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Thus Spake Zarathustra
God Is Dead“I am a forest, and a night of dark but he who is not afraid of my darkness, will find banks full of roses under my cypresses.” - Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spake ZarathustraZarathustra in Thus Spake Zarathustra is not the Persian founder of Zoroastrianism, he is just a means to Friedrich Nietzsche’s end. Through Zarathustra, Nietzsche tries to define his own philosophy attacking the Christian values of good and evil and predicting the rise of a new man, the superman, a self-mastered, self-cultivating, self-directed and self-overcoming individual.
- GenresPhilosophy
Kindle Edition
Published March 17, 2016
About the author
Friedrich Nietzsche
4,094 books27.1k followersFriedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche was a German classical scholar, philosopher, and critic of culture, who became one of the most influential of all modern thinkers. He began his career as a classical philologist before turning to philosophy. He became the youngest person to hold the Chair of Classical Philology at the University of Basel in 1869 at the age of 24, but resigned in 1879 due to health problems that plagued him most of his life; he completed much of his core writing in the following decade. In 1889, at age 44, he suffered a collapse and afterward a complete loss of his mental faculties, with paralysis and probably vascular dementia. He lived his remaining years in the care of his mother until her death in 1897 and then with his sister Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche. Nietzsche died in 1900, after experiencing pneumonia and multiple strokes.
Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism. 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R.J. Hollingdale, and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism, and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.
Nietzsche's work spans philosophical polemics, poetry, cultural criticism, and fiction while displaying a fondness for aphorism and irony. Prominent elements of his philosophy include his radical critique of truth in favour of perspectivism; a genealogical critique of religion and Christian morality and a related theory of master–slave morality; the aesthetic affirmation of life in response to both the "death of God" and the profound crisis of nihilism; the notion of Apollonian and Dionysian forces; and a characterisation of the human subject as the expression of competing wills, collectively understood as the will to power. He also developed influential concepts such as the Übermensch and his doctrine of eternal return. In his later work, he became increasingly preoccupied with the creative powers of the individual to overcome cultural and moral mores in pursuit of new values and aesthetic health. His body of work touched a wide range of topics, including art, philology, history, music, religion, tragedy, culture, and science, and drew inspiration from Greek tragedy as well as figures such as Zoroaster, Arthur Schopenhauer, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Richard Wagner, Fyodor Dostoevsky, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
After his death, Nietzsche's sister Elisabeth became the curator and editor of his manuscripts. She edited his unpublished writings to fit her German ultranationalist ideology, often contradicting or obfuscating Nietzsche's stated opinions, which were explicitly opposed to antisemitism and nationalism. Through her published editions, Nietzsche's work became associated with fascism and Nazism. 20th-century scholars such as Walter Kaufmann, R.J. Hollingdale, and Georges Bataille defended Nietzsche against this interpretation, and corrected editions of his writings were soon made available. Nietzsche's thought enjoyed renewed popularity in the 1960s and his ideas have since had a profound impact on 20th- and early 21st-century thinkers across philosophy—especially in schools of continental philosophy such as existentialism, postmodernism, and post-structuralism—as well as art, literature, music, poetry, politics, and popular culture.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 25, 2026
In December 2023, for my birthday and Christmas, my friend at the time got me "The Schopenhauer Cure," a pleasure to read. In "The Schopenhauer Cure," the main character reflects on some passages from "Thus Spake Zarathustra." I had always had a fondness for Zoroastrianism as I was oddly interested in the life of Freddy Mercury as well as particularly (and uniquely compared to other people who were also fond of it) moved by Bohemian Rhapsody. Another reason why I was intrigued by Zoroastrianism was because of it's decomposing nature similar to that of a ghost town, as there were few living adherents and it's parallels with Hinduism. Reading "The Schopenhauer Cure" and my lifelong interest in Zoroastrianism led me to have a two year long desire to read this book. This February I bought this book. I believe I do not have the sophistication levels of reading philosophy to appreciate this book which is why I have rated it so low, although I enjoyed the passage where he mocks the trivialities of the herd's philosophies or just saying that many people