![Book Cover of Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None](/image/book/thus-spake-zarathustra-a-book-for-all-and-none.webp)
Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None
'Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None' Summary
The book chronicles the fictitious travels and speeches of Zarathustra. Zarathustra's namesake was the founder of Zoroastrianism, usually known in English as Zoroaster (Avestan: 𐬰𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬚𐬎𐬱𐬙𐬭𐬀, Zaraθuštra). Nietzsche is clearly portraying a "new" or "different" Zarathustra, one who turns traditional morality on its head. He goes on to characterize "what the name of Zarathustra means in my mouth, the mouth of the first immoralist:"
For what constitutes the tremendous historical uniqueness of that Persian is just the opposite of this. Zarathustra was the first to consider the fight of good and evil the very wheel in the machinery of things: the transposition of morality into the metaphysical realm, as a force, cause, and end in itself, is his work.… Zarathustra created this most calamitous error, morality; consequently, he must also be the first to recognize it.… His doctrine, and his alone, posits truthfulness as the highest virtue; this means the opposite of the cowardice of the "idealist” who flees from reality.… Am I understood?—The self-overcoming of morality, out of truthfulness; the self-overcoming of the moralist, into his opposite—into me—that is what the name of Zarathustra means in my mouth.
— Ecce Homo, "Why I Am a Destiny" §3, translated by Walter Kaufmann
Zarathustra has a simple characterisation and plot, narrated sporadically throughout the text. It possesses a unique experimental style, one that is, for instance, evident in newly invented "dithyrambs" narrated or sung by Zarathustra. Likewise, the separate Dionysian-Dithyrambs was written in autumn 1888, and printed with the full volume in 1892, as the corollaries of Zarathustra's "abundance."
Some speculate that Nietzsche intended to write about final acts of creation and destruction brought on by Zarathustra. However, the book lacks a finale to match such description; its actual ending focuses more on Zarathustra recognizing that his legacy is beginning to perpetuate, and consequently choosing to leave the higher men to their own devices in carrying his legacy forth.
Zarathustra also contains the famous dictum "God is dead," which had appeared earlier in The Gay Science.
The book embodies a number of innovative poetical and rhetorical methods of expression. It serves as a parallel and supplement to the various philosophical ideas present in Nietzsche's body of work. He has, however, said that "among my writings my Zarathustra stands to my mind by itself." Emphasizing its centrality and its status as his magnum opus, Nietzsche has stated that:
With [Thus Spoke Zarathustra] I have given mankind the greatest present that has ever been made to it so far. This book, with a voice bridging centuries, is not only the highest book there is, the book that is truly characterized by the air of the heights—the whole fact of man lies beneath it at a tremendous distance—it is also the deepest, born out of the innermost wealth of truth, an inexhaustible well to which no pail descends without coming up again filled with gold and goodness.
— Ecce Homo, "Preface" §4, translated by W. Kaufmann
Since many of the book's ideas are also present in his other works, Zarathustra is seen to have served as a precursor to his later philosophical thought. With the book, Nietzsche embraced a distinct aesthetic assiduity. He later reformulated many of his ideas in Beyond Good and Evil and various other writings that he composed thereafter. He continued to emphasize his philosophical concerns; generally, his intention was to show an alternative to repressive moral codes and to avert "nihilism" in all of its varied forms. Other aspects of Thus Spoke Zarathustra relate to Nietzsche's proposed "Transvaluation of All Values". This incomplete project began with The Antichrist.
Book Details
Language
EnglishOriginal Language
GermanPublished In
1883Author
![Friedrich Nietzsche image](/thumbs/image/author/friedrich-nietzsche.webp)
Friedrich Nietzsche
Germany
Nietzsche's writing spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical c...
More on Friedrich NietzscheDownload eBooks
Listen/Download Audiobook
Related books
![The Basis Of Morality Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-basis-of-morality.webp)
The Basis Of Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer
It is a philosophical treatise that delves into the fundamental principles of ethics and morality. Written in 1840, this book is widely considered to...
![As in a Mirror Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/as-in-a-mirror.webp)
As in a Mirror by Pansy (Isabella Macdonald Alden)
John King is a rich young man who is friends with Fletcher, after a sermon on tramps and giving help, John devises a plan to tramp for a book he is wr...
![The Idiot, Part 1 and Part 2 Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-idiot-part-1-and-part-2.webp)
The Idiot, Part 1 and Part 2 by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal The Russian Messenger in 186...
![A Queen Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/a-queen.webp)
A Queen by Ottilie Wildermuth
Delve into the captivating tale of a young woman's remarkable journey to queenship in Ottilie Wildermuth's timeless classic, A Queen. Set against the...
![Mary Marston Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/mary-marston.webp)
Mary Marston by George MacDonald
It is a story of a woman who loves a man, and teaches him to change. Not out of his love for her, but simply because it was the right thing to do.
![A Dissertation on the Inspiration of the New Testament Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/a-dissertation-on-the-inspiration-of-the-new-testament.webp)
A Dissertation on the Inspiration of the New Testament by Philip Doddridge
Doddridge defines 'inspiration' and explains in what sense the New Testament writers are self-aware in their claim to it and the logical incoherence o...
![The First Epistle of Paul to Timothy, Analytically Expounde Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-first-epistle-of-paul-to-timothy-analytically-expounde.webp)
The First Epistle of Paul to Timothy, Analytically Expounde by David Dickson
Drawing readers in with scholarly finesse and a unique approach, Dickson unravels the timeless wisdom contained within these ancient verses. In this a...
![What I Believe Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/what-i-believe.webp)
What I Believe by Leo Tolstoy
"The inner working of my soul, which I wish to speak of here, was not the result of a methodical investigation of doctrinal theology, or of the actual...
![The Idiot, Part 3 and Part 4 Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-idiot-part-3-and-part-4.webp)
The Idiot, Part 3 and Part 4 by Fyodor Dostoyevsky
The Idiot is a novel by the 19th-century Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. It was first published serially in the journal The Russian Messenger in 186...
![The Story of the Other Wise Man Cover image](/thumbs/image/book/the-story-of-the-other-wise-man.webp)
The Story of the Other Wise Man by Henry Van Dyke
You know the story of the Three Wise Men of the East, and how they travelled from far away to offer their gifts at the manger-cradle in Bethlehem. But...
Reviews for Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None
No reviews posted or approved, yet...