Thus Spoke Zarathustra

'Enigmatic, vatic, emphatic, passionate . . . Nietzsche's works together make a unique statement in the literature of European ideas' A. C. Grayling Nietzsche was one of the most revolutionary thinkers in Western philosophy, and Thus Spoke Zarathustra remains his most influential work. It describes how the ancient Persian prophet Zarathustra descends from his solitude in the mountains to tell the world that God is dead and that the Superman, the human embodiment of divinity, is his successor. With blazing intensity, Nietzsche argues that the meaning of existence is not to be found in religious pieties or meek submission, but in an all-powerful life force: passionate, chaotic and free. Translated with an introduction by R. J. HOLLINGDALE

Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) was born near Leipzig. When he was twenty-four he was appointed to the chair of classical philology at Basel University. He published many works, including The Gay Science, Thus Spoke Zarathustra and Beyond Good and Evil. In 1889, Nietzsche collapsed and was subsequently institutionalized, spending the rest of his life in a condition of mental and physical paralysis. Works published after his death include Will to Power and his autobiography, Ecce Homo.

Thus Spoke Zarathustra Introduction Part One Zarathustra's Prologue Zarathustra's Discourses: Of the Three Metamorphoses Of the Chairs of Virtue Of the Afterworldsmen Of the Despisers of the Body Of Joys and Passions Of the Pale Criminal Of Reading and Writing Of the Tree on the Mountainside Of the Preachers of Death Of War and Warriors Of the New Idol Of the Flies of the Market-Place Of Chastity Of the Friend Of the Thousand and One Goals Of Love of One's Neighbour Of the Way of the Creator Of Old and Young Women Of the Adder's Bite Of Marriage and Children Of Voluntary Death Of the Bestowing Virtue Part Two The Child with the Mirror On the Blissful Islands Of the Compassionate Of the Priests Of the Virtuous Of the Rabble Of the Tarantulas Of the Famous Philsophers The Night Song The Dance Song The Funeral Song Of Self-Overcoming Of the Sublime Men Of the Land of Culture Of Immaculate Perception Of Scholars Of Poets Of Great Events The Prophet Of Redemption Of Manly Prudence The Stillest Hour Part Three The Wanderer Of the Vision and the Riddle Of Involuntary Bliss Before Sunrise Of the Virtue That Makes Small On the Mount of Olives Of Passing By Of the Apostates The Home-Coming Of the Three Evil Things Of the Spirit of Gravity Of Old and New Law-Tables The Convalescent Of the Great Longing The Second Dance Song The Seven Seals (or: The Song of Yes and Amen) Part Four The Honey Offering The Cry of Distress Conversation with the Kings The Leech The Sorcerer Retired from Service The Ugliest Man The Voluntary Beggar The Shadow At Noontide The Greeting The Last Supper Of the Higher Man The Song of Melancholy Of Science Among the Daughters of the Desert The Awakening The Ass Festival The Intoxicated Song The Sign Notes