are too focused on sweating the little stuff (nonsense) to really see the big picture. I did not enjoy this passage because I find my own philosophy superior, but because I see myself as one of those people who are really sweating the little stuff. The passage specifically talked about how some people's entire philosophies or teachings about how to live life is focused on how they can improve sleeping well at night (from what I remember). I had severe insomnia for some portion of my 20s. When some fundamental need is taken away from someone, it is impossible to develop any sort of personality or development beyond the desperate search for that need. In the passage that I am talking about, the wise man preaches "No small art is it to sleep: it is necessary for that purpose to keep awake all day." I agree with this line, it is indeed very difficult to sleep and despite what Nietzsche remarks at the end of the passage, it is incredibly important to sleep in order to keep awake all day, and when sleep is taken away from you, it indeed becomes your entire philosophy figuring out how to sleep well at night in order to keep awake through the day, as without sleep, days become increasingly brutal and difficult to endure. This reminds me of Frank Ocean's song lyric from "Nights" where he says "Every night ****s every day up. Every day patches the night up." In this lyric, I believe Frank Ocean is trying to convey that during the night, he is partying, which leads to hangovers of various sorts, ruining the next day. Going through the day allows him to live for another night of the same. Although it seems like a bit of a stretch, I think these two sentences about it being necessary for that purpose to keep awake all day, and that every night ****s every day up, are very related, basically what I was saying about days becoming increasingly brutal without a night's sleep. The wise man in the passage continues to describe what to do for a good night's sleep. One of the lines of advice that stood out to me was "Ten truths must thou find during the day; otherwise wilt thou seek truth during the night, and thy soul will have been hungry." This line is actually very congruent with what is taught in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia. I believe this line is saying that one must think through their anxious thoughts during the day and come to the point of being either satisfied with them (finding the truth they were looking for), or thinking of them so many times that they have become bored. One must do this during the day time, or be plagued with replaying thoughts while they are trying to sleep. Like many other insomniacs, this has prevented me from sleeping many times, and I was recommended setting aside 15 minutes per day just to worry on paper so that it would not come up when I was trying to sleep. Another line is "Honour to the government, and obedience, and also to the crooked government! So desireth good sleep. How can I help it, if power like to walk on crooked legs?" This line stood out to me particularly because I think it is very relevant to young people today. Many young people have climate anxiety (reasonable), which was created by corrupt (depends on your definition, but my definition would be one that does not do what is in favor of the majority) power structures. I myself have stayed up many nights questioning these structures, but at the end of the day, what can I do about it in the current moment when I am trying to sleep. This also comes up frequently in CBT-I. A lot of the time when you're sleeping, you have anxieties that you were too busy or overstimulated to think about during the day, and then they come at night. But at that time when you're supposed to sleep, that's the exact time when you can't do anything about it. Another line that stood out was "When night cometh, then take I good care not to summon sleep. It disliketh to be summoned - sleep, the lord of virtues!" This line is exactly what CBT-I is about. CBT-I works on reduces anxiety about not being able to sleep. As soon as you are anxious about sleeping, or are making an active effort about trying to sleep, you remember all the previous times you could not sleep, and your brain spikes that cortisol. Once that hormone is out of the gland, there's no putting it back, and you can further associate another sleepless night with your bed. At the end of hearing the wise man's discourse in this passage, Zarathustra scoffs to himself "if life had no sense, and had I to choose nonsense, this would be the desirablest nonsense for me also." In this sentence, I believe Nietzsche sees himself as superior to those who's philosophies are about nonsense such as sleeping well, while his philosophy is about something much higher "they knew no higher significance of life." The reason I liked this passage so much is that I think a lot of these philosophers think they are very superior, but at the end of the day, a good philosophy is one that has you sleeping well and laughing plentifully because all that really matters is having the best time you can possibly while you are alive. Not sure if I really understood this passage, I'm sure tons went over my head since I've never really read philosophy like this, but that's what I gathered from it.
