day’s-work! Day’s-work! Who is to be master of the world? The moon is cool, the wind is still. Ah! Ah! Have ye already flown high enough? Ye have danced: a leg, n...

Sweet lyre! Sweet lyre! I love thy tone, thy drunken, ranunculine tone!⁠—how long, how far hath come unto me thy tone, from the distance, from the ponds of love! Thou old clock-bell, thou sweet lyre! ...

Leave me alone! Leave me alone! I am too pure for thee. Touch me not! Hath not my world just now become perfect? My skin is too pure for thy hands. Leave me alone, thou dull, doltish, stupid day! Is n...

God’s woe is deeper, thou strange world! Grasp at God’s woe, not at me! What am I! A drunken sweet lyre⁠— —A midnight-lyre, a bell-frog, which no one understandeth, but which must speak before deaf on...

Thou grapevine! Why dost thou praise me? Have I not cut thee! I am cruel, thou bleedest⁠—: what meaneth thy praise of my drunken cruelty? “Whatever hath become perfect, everything mature⁠—wanteth to d...

Ye higher men, what think ye? Am I a soothsayer? Or a dreamer? Or a drunkard? Or a dream-reader? Or a midnight-bell? Or a drop of dew? Or a fume and fragrance of eternity? Hear ye it not? Smell ye it ...

All joy wanteth the eternity of all things, it wanteth honey, it wanteth lees, it wanteth drunken midnight, it wanteth graves, it wanteth grave-tears’ consolation, it wanteth gilded evening-red⁠— —Wha...

Have ye now learned my song? Have ye divined what it would say? Well! Cheer up! Ye higher men, sing now my roundelay! Sing now yourselves the song, the name of which is “Once more,” the signification ...

In the morning, however, after this night, Zarathustra jumped up from his couch, and, having girded his loins, he came out of his cave glowing and strong, like a morning sun coming out of gloomy mount...