October 22, 2026
Thus Spake Zarathustra – By Friedrich Nietzsche
The ideas of ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’ came to Nietzsche, while writing the ‘Gay Science’ or ‘Joyful Science’. Here he chronicles the journey of Zarathustra/ Zoroaster the ancient prophet who inspired the Avestan texts. Avestan being the ancient language of the Persians. Zoroaster overturned traditional morality and founded a new religion which venerated the worship of fire. Thus ‘Spake Zarathustra’ contains “God is dead.” which first appeared in the ‘Gay Science’ and later proliferated in Nietzsche’s later work. He explains God’s death, God did as a result of the pity he shows to humanity. For its lack of pity Nietzsche bestowed on himself, the title, the revealer of the school of immorality. To Nietzsche cowardice is the morals of the idealist, who flee away reality.
Nietzsche made Zarathustra, in his book the first immoralist. One wonders though the text if Nietzsche portrayal is correct. Zarathustra say “God died, because God pitied humanity, too much” but this is a purely a Nietzschian philosophy. Nietzsche invents the Ubermensh or Superman, these enlightened men are separated from the Animal by other less enlightened Humans. Ubermensh was adopted by the Nazi’s to represent the German race. One wonders why this text was a recommended read for the German soldiers in WWI. Did the Germans want to make their soldiers Atheists or Immoralist, or the simply wanted them to be able to kill. Nietzsche’s work could convince you any which way or make you smarter. Nietzsche opposed Christianity as a result of his belief that the afterlife was without proof. This is empiricism, that beliefs should necessitate proofs. He glosses over the topic in his Nietzschian writing style. The text is fatalistic in this sense. However, the story follows Zarathustra’s/ Zoroaster’s teaching, his stance on philosophy and morality. The work makes one wonder if the teaching of the real Zoroaster documented in the ‘Avestas’ are so immoralist or is his morality reflective of Nietzschian philosophy.
Zoroastrianism is venerated in the Bahai Faith, among other which originated in Persia. Zoroastrianism venerates Ahura Mazda, creation and existence. The religion has many Angels and Demons. He is an ancient Iranian prophet philosopher, who spoke about one’s self-realization and divine-realization. His work is related to the Vedic Sanskit and the early Indian and Iranian religions. He lived around the time of the writing of the Vedas; approximately 1500 BC but possibly as early as 3000 BC according to mythology. They were two Zoroasters, one accompanying Xerxes in the conquest of Greece, and the other founding Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster opposed the class system in Persia and documents his work in the ‘Gathas’ and ‘Avestas’. Asha ‘True’ and Drui ‘Lies’, Ahura Mazda is the creation of humanity for its preservation. An individual has free will and choices to follow good or bad morals. As Ahura is the divinely Good God and Mazda is the divinely Bad Good one can choose to follow either. Devotees can also choose to follow a Human Mazdas. To Zoroastrians the Good and Bad Gods are truly one; this represents the first Monotheism and its teachings on ethics and on concept of One Supreme God, have influence, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. Zoroastrians pray in Fire Temples to the Holy Fire. Zoroaster is remembered as the first Philosopher and for his work on ethics. Zoroaster is thought of as a true prophet in Islam. Islam assimilated the Zoroastrians as people of the Book and studied their works. Voitaire preferred Zoroastrianism as rational Deism, preferable to Christianity and the intolerance seen in the 17 century, French Wars of Religion.
Nietzsche said he is immoral. This is partly why he is the Philosopher who is blamed for two world wars, World War 1 and World War II. His immoralist stance on pity and violence is partly to blame. Nietzsche is a star to all the radical movements but also to critical thinkers. “Happiness is a woman.” Here he champions the proverbial Goddess and venerate her as a worthy object of love and compassion. “Zarathustra the Godless.” Nietzsche in his text make Zarathustra repeat this phrase. It makes Zarathustra sound Atheistic. Yet this is a passible statement as the Zoroastrian invented the God Ahura Mazda for the preservation of man. Other religions teach that God created man, the Zoroastrian believe the reverse and the Fire represent Good and Evil in true form. The illusion of Good and Evil. This is a simple assertion, but it has within it seed of immorality. It blurs the lines between right and wrong. Zoroaster was lived in a rough and immoral period. Thus, immorality was a tool to teach morality; Nietzsche misses that in his work. “The Illusion of Faith.” Nietzsche posits that faith is a farce and imaginary, yet Jean-Paul Sartre in ‘Being and Nothingness’ rationalized the existence of Bad Faith, thus also Good Faith. Nietzsche should have discussed the faith illusion more. Was it as stance of Zoroaster? “Thou shalt because thou must.” Nietzsche opposes faith as he sees it as opposing mankind’s free will. Zoroaster the mystics would concur with the assertion of faith but grads free will in the human ability to choose which God to serve or Human Mazda. “The Illusion of Free Will.” Nietzsche goes on to attack free will and the basis of questioning faith, the text become nihilistic and disruptive here. Did Zoroaster think the same about free will? “Thou shalt because thou wilts.” Zoroaster introduced mankind’s free choice of worship thus ingraining the concept of free will, which Christianity would later use.
“The world itself is a filthy monster.” Nietzsche’s view of the modern world is horridly splendid and he follows the statement by saying “But the world itself is not a filthy monster.” One is let thinking both ways. “Thou canst become an ass through the superabundance of wisdom.” Here he plays on Socrates and his search to find a man to disprove the Oracle of Delphi, that he is the wisest man in the world. Socrates was unable to find one wiser than he, who he believed was truly wise. Nietzsche knew his powers of writing, persuasion and reason; and he knew the hubris of man.
The ideas of ‘Thus Spake Zarathustra’ came to Nietzsche, while writing the ‘Gay Science’ or ‘Joyful Science’. Here he chronicles the journey of Zarathustra/ Zoroaster the ancient prophet who inspired the Avestan texts. Avestan being the ancient language of the Persians. Zoroaster overturned traditional morality and founded a new religion which venerated the worship of fire. Thus ‘Spake Zarathustra’ contains “God is dead.” which first appeared in the ‘Gay Science’ and later proliferated in Nietzsche’s later work. He explains God’s death, God did as a result of the pity he shows to humanity. For its lack of pity Nietzsche bestowed on himself, the title, the revealer of the school of immorality. To Nietzsche cowardice is the morals of the idealist, who flee away reality.
Nietzsche made Zarathustra, in his book the first immoralist. One wonders though the text if Nietzsche portrayal is correct. Zarathustra say “God died, because God pitied humanity, too much” but this is a purely a Nietzschian philosophy. Nietzsche invents the Ubermensh or Superman, these enlightened men are separated from the Animal by other less enlightened Humans. Ubermensh was adopted by the Nazi’s to represent the German race. One wonders why this text was a recommended read for the German soldiers in WWI. Did the Germans want to make their soldiers Atheists or Immoralist, or the simply wanted them to be able to kill. Nietzsche’s work could convince you any which way or make you smarter. Nietzsche opposed Christianity as a result of his belief that the afterlife was without proof. This is empiricism, that beliefs should necessitate proofs. He glosses over the topic in his Nietzschian writing style. The text is fatalistic in this sense. However, the story follows Zarathustra’s/ Zoroaster’s teaching, his stance on philosophy and morality. The work makes one wonder if the teaching of the real Zoroaster documented in the ‘Avestas’ are so immoralist or is his morality reflective of Nietzschian philosophy.
Zoroastrianism is venerated in the Bahai Faith, among other which originated in Persia. Zoroastrianism venerates Ahura Mazda, creation and existence. The religion has many Angels and Demons. He is an ancient Iranian prophet philosopher, who spoke about one’s self-realization and divine-realization. His work is related to the Vedic Sanskit and the early Indian and Iranian religions. He lived around the time of the writing of the Vedas; approximately 1500 BC but possibly as early as 3000 BC according to mythology. They were two Zoroasters, one accompanying Xerxes in the conquest of Greece, and the other founding Zoroastrianism. Zoroaster opposed the class system in Persia and documents his work in the ‘Gathas’ and ‘Avestas’. Asha ‘True’ and Drui ‘Lies’, Ahura Mazda is the creation of humanity for its preservation. An individual has free will and choices to follow good or bad morals. As Ahura is the divinely Good God and Mazda is the divinely Bad Good one can choose to follow either. Devotees can also choose to follow a Human Mazdas. To Zoroastrians the Good and Bad Gods are truly one; this represents the first Monotheism and its teachings on ethics and on concept of One Supreme God, have influence, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam. Zoroastrians pray in Fire Temples to the Holy Fire. Zoroaster is remembered as the first Philosopher and for his work on ethics. Zoroaster is thought of as a true prophet in Islam. Islam assimilated the Zoroastrians as people of the Book and studied their works. Voitaire preferred Zoroastrianism as rational Deism, preferable to Christianity and the intolerance seen in the 17 century, French Wars of Religion.
Nietzsche said he is immoral. This is partly why he is the Philosopher who is blamed for two world wars, World War 1 and World War II. His immoralist stance on pity and violence is partly to blame. Nietzsche is a star to all the radical movements but also to critical thinkers. “Happiness is a woman.” Here he champions the proverbial Goddess and venerate her as a worthy object of love and compassion. “Zarathustra the Godless.” Nietzsche in his text make Zarathustra repeat this phrase. It makes Zarathustra sound Atheistic. Yet this is a passible statement as the Zoroastrian invented the God Ahura Mazda for the preservation of man. Other religions teach that God created man, the Zoroastrian believe the reverse and the Fire represent Good and Evil in true form. The illusion of Good and Evil. This is a simple assertion, but it has within it seed of immorality. It blurs the lines between right and wrong. Zoroaster was lived in a rough and immoral period. Thus, immorality was a tool to teach morality; Nietzsche misses that in his work. “The Illusion of Faith.” Nietzsche posits that faith is a farce and imaginary, yet Jean-Paul Sartre in ‘Being and Nothingness’ rationalized the existence of Bad Faith, thus also Good Faith. Nietzsche should have discussed the faith illusion more. Was it as stance of Zoroaster? “Thou shalt because thou must.” Nietzsche opposes faith as he sees it as opposing mankind’s free will. Zoroaster the mystics would concur with the assertion of faith but grads free will in the human ability to choose which God to serve or Human Mazda. “The Illusion of Free Will.” Nietzsche goes on to attack free will and the basis of questioning faith, the text become nihilistic and disruptive here. Did Zoroaster think the same about free will? “Thou shalt because thou wilts.” Zoroaster introduced mankind’s free choice of worship thus ingraining the concept of free will, which Christianity would later use.
“The world itself is a filthy monster.” Nietzsche’s view of the modern world is horridly splendid and he follows the statement by saying “But the world itself is not a filthy monster.” One is let thinking both ways. “Thou canst become an ass through the superabundance of wisdom.” Here he plays on Socrates and his search to find a man to disprove the Oracle of Delphi, that he is the wisest man in the world. Socrates was unable to find one wiser than he, who he believed was truly wise. Nietzsche knew his powers of writing, persuasion and reason; and he knew the hubris of man.
August 17, 2024
Way too rich of a book for me. I would need to read this in a study group of some sort for any of it to make sense.
I really did give it a good faith effort to understand what it was saying, but there were many times where reading pages felt as if I were . . . only ~reading~ the pages and not understanding what it meant.
I knew that I had not understood fully when I got to the 'God is Dead' quote and it felt like that line was not even remotely important to the book in the moment. It almost felt like it was glossed over, so I definitely misinterpreted or did not come close to understanding the book.
I really did give it a good faith effort to understand what it was saying, but there were many times where reading pages felt as if I were . . . only ~reading~ the pages and not understanding what it meant.
I knew that I had not understood fully when I got to the 'God is Dead' quote and it felt like that line was not even remotely important to the book in the moment. It almost felt like it was glossed over, so I definitely misinterpreted or did not come close to understanding the book.
March 30, 2026
I suppose when reading Nietzsche I shouldn't have started with this one. At the advice of my friend after leaving the last page somewhat confused about certain things, I took his work back to where he started.
March 11, 2026
Beautiful, biblical language. The emancipated man must create his own values.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews