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Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None Flashcards

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche · Public domain edition · 401 cards · 119 chapters

Nietzsche's book argues that humanity must overcome itself by creating new values after the death of God, spoken through Zarathustra's prophetic teaching. The deck covers the Prologue's herdsmen and "good and just," the three metamorphoses of the spirit, and the lion, dragon, and child.

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Chapter 1 · Question

According to the Prologue's commentary, what does 'Herdsmen' stand for?

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PART I. THE PROLOGUE.4 cards

According to the Prologue's commentary, what does 'Herdsmen' stand for?
The commentary states that 'Herdsmen' stands for all those today who are advocates of gregariousness—of the ant-hill. It notes that Zarathustra's habit of naming a whole class or school by a single nickname may cause initial confusion, but the general drift of his arguments makes the referent discoverable with slight imaginative effort.
Chapter 1
What does 'the good and just' refer to throughout the book?
The commentary explains that 'the good and just' is the expression used throughout for the self-righteous of modern times—those quite sure they know all that is to be known concerning good and evil, and satisfied that the values their little world of tradition handed down are destined to rule mankind as long as it lasts.
Chapter 1
What does the commentary say about the phrase 'A robber shall Zarathustra be called by the herdsmen'?
The commentary says it is clear these words may be taken almost literally, coming from one whose ideal was the rearing of a higher aristocracy. It offers this as an example of how Zarathustra's nicknames, once the drift of his arguments is grasped, can be decoded with slight effort of imagination.
Chapter 1
What does the last paragraph of the Prologue, verse 7, foreshadow?
The commentary says Zarathustra gives a foretaste of his teaching concerning the big and the little sagacities, expounded subsequently. He wishes he were as wise as his serpent, a desire the commentary says will be explained in the discourse 'The Despisers of the Body', to which it will refer later.
Chapter 1

PART IV.4 cards

According to the commentator, what did Nietzsche wish to determine rather than save the world?
The commentator argues that Nietzsche had no desire to save the world; what he wished to determine was who is to be master of the world. His aim, on this reading, was to save higher men—to give them the freedom by which alone they can develop and reach their zenith. Part IV is presented as Nietzsche's open avowal that his philosophy was a gift laid at the feet of higher men.
Chapter 2
What objection to Nietzsche's project does the commentator report, and how might Nietzsche answer it?
It has been argued with considerable force that no such philosophy is required by higher men, since higher men by virtue of their constitutions always stand Beyond Good and Evil and never let anything block their complete growth. The commentator suggests Nietzsche was not so confident, and would probably have argued that we only see the successful cases.
Chapter 2
What does the commentator say Nietzsche knew about exceptional men from his own experience?
The commentator says Nietzsche, being a great man himself, was well aware of the dangers threatening greatness in the age. Quoting Beyond Good and Evil, he notes few pains so grievous as seeing, divining, or experiencing how an exceptional man has missed his way and deteriorated. Nietzsche knew from his painfullest recollections what wretched obstacles have made promising developments of the highest rank go to pieces, break down, sink, and become contemptible.
Chapter 2
What is Nietzsche's strongest temptation in Part IV, and where does it come from?
The commentator states that in Part IV Nietzsche's strongest temptation to descend to the feeling of pity for his contemporaries comes from the cry for help he hears from the lips of the higher men, who are exposed to the dreadful danger of their modern environment. Pity thus threatens to pull him down toward his contemporaries rather than serve the higher men's development.
Chapter 2

I. THE THREE METAMORPHOSES.4 cards

What three metamorphoses of the spirit does Zarathustra designate?
Zarathustra designates three metamorphoses: how the spirit becomes a camel, the camel a lion, and the lion at last a child. The camel is the load-bearing, reverent spirit that kneels to be well laden with heavy things and hastens into its wilderness. There the second metamorphosis occurs, becoming a lion that seeks freedom and lordship. Finally the lion must become a child.
Chapter 3
What is the great dragon called, and what does it say?
The great dragon is called 'Thou shalt.' It lies in the lion's path, covered in scales each glittering with golden 'Thou shalt!' The dragon claims that all values of a thousand years glitter on its scales, that all values have already been created and it represents them, and that there shall be no 'I will' any more. Against it the lion's spirit says 'I will.'
Chapter 3
What can the lion do, and what can it not yet do?
The lion cannot yet create new values, but it can create freedom for new creating. It gives a holy Nay even unto duty, and assumes the right to new values, which Zarathustra calls the most formidable assumption for a load-bearing and reverent spirit. The lion must capture freedom from its love of its holiest 'Thou shalt,' finding illusion and arbitrariness even there.
Chapter 3
What is the child, and why is it needed beyond the lion?
The child is innocence and forgetfulness, a new beginning, a game, a self-rolling wheel, a first movement, a holy Yea. For the game of creating there is needed a holy Yea unto life. The spirit now wills its own will and wins its own world. The lion could only make freedom; the child can affirm and begin, which the preying lion could not do.
Chapter 3

Chapter I. The Three Metamorphoses.3 cards

What does the dragon 'Thou shalt' represent, and what glitters on its scales?
The dragon is named 'Thou shalt,' and it carries the values of a thousand years glittering on its scales. It stands for tradition and inherited commandment that the spirit must meet and master. The chapter's gloss stresses that only by first bearing the burdens of existing law, as the camel does, does the free spirit gain ascendancy over this dragon.
Chapter 4
According to the chapter, what two lessons does the discourse teach?
The chapter states two lessons: first, that in order to create one must be as a little child; secondly, that it is only through existing law and order that one attains the height from which new law and new order may be promulgated. So creation requires childlike renewal, and it is reached by patiently submitting to tradition rather than by discarding it.
Chapter 4
How does the chapter portray Nietzsche's relation to anarchy?
The chapter calls Nietzsche the supposed anarchist and says he here plainly disclaims all relationship whatever to anarchy. It argues that only by bearing the burdens of existing law and submitting patiently, as the camel is laden, does the free spirit acquire ascendancy over tradition. The author thus presents patient submission, not destruction, as the path to creating new values.
Chapter 4

II.4 cards

Why did Nietzsche choose Zarathustra as his mouthpiece?
The author argues Zarathustra was the first to treat the struggle between good and evil as the essential wheel of things, translating morality into the metaphysical. Since Zarathustra created the error of morality, he should be first to perceive it, being more truthful and courageous than other thinkers. The name means overcoming morality through truthfulness.
Chapter 5
How long did it take Nietzsche to write each part of Zarathustra?
According to the chapter, each of the first three parts was written in about ten days after a shorter or longer preparation period. The second part was composed between 26 June and 6 July. Only the fourth part's composition was broken by occasional interruptions, begun in notes at Zurich in September 1884 and finished at Nice in early 1885.
Chapter 5
How does Nietzsche describe the experience of inspiration in Ecce Homo?
He describes revelation as something suddenly visible and audible with indescribable certainty, profoundly convulsing. One hears and does not seek; a thought flashes like lightning with necessity, allowing no choice. He reports ecstasy, involuntary rhythmic instinct, and figures and similes arriving as the readiest means of expression, everything happening involuntarily as in a tempestuous outburst.
Chapter 5
Why was the fourth part of Zarathustra printed privately?
The fourth part's original manuscript noted it was 'only for my friends, not for the public.' Only forty copies were printed, and Nietzsche pledged recipients to strict secrecy. He resolved to distribute it only among those he judged worthy, and it speaks of his loneliness that he presented only seven copies under this resolution.
Chapter 5

II. THE ACADEMIC CHAIRS OF VIRTUE.3 cards

In the wise man's teaching, what daily practices are required to sleep well?
The wise man prescribes ten daily self-overcomings, ten reconciliations with oneself, ten truths found during the day, and ten laughters, since overcoming is bitter and the unreconciled sleep badly. He also insists one must keep awake all day to sleep at night, and must send the virtues themselves to sleep at the right time so they do not quarrel.
Chapter 6
What does the wise man say about having all the virtues?
He claims few know it, but one must have all the virtues to sleep well, and even then one thing is still needful: to send the virtues themselves to sleep at the right time, so the good females do not quarrel with one another about you. He also desires peace with God, neighbor, and the neighbor's devil, lest it haunt you at night.
Chapter 6
What does Zarathustra conclude the wise man's wisdom really is?
Zarathustra laughs in his heart, saying the wise man seems a fool with his forty thoughts but knows well how to sleep. He concludes the man's wisdom is to keep awake in order to sleep well, and that people seeking teachers of virtue really sought good sleep and poppy-head virtues to promote it—wisdom as sleep without dreams.
Chapter 6

III. BACKWORLDSMEN.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, what created all gods and backworlds?
Zarathustra claims suffering and impotence created all backworlds, along with the short madness of happiness that only the greatest sufferer experiences. He also names weariness—a poor, ignorant weariness that seeks the ultimate with one leap, a death-leap, unwilling even to will any longer. Most pointedly, he says it was the body which despaired of the body and of the earth.
Chapter 7
What does Zarathustra say the ego speaks of, even when it raves?
Zarathustra calls the ego the creating, willing, evaluating self—the measure and value of things—and says it speaks most uprightly of its own being. Even when it muses, raves, and flutters with broken wings, it still speaks of the body and implies the body. The more it learns to speak, the more titles and honours it finds for the body and the earth.
Chapter 7
What does Zarathustra say the sick and perishing borrowed for their heavenly world?
Zarathustra says the sick and perishing despised the body and the earth and invented the heavenly world and the redeeming blood-drops. Yet even those sweet and sad poisons they borrowed from the body and the earth. From misery they sought escape, found the stars too remote, and contrived by-paths and bloody draughts—owing the rapture of their transport to body and earth.
Chapter 7
How does Zarathustra treat the sickly and the convalescent who cling to delusions?
Zarathustra says he is gentle to the sickly and not indignant at their modes of consolation and ingratitude; he wishes they might become convalescents and overcomers and create higher bodies. Nor is he indignant at a convalescent who looks tenderly on his delusions and steals round the grave of his God at midnight—though sickness and a sick frame remain even in his tears.
Chapter 7

IV. THE DESPISERS OF THE BODY.3 cards

According to Zarathustra, what is the relationship between body and soul?
The awakened, knowing one says: "Body am I entirely, and nothing more; and soul is only the name of something in the body." The child's formula "Body am I, and soul" is presented as a simpler, childlike way of speaking. The author argues the body is the whole self, and soul is merely a name for something within it.
Chapter 8
How does Zarathustra describe the body relative to spirit and ego?
The body is "a big sagacity, a plurality with one sense, a war and a peace, a flock and a shepherd." Spirit is a "little sagacity," an instrument and plaything of the body. The ego is proud of its word, but the body's Self does not say "ego"—it does it. The Self rules and is the ego's ruler.
Chapter 8
What does the Self command the ego regarding pain and pleasure?
The Self says to the ego "Feel pain!" and the ego suffers, then thinks how to end it—and is meant to think for that purpose. Likewise the Self says "Feel pleasure!" and the ego rejoices, then thinks how to rejoice often—and is meant to think for that purpose. Thinking serves the Self's ends.
Chapter 8

V. JOYS AND PASSIONS.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, what happens when a person names and caresses their virtue?
Zarathustra warns that naming and caressing a virtue makes its name common with the people, so the person becomes one of the herd with that virtue. He advises instead that the virtue be too high for familiar names, and if one must speak of it, to stammer about it rather than name it familiarly.
Chapter 9
How do virtues originate from passions, according to the chapter?
Zarathustra says one once had passions and called them evil, but now has only virtues, which grew out of those passions. By implanting one's highest aim into the heart of those passions, they became virtues and joys. Even hot temper, voluptuousness, fanaticism, or vindictiveness can transform, so that all devils become angels.
Chapter 9
What does Zarathustra say about having one virtue versus many?
He says if one is fortunate, one will have one virtue and no more, crossing the bridge more easily. Having many virtues is illustrious but a hard lot; some have gone into the wilderness and killed themselves out of weariness at being the battle and battlefield of virtues.
Chapter 9
What does Zarathustra say about jealousy among virtues?
Each virtue is covetous of the highest place, wanting the whole spirit as its herald and the whole power in wrath, hatred, and love. Every virtue is jealous of the others, and jealousy is dreadful; even virtues may succumb by jealousy. One encompassed by jealousy's flame turns the poisoned sting against himself, like a scorpion.
Chapter 9

VI. THE PALE CRIMINAL.4 cards

What distinction does Zarathustra draw between thought, deed, and the idea of the deed?
Zarathustra says one thing is the thought, another the deed, and another the idea of the deed, and that the wheel of causality does not roll between them. The pale criminal was adequate to his deed when he did it, but could not endure the idea of it afterward—seeing himself evermore as the doer of one deed, which Zarathustra calls madness after the deed.
Chapter 10
According to Zarathustra, what did the criminal's soul actually want, contrary to the red judge's explanation?
The red judge says the criminal meant to rob. Zarathustra replies that his soul wanted blood, not booty—he thirsted for the happiness of the knife. His weak reason, unable to understand this madness, persuaded him to rob as well, so he would not be ashamed of his madness; the lead of guilt then lay on him again.
Chapter 10
How does Zarathustra describe the pale criminal as a man, and what does the body's suffering become?
Zarathustra calls him a mass of diseases reaching into the world through the spirit, and a coil of wild serpents seldom at peace among themselves. The poor body's suffering and craving the soul interpreted to itself as murderous desire and eagerness for the happiness of the knife—so illness is read as evil intent.
Chapter 10
What does Zarathustra tell the judges their slaying should be, and what terms does he prefer?
Zarathustra tells the judges their slaying shall be pity, not revenge, and that in slaying they should justify life; their sorrow should be love to the Superman. He says to say 'enemy' not 'villain,' 'invalid' not 'wretch,' 'fool' not 'sinner.' He also argues there is no salvation for one who suffers from himself except speedy death.
Chapter 10

VII. READING AND WRITING.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, what kind of writing does he love, and what does writing with blood produce?
Zarathustra says that of all written things he loves only what a person has written with his blood. He urges writing with blood, promising that then one will find that blood is spirit. He adds that understanding unfamiliar blood is no easy task, and he hates reading idlers.
Chapter 11
What does Zarathustra claim happens when everyone is allowed to learn to read?
The author argues that every one being allowed to learn to read ruins in the long run not only writing but also thinking. He says spirit was once God, then became man, and now becomes populace, and predicts that after another century of readers, spirit itself will stink.
Chapter 11
How does Zarathustra describe proverbs and the readers they suit?
He says that whoever writes in blood and proverbs does not want to be read but learnt by heart. In mountains the shortest way is from peak to peak, but that route requires long legs; likewise proverbs should be peaks, and those spoken to should be big and tall.
Chapter 11
What does Zarathustra say about the spirit of gravity and how it is slain?
When Zarathustra saw his devil, he found him serious, thorough, profound and solemn: the spirit of gravity, through whom all things fall. He declares that we slay not by wrath but by laughter, and calls for slaying the spirit of gravity together. He would believe only in a God that knows how to dance.
Chapter 11

VIII. THE TREE ON THE HILL.4 cards

In Zarathustra's tree analogy, what happens as a man seeks height and light?
Zarathustra says it is the same with man as with the tree: the more he seeks to rise into the height and light, the more vigorously his roots struggle earthward, downward, into the dark and deep—into the evil. Growth upward and descent into darkness are thus linked, not opposed.
Chapter 12
What does Zarathustra say about discovering a soul?
When the youth marvels that Zarathustra has discovered his soul, Zarathustra smiles and replies that many a soul one will never discover unless one first invents it. The remark undercuts the youth's assumption that his inner self was simply lying there waiting to be found.
Chapter 12
What does Zarathustra tell the youth about still seeking freedom?
Zarathustra says the youth is not yet free but still seeks freedom, and that his bad impulses also thirst for freedom, barking like wild dogs when his spirit tries to open prison doors. He adds that a freedman of the spirit must still purify himself, since much of the prison and mould remain in him.
Chapter 12
What danger does Zarathustra name for the noble man, and what does he urge?
Zarathustra says the noble man's danger is not becoming a good man but becoming a blusterer, scoffer, or destroyer; he has known noble ones who lost their highest hope, disparaged all high hopes, and lived shamelessly for temporary pleasures. He conjures the youth not to cast away the hero in his soul.
Chapter 12

IX. THE PREACHERS OF DEATH.3 cards

Who are the 'preachers of death' Zarathustra describes?
Zarathustra says the earth is full of the superfluous, the 'many-too-many,' who mar life, and of people to whom desistance from life must be preached. He includes the 'yellow ones' and 'black ones,' the terrible ones ruled by lusts or self-laceration, the spiritually consumptive who long for doctrines of lassitude and renunciation, and those who conclude 'Life is refuted!' from seeing an invalid, an old man, or a corpse.
Chapter 13
How does Zarathustra refute those who say 'Life is refuted'?
When the preachers of death meet an invalid, an old man, or a corpse, they immediately declare 'Life is refuted!' Zarathustra replies that only they are refuted, along with their eye, which sees only one aspect of existence. Their conclusion rests on selective perception rather than on life itself.
Chapter 13
What does Zarathustra say about people absorbed in rough labour and the momentary?
Zarathustra asks whether those to whom life is rough labour and disquiet are not tired of life and ripe for the sermon of death. He says those who love rough, rapid, new, and strange labour put up with themselves badly; their diligence is flight and the will to self-forgetfulness. If they believed more in life, they would devote themselves less to the momentary.
Chapter 13

X. WAR AND WARRIORS.4 cards

What does Zarathustra say about loving peace, and why?
Zarathustra tells his brethren in war that they shall love peace as a means to new wars, and the short peace more than the long. He advises not peace but victory, saying one can only sit peacefully when one has arrow and bow. He also inverts a common saying: it is not the good cause that hallows war, but the good war that hallows every cause.
Chapter 14
What distinction does Zarathustra draw between soldiers and warriors?
Zarathustra says he sees many soldiers but wishes he could see many warriors. He notes that 'uniform' is the name of what they wear, and wonders whether what they hide beneath it is also uniform. A warrior, by contrast, seeks his own enemy and wages war for the sake of his thoughts, not merely wearing the outward garb of service.
Chapter 14
According to Zarathustra, what is good, and what has done more great things than charity?
Asked 'What is good?' Zarathustra answers that to be brave is good, leaving 'to be good is what is pretty' to little girls. He asserts that war and courage have done more great things than charity, and that not sympathy but bravery has hitherto saved the victims. He also says one should have enemies to be hated, not enemies to be despised.
Chapter 14
What does Zarathustra call the highest thought, and how does obedience relate to it?
Zarathustra says the highest thought, which he commands his brethren to hold, is that man is something to be surpassed. He tells them their distinction shall be obedience, not resistance, since resistance is the slave's distinction, and that their commanding itself should be obeying. To the good warrior, 'thou shalt' sounds pleasanter than 'I will.'
Chapter 14

XI. THE NEW IDOL.2 cards

What sign does Zarathustra give as the mark of the state?
He gives the sign of the "confusion of language of good and evil." Each people speaks its own language of good and evil, which neighbors cannot understand, but the state lies in all such languages. He calls this confusion the will to death and says it beckons the preachers of death.
Chapter 15
Where does Zarathustra say the man who is not superfluous begins?
He says: "There, where the state ceaseth—there only commenceth the man who is not superfluous." There begins the song of the necessary ones, the single and irreplaceable melody. He urges great souls to withdraw from the idolatry of the superfluous and praises moderate poverty as leaving one less possessed.
Chapter 15

XII. THE FLIES IN THE MARKET-PLACE.3 cards

How does Zarathustra describe the actor's methods of proving and convincing?
The author argues the actor treats upsetting as proving and driving mad as convincing, and counts blood as the best of all arguments. A truth that glides only into fine ears he calls falsehood and trumpery. He believes only in gods that make a great noise in the world, and has sharp perceptions like the people plus changeable humours and ever-new beliefs.
Chapter 16
Why does Zarathustra tell his friend to flee from the small and pitiable ones?
The author argues the small ones sting in all innocence, craving blood their bloodless souls lack, and repay beneficence with secret maleficence. They feel despised by silent pride and feel small in the great one's presence, so their baseness glows in invisible vengeance. He warns that many proud structures are ruined by rain-drops and weeds, and one is not fated to be a fly-flap.
Chapter 16
What does Zarathustra say about the experience of deep fountains and where greatness dwells?
The author argues that the experience of all deep fountains is slow: they must wait long until they know what has fallen into their depths. All that is great takes place away from the market-place and from fame, and away from these have the devisers of new values always dwelt. Truth never clings to the arm of an absolute one.
Chapter 16

XIII. CHASTITY.3 cards

What does Zarathustra counsel instead of slaying one's instincts?
Zarathustra asks whether he counsels slaying instincts and answers no: he counsels "innocence in your instincts," holding that innocence belongs to animals. He does not preach chastity as a universal rule, saying chastity is a virtue with some but with many almost a vice. The ideal he names is being perfect at least as animals are.
Chapter 17
How does Zarathustra reinterpret fellow-suffering in this chapter?
Zarathustra tells his listeners they love tragedies and things that break the heart, but he distrusts their doggish lust. He says they have too cruel eyes and look wantonly toward sufferers, asking whether their lust has not disguised itself and taken the name of fellow-suffering. He adds a parable: not a few who meant to cast out their devil went thereby into the swine themselves.
Chapter 17
How do the naturally chaste ones described at the chapter's end regard chastity?
Zarathustra says there are chaste ones from their very nature; they are gentler of heart and laugh better and oftener than the lustful. They laugh at chastity and ask what it is: whether chastity is not folly, but the folly came to them and not they to it. They offered that guest harbour and heart, and let it stay as long as it will.
Chapter 17

XIV. THE FRIEND.4 cards

In Zarathustra's account, what role does the friend play for the anchorite?
Zarathustra says the anchorite thinks one is always too many about him, since one becomes two in the long run. Because 'I and me' converse too earnestly, the anchorite needs a friend. The anchorite's friend is always the third one—the cork that prevents the conversation of the two from sinking into the depths.
Chapter 18
What does Zarathustra say one should have in one's friend?
Zarathustra says one ought to honour the enemy in one's friend and shall have one's best enemy in one's friend. To have a friend, one must be willing to wage war for him, and to wage war one must be capable of being an enemy. One comes closest to the friend with the heart when one withstands him.
Chapter 18
What does Zarathustra say about showing oneself naked to a friend?
Zarathustra asks whether one would wear no raiment before a friend, and says it is in honour of the friend to show oneself as one is—but the friend wishes one to the devil for it. He who makes no secret of himself shocks others; if people were Gods, they could be ashamed of clothing. The friend should be an arrow and longing for the Superman.
Chapter 18
What does Zarathustra claim about women and friendship?
Zarathustra asserts that woman is not yet capable of friendship because a slave and a tyrant have long been concealed in her; she knows only love, which is unjust and blind to what she does not love. He calls women still cats and birds, or at best cows—then asks which men are capable of friendship. The author argues this; it is not presented as neutral fact.
Chapter 18

XV. THE THOUSAND AND ONE GOALS.3 cards

What does Zarathustra say is the origin of good and bad values?
The author argues that humans themselves created all their good and bad: "men have given unto themselves all their good and bad," not received as a voice from heaven. Valuing is creating, and valuation itself is the treasure and jewel of valued things. Without valuation, the nut of existence would be hollow. Creating ones were first peoples, and only in late times individuals.
Chapter 19
What does Zarathustra say a people calls good, and what does its table of excellencies express?
A table of excellencies hangs over every people, the voice of their Will to Power. What they think hard is laudable; what is indispensable and hard they call good; what relieves in direst distress they extol as holy. Whatever makes them rule, conquer, and shine to neighbours' dismay they regard as the highest thing, the test and meaning of all else.
Chapter 19
What is still lacking for humanity, according to Zarathustra at chapter's end?
Zarathustra says a thousand goals have existed for a thousand peoples, but the fetter for the thousand necks is still lacking: there is lacking the one goal. As yet humanity hath not a goal. He then asks whether, if humanity's goal is still lacking, humanity itself is not also still lacking.
Chapter 19

XVI. NEIGHBOUR-LOVE.4 cards

What does Zarathustra say neighbour-love really is?
Zarathustra declares that the crowd's fine words about neighbour-love are actually a bad love of themselves. People flee to the neighbour from themselves and try to make a virtue of it, but he calls this their "unselfishness" and sees it as flight rather than genuine love.
Chapter 20
Why does Zarathustra say the THOU is older than the I?
He argues the THOU has been consecrated while the I has not, so people press toward the neighbour instead of developing themselves. Because they cannot endure themselves and do not love themselves enough, they seek to mislead the neighbour into loving them and gild themselves with his error.
Chapter 20
What does Zarathustra advise instead of neighbour-love?
He advises neighbour-flight and furthest love: love toward the furthest and future ones, and higher still, love to things and phantoms. He teaches not the neighbour but the friend, who is a festival of the earth and a foretaste of the Superman, and in whom one loves the Superman as motive.
Chapter 20
What does Zarathustra say about the friend versus the neighbour?
He teaches the friend, not the neighbour: the friend should be a festival of the earth and a foretaste of the Superman, a creating friend with an overflowing heart who has a complete world to bestow. One must know how to be a sponge to be loved by overflowing hearts, and the future and furthest should motivate one's today.
Chapter 20

XVII. THE WAY OF THE CREATING ONE.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, what must one show before going into isolation?
Zarathustra asks whether the seeker has authority and strength to go into isolation, and whether he is a new strength, a new authority, a first motion, or a self-rolling wheel. He warns that many lust for loftiness and ambition, and that great thoughts can merely inflate like bellows. The seeker must demonstrate he is not merely a lusting and ambitious one.
Chapter 21
What distinction does Zarathustra draw between freedom from and freedom for?
Zarathustra says he does not care about freedom from a yoke; he wants to hear the ruling thought and to see that one is free for what. He warns that many cast away their final worth when they cast away their servitude. The eye must clearly show the purpose, not merely the escape.
Chapter 21
What does Zarathustra warn will happen to the individual in solitude?
Zarathustra warns that one day solitude will weary the individual, pride will yield, and courage will quail. He will cry 'I am alone!' and see his lowliness too closely, so that his sublimity frightens him as a phantom. Feelings that seek to slay the lonesome one must themselves die if they fail, and he asks whether one is capable of being their murderer.
Chapter 21
Whom does Zarathustra name as the worst enemy of the creating one, and what must one become?
Zarathustra says the worst enemy one can meet is oneself, waylaying oneself in caverns and forests. The lonesome one must be ready to burn in his own flame and become ashes before becoming new, and must be a heretic, wizard, fool, doubter, and villain to himself. Only then can he create a God out of his seven devils.
Chapter 21

XVIII. OLD AND YOUNG WOMEN.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, what is the one solution to everything in woman?
Zarathustra claims that everything in woman is a riddle and that its single solution is pregnancy. He frames man as a means for woman, with the child as her purpose, and asks what woman is for man in return. The author presents this as Zarathustra's speech to the old woman, not as neutral fact.
Chapter 22
What does Zarathustra say the true man wants, and why does he want woman?
Zarathustra says the true man wants two different things: danger and diversion. Therefore he wants woman as the most dangerous plaything. He adds that man shall be trained for war and woman for the recreation of the warrior, calling all else folly. These are the author's staged opinions voiced by Zarathustra, not the chapter's own verdict.
Chapter 22
What does the old woman give Zarathustra as her parting 'little truth'?
The old woman ends the chapter with the line: 'Thou goest to women? Do not forget thy whip!' She frames it as a small truth given in thanks, and asks Zarathustra to swaddle it and hold its mouth so it does not scream too loudly. The chapter closes on this line without further explanation.
Chapter 22
How does the old woman respond to Zarathustra's speech about women?
The old woman tells Zarathustra that he has said many fine things, especially for those young enough for them. She remarks that he knows little about woman yet is right about them, and wonders whether this happens because with women nothing is impossible. She then offers her own little truth by way of thanks.
Chapter 22

Chapter XVIII. Old and Young Women.4 cards

What fundamental doctrine about the sexes does the commentator say underlies Nietzsche's views?
The commentator states the fundamental doctrine is that the sexes are at bottom antagonistic—as different as blue is from yellow—and that the best means of rearing a desirable race is to preserve and foster this profound hostility. Nietzsche's quarrel, the commentator argues, is not with women but with those who would destroy the natural relationship between the sexes by making them more alike.
Chapter 23
What modern tendency does the commentator say Nietzsche strives to combat regarding the sexes?
The commentator argues Nietzsche combats the modern democratic tendency that labours to level all things, even the sexes—a movement invading the world of sex in its struggle to mitigate all differences. Nietzsche would have woman become ever more woman and man ever more man, so that their combined instincts lead to the excellence of humanity.
Chapter 23
According to the commentator, what happens if women's strongest instincts are destroyed by masculinising woman?
The commentator says the human world depends on women's powers as much as men's, and it is women's strongest and most valuable instincts that help determine who are to be the fathers of the next generation. By destroying these instincts—attempting to masculinise woman and feminise man—we jeopardise the future of our people.
Chapter 23
What does the commentator note about the discourse's last line, often used against Nietzsche?
The commentator observes that the last line of the discourse, frequently used by women as a weapon against Nietzsche's views concerning them, was actually suggested to Nietzsche by a woman, as recorded in 'Das Leben F. Nietzsche's.' The commentator also cites Zarathustra's reservation that 'with women nothing (that can be said) is impossible.'
Chapter 23

XIX. THE BITE OF THE ADDER.2 cards

What does Zarathustra say when the adder warns its poison is fatal?
Zarathustra smiles and asks when a dragon ever died of a serpent's poison, then tells the adder to take its poison back, saying it is not rich enough to present it to him. The adder then falls on his neck again and licks his wound.
Chapter 24
What does Zarathustra advise instead of returning good for evil to an enemy?
He tells his disciples not to return good for evil, since that would abash the enemy; instead prove the enemy has done something good to you. He adds that it is better to be angry than to abash anyone, and when cursed, one should curse a little too rather than bless.
Chapter 24

XX. CHILD AND MARRIAGE.4 cards

What does Zarathustra say one must be before desiring a child?
Zarathustra asks whether the young man is a man entitled to desire a child: the victorious one, the self-conqueror, the ruler of his passions and master of his virtues. He warns that otherwise the animal, necessity, isolation, or discord may speak in the wish. One must first be built oneself, "rectangular in body and soul," before building beyond oneself.
Chapter 25
How does Zarathustra define marriage, as opposed to what the many call marriage?
Zarathustra defines marriage as the will of two people to create the one who is more than those who created it, joined with reverence for one another as those exercising such a will. By contrast, the "many-too-many" or superfluous ones call marriage a union marked by poverty, filth, and pitiable self-complacency of soul, claiming their marriages are made in heaven.
Chapter 25
What does Zarathustra say about love and marriage as a torch?
Zarathustra says even the best love is only an enraptured simile and a painful ardour, a torch to light one to loftier paths. He urges people to learn first to love, drinking the bitter cup of love, because bitterness in the cup of the best love causes longing for the Superman and thirst in the creating one.
Chapter 25
What examples of mismatched marriages does Zarathustra give?
Zarathustra describes a hero who sought truth but got a small decked-up lie he calls marriage; a reserved man who chose choicely yet spoilt his company for all time; and a man who sought a handmaid with angelic virtues but became a woman's handmaid. He also says even the astutest buyers buy their wife in a sack.
Chapter 25

XXI. VOLUNTARY DEATH.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, when should a person with a goal and heir want death?
Zarathustra teaches that one who has a goal and an heir wants death at the right time for the goal and the heir. Out of reverence for both, such a person will hang up no more withered wreaths in the sanctuary of life. The voluntary death comes because the individual wants it, not merely because life ends.
Chapter 26
What does Zarathustra call the 'consummating death'?
The consummating death is one that becomes a stimulus and promise to the living. The consummating one dies triumphantly, surrounded by hoping and promising ones, and such a dying consecrates the oaths of the living. Zarathustra says this is the best death; the next best is to die in battle and sacrifice a great soul.
Chapter 26
Why does Zarathustra say Jesus died too early?
Zarathustra says the Hebrew Jesus died too early, having known only tears, the melancholy of the Hebrews, and hatred of the good and just, which seized him with longing for death. Had he remained in the wilderness away from the good and just, he might have learned to live, love the earth, and laugh. Zarathustra argues he was immature and would have disavowed his doctrine at Zarathustra's age.
Chapter 26
What does Zarathustra ask of his friends regarding his own death?
Zarathustra asks that his dying not be a reproach to man and earth, and that in dying his spirit and virtue shine like an evening after-glow around the earth. He says he will die so friends may love the earth more for his sake, and he will become earth again to rest in her. He has thrown his ball and makes friends the heirs of his goal.
Chapter 26

XXII. THE BESTOWING VIRTUE.4 cards

Why does Zarathustra say gold came to be valued most highly?
Zarathustra says gold is valued because it is uncommon, unprofiting, beaming, and soft in lustre—and because it always bestows itself. He presents gold as the image of the highest virtue, which he calls the bestowing virtue: uncommon, unprofiting, beaming, and soft of lustre, like gold.
Chapter 27
What two kinds of selfishness does Zarathustra distinguish?
Zarathustra calls one selfishness healthy and holy: the bestowing soul that draws all things in so they flow back out as gifts of love. The other is a poor, hungry, sickly selfishness that steals, eyeing lustrous things with a thief's gaze and prowling round the tables of bestowers. He links this second kind to sickness and degeneration.
Chapter 27
What does Zarathustra command his disciples to do about their virtue?
Zarathustra conjures his disciples to remain true to the earth with the power of their virtue, devoting their bestowing love and knowledge to the meaning of the earth. He urges them to lead flown-away virtue back to body and life, to determine the value of everything anew, and so to be fighters and creators.
Chapter 27
Why does Zarathustra tell his disciples to depart from him?
Zarathustra advises his disciples to depart from him and guard themselves against him, even to be ashamed of him, since he may have deceived them. He says one requites a teacher badly by remaining merely a scholar, and that they had not yet sought themselves when they found him. He bids them lose him and find themselves, promising to return only when they have all denied him.
Chapter 27

Chapter XXII. The Bestowing Virtue.3 cards

According to the chapter, what is the only kind of giving Nietzsche recognizes?
The chapter states that only giving from overflow counts: the person of overflowing strength, in mind and body, who must discharge that strength or perish. For such a person, bestowing becomes a necessity and a means of existence, and this is the only giving, the only charity, that Nietzsche recognizes.
Chapter 28
Whom does the chapter place above all others in the natural divisions of man?
The chapter says Nietzsche's teaching places the Aristotelian man of spirit above all others in the natural divisions of man. This figure is the man with overflowing strength of mind and body who must discharge that strength or perish, and the chapter presents him as the Nietzschean ideal.
Chapter 28
What exhortation does Zarathustra give his disciples in paragraph 3?
In paragraph 3, the chapter reports Zarathustra's healthy exhortation to his disciples to become independent thinkers and to find themselves before they learn any more from him. The chapter cross-references this to notes on Chapters LVI., paragraph 5, and LXXIII., paragraphs 10 and 11.
Chapter 28

XXIII. THE CHILD WITH THE MIRROR.1 cards

Why does Zarathustra say he has 'unlearned to keep silence'?
He says he has longed and looked into the distance too long, and that solitude has possessed him too long, so he has unlearned silence. He has become altogether utterance, like a brawling brook from high rocks, and will hurl his speech down into the valleys. His impatient love overflows in streams toward sunrise and sunset.
Chapter 29

Chapter XXIII. The Child with the Mirror.3 cards

Why does Nietzsche recoil from the mirror of public opinion?
The chapter explains that Nietzsche was deeply grieved by manifold misinterpretations and misunderstandings of his publications. He does not recognize himself in the mirror of public opinion and recoils terrified from the distorted reflection of his features. The mirror thus represents how the public misread his work rather than reflecting his actual intentions.
Chapter 30
What obstacle does a creator of new values face in language?
The chapter states that a creator of new values meets his surest and strongest obstacles in the very spirit of the language at his disposal. Words, like other manifestations of an evolving race, are stamped with the values long paramount in that race. An original thinker compelled to use current speech to impart new views imposes a task on communication it is unfitted to perform, causing obscurities and prolixities.
Chapter 30
What caution does Nietzsche give young writers in 'Dawn of Day'?
The chapter notes that in 'Dawn of Day' Nietzsche actually cautions young writers against the danger of allowing their thoughts to be moulded by the words at their disposal. This connects to his broader point that language carries inherited values, so original thinkers must resist letting available vocabulary shape and constrain what they think.
Chapter 30

XXIV. IN THE HAPPY ISLES.4 cards

In 'In the Happy Isles,' what does Zarathustra say people once said looking at distant seas, and what now?
Zarathustra says that people once said 'God' when they looked out upon distant seas, but he has now taught his followers to say 'Superman.' He frames this as a shift from conjecturing beyond the human to directing the creating will toward the humanly conceivable, visible, and sensible.
Chapter 31
What argument does Zarathustra give for concluding 'there are no Gods'?
Zarathustra states that if there were gods, he could not endure being no God, and therefore there are no Gods. He presents this as a conclusion he has drawn that now draws him. The claim is framed as his own reasoning and will, not offered as a neutral proof.
Chapter 31
How does Zarathustra characterize teachings about the one, the plenum, the unmoved, and the imperishable?
Zarathustra calls such teaching evil and misanthropic. He says the thought of God makes all that is straight crooked and all that stands reel, producing giddiness and vertigo and even vomiting—a 'reeling sickness.' He also says all the imperishable is but a simile and that poets lie too much.
Chapter 31
What does Zarathustra say the creator must endure, and how does willing function here?
Zarathustra says creating is the great salvation from suffering and life's alleviation, but for the creator to appear, suffering and much transformation are needed. The creator must be willing to be the child-bearer and endure birth-pangs. He says willing emancipates—the true doctrine of will and emancipation—and that his creating will is his fate.
Chapter 31

XXV. THE PITIFUL.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, what is the history of man as stated by the discerning one?
The author argues that man is "the animal with red cheeks," and that this came about because he has had to be ashamed too often. Zarathustra declares: "shame, shame, shame—that is the history of man!" On that account the noble one enjoins upon himself not to abash others, and practices bashfulness in the presence of all sufferers.
Chapter 32
Why does Zarathustra prefer to help at a distance and wash his hand after aiding a sufferer?
Zarathustra says if he must be pitiful he dislikes being called so, and prefers to be so at a distance, shrouding his head and fleeing before being recognized. Seeing a sufferer suffer made him ashamed on account of the sufferer's shame, and in helping he wounded the sufferer's pride. So he washes the hand that helped and wipes his soul.
Chapter 32
How does Zarathustra compare the evil deed to the petty thought?
Zarathustra says the evil deed is like a boil: it itcheth, irritateth, and breaketh forth, and it speaks honourably, saying "Behold, I am disease." The petty thought, by contrast, is like infection: it creepeth and hideth and wanteth to be nowhere, until the whole body is decayed by the petty infection. He says it is better to have done evilly than to have thought pettily.
Chapter 32
What does Zarathustra say about great love and pity, and what warning does he give?
Zarathustra warns against pity, saying that from thence cometh a heavy cloud unto men. He says all great love is above all its pity, for it seeketh to create what is loved, and that all creators are hard. He also recounts the devil's words: "God is dead: of his pity for man hath God died."
Chapter 32

XXVI. THE PRIESTS.3 cards

What does Zarathustra tell his disciples to do when encountering priests, his enemies?
Zarathustra instructs his disciples to pass the priests quietly and with sleeping swords, noting that even among them are heroes who have suffered too much and so want to make others suffer. He calls them bad enemies because nothing is more revengeful than their meekness, and says his own blood is related to theirs and should be honoured in them.
Chapter 33
What does Zarathustra say the priests' 'Saviour' did to them?
Zarathustra says the one they call Saviour put the priests in fetters of false values and fatuous words, and he wishes someone would save them from their Saviour. He compares false values and fatuous words to the worst monsters for mortals, a slumbering fate that eventually awakens and devours whatever has built tabernacles upon it.
Chapter 33
What does Zarathustra say about the 'Saviour' figure's spirit and pity?
Zarathustra says the Saviours' spirit consisted of defects, into each of which they put their illusion, a stop-gap they called God. Their spirit drowned in pity, and when they swelled with pity a great folly floated to the surface. He describes a sultry heart and cold head meeting to produce the blusterer, the 'Saviour,' and says greater ones than any Saviour must save his brethren.
Chapter 33

XXVII. THE VIRTUOUS.4 cards

What does Zarathustra say the virtuous secretly want, and what does he refuse to teach?
Zarathustra says the virtuous want "to be paid besides"—reward for virtue, heaven for earth, eternity for today—and he upbraids them for assuming a reward-giver or paymaster. He states he does not even teach that virtue is its own reward, since reward and punishment have been insinuated into the basis of their souls.
Chapter 34
How does Zarathustra define true virtue in relation to the Self?
Zarathustra tells his friends that virtue is their "dearest Self," not an outward thing, skin, or cloak. Like a mother loving her child, one does not want payment for it, and like a ring's thirst to reach itself again, virtue turns back on itself. He urges that their very Self be in their action as the mother is in the child.
Chapter 34
What false versions of virtue does Zarathustra mock among the "virtuous"?
Zarathustra lists parodies: those for whom virtue means writhing under the lash; those who call the slothfulness of their vices virtue; those drawn downward whose longing for God grows as they sink; creaking carts calling their drag virtue; wound-up eight-day clocks whose ticking they call virtue; the self-righteous who say "I am just" but mean "I am just—revenged"; swamp-sitters; attitude-lovers; and those who think policemen are necessary.
Chapter 34
What does Zarathustra want his friends to become weary of saying?
Zarathustra wants his friends to grow weary of old words learned from fools and liars: "reward," "retribution," "punishment," and "righteous vengeance." He also wants them weary of saying "that an action is good because it is unselfish." He claims to have taken away a hundred formulae and virtue's favorite playthings, promising new ones like the wave brings new shells.
Chapter 34

XXVIII. THE RABBLE.3 cards

What does Zarathustra say happens to fountains where the rabble drink?
Zarathustra declares that life is a well of delight, but wherever the rabble also drink, all fountains are poisoned. He says the rabble cast their eyes into the fountain and their odious smile glances up at him, and that they have poisoned holy water with their lustfulness, calling their filthy dreams delight and thereby poisoning words too.
Chapter 35
What question almost suffocates Zarathustra about the rabble?
He asks whether the rabble is also NECESSARY for life—whether poisoned fountains, stinking fires, filthy dreams, and maggots in the bread of life are required. He clarifies that it is not his hatred but his loathing that gnaws at him, and he grows weary when he finds even the rabble spiritual.
Chapter 35
How does Zarathustra say he escaped his loathing of the rabble?
He asks what happened to free him from loathing and suggests his loathing itself created wings and fountain-divining powers, so he had to fly to the loftiest height to find the well of delight again. There, he says, a life exists whose waters no rabble drink with him, and he invites friends to that height and home.
Chapter 35

XXIX. THE TARANTULAS.4 cards

In Zarathustra's parable, what motivates the preachers of equality?
Zarathustra calls them tarantulas whose souls contain revenge: wherever they bite, a black scab arises and the poison makes the soul giddy. Their talk of justice hides vengeance, and their 'Will to Equality' is the tyrant-frenzy of impotence. He says fretted conceit and suppressed envy, perhaps inherited from their fathers, break forth in them as flame and frenzy of vengeance.
Chapter 36
What counsel does Zarathustra give about people with a strong impulse to punish?
He counsels his friends to distrust all in whom the impulse to punish is powerful, calling them people of bad race and lineage out of whose countenances peer the hangman and the sleuth-hound. He also says to distrust those who talk much of their justice, since in their souls not only honey is lacking. When such people call themselves 'the good and just,' he says nothing is lacking for them to be Pharisees but power.
Chapter 36
What does Zarathustra say justice tells him about human equality?
He refuses to be mixed up with the preachers of equality, declaring that justice speaks to him: 'Men are not equal.' Nor shall they become so, he adds, asking what his love to the Superman would be if he spoke otherwise. He says people shall throng to the future over a thousand bridges, with always more war and inequality among them, and that life requires elevation, steps, and variance of climbers.
Chapter 36
How does the ruined temple illustrate Zarathustra's teaching on strife?
Near the tarantula's den rise the ruins of an ancient temple. Zarathustra says its builder knew the secret of life, teaching in plainest parable that there is struggle and inequality even in beauty, and war for power and supremacy. Vault and arch contrast divinely in struggle, and light and shade strive against each other. He urges friends to be steadfast and beautiful enemies who strive against one another.
Chapter 36

XXX. THE FAMOUS WISE ONES.2 cards

According to Zarathustra, whom have the famous wise ones actually served?
Zarathustra claims the famous wise ones have served the people and the people's superstition, not the truth, and that this is precisely why they were revered. He says they justified the people's reverence and called it their 'Will to Truth,' insisting their heart told them the voice of God came from the people.
Chapter 37
Why does Zarathustra call the famous wise ones lukewarm and unable to follow him?
Zarathustra says they are lukewarm, while all deep knowledge flows coldly and the spirit's innermost wells are ice-cold. They are not eagles, so they never felt the alarm of the spirit, and one who is not a bird should not camp above abysses. Being servants of the people, they could not go with him.
Chapter 37

XXXI. THE NIGHT-SONG.4 cards

In 'The Night-Song,' what does Zarathustra say he is, and what does he wish to be?
Zarathustra declares 'Light am I' and laments that he wishes he were night, complaining that it is his lonesomeness to be 'begirt with light.' He longs to be 'dark and nightly' so that he might 'suck at the breasts of light,' blessing the starlets and glow-worms and rejoicing in their gifts rather than living in his own light.
Chapter 38
What does Zarathustra identify as his poverty and his envy among bestowers?
He says it is his poverty that his hand never ceases bestowing, and his envy that he sees waiting eyes and brightened nights of longing. He describes the misery of all bestowers, the craving to crave, and the violent hunger in satiety—a hunger that arises out of his beauty, making him wish to injure those he illumines and rob those he has gifted.
Chapter 38
What happens to Zarathustra's happiness in bestowing, and what danger does constant bestowing bring?
He says his happiness in bestowing died in bestowing, and his virtue grew weary of itself through its abundance. He warns that he who ever bestows is in danger of losing his shame, and that to him who ever dispenses, hand and heart become callous by very dispensing. His eye no longer overflows for suppliants' shame, and his hand has grown too hard.
Chapter 38
How does Zarathustra contrast the suns' relation to dark ones with their relation to him?
He says many suns circle in desert space, speaking with their light to all that is dark but remaining silent to him—this is the hostility of light to the shining one, which light pursues unpityingly. He adds that only the dark, nightly ones extract warmth from the shining ones and drink milk and refreshment from the light's udders.
Chapter 38

XXXII. THE DANCE-SONG.4 cards

In the dance-song, what does Life say about what men cannot fathom?
Life laughs at Zarathustra for calling her unfathomable and says this is "the language of all fish": what they do not fathom, they call unfathomable. She then calls herself changeable, wild, and altogether a woman, not a virtuous one—though men name her the profound, faithful, eternal, mysterious one, always endowing her with their own virtues.
Chapter 39
What does Wisdom say to Zarathustra about why he praises Life?
Wisdom tells him angrily that he wills, craves, and loves—and on that account alone he praises Life. Zarathustra says he almost indignantly told the truth to the angry one, noting one cannot answer more indignantly than by telling the truth to one's Wisdom. He adds that he loves Wisdom because she strongly reminds him of Life.
Chapter 39
How does Zarathustra describe Wisdom when Life asks who she is?
He says one thirsts for Wisdom and is not satisfied, looks through veils and grasps through nets. He does not know if she is beautiful, but the oldest carps are still lured by her. She is changeable and wayward, sometimes biting her lip and combing against the grain; perhaps wicked and false, altogether a woman—yet when she speaks ill of herself, she seduces most.
Chapter 39
What happens to Zarathustra after the dance ends and the maidens leave?
He becomes sad. He notes the sun has long set, the meadow is damp, and coolness comes from the forest. An unknown presence gazes at him thoughtfully, and he asks whether it is still folly to live, piling up questions: why, wherefore, whereby, whither, where, how. He calls this the evening interrogating him and twice asks his friends to forgive his sadness.
Chapter 39

XXXIII. THE GRAVE-SONG.4 cards

What does Zarathustra identify as invulnerable and unburiable within him?
Zarathustra says something invulnerable and unburiable remains with him, something that would rend rocks asunder: it is called his Will. It proceeds silently and unchanged through the years, walking on his feet, hard of heart and invulnerable. He calls it the demolisher of all graves and declares that only where there are graves are there resurrections.
Chapter 40
How does Zarathustra describe his enemies' harm compared with manslaughter?
Zarathustra tells his enemies that all manslaughter is nothing compared with what they have done to him. He says they took the irretrievable from him: they slew his youth's visions and dearest marvels and took his playmates, the blessed spirits. He accuses them of making his eternal short, like a tone dying in a cold night.
Chapter 40
What does Zarathustra say his enemies did to his joy and vows?
Zarathustra says his enemies stole his nights and sold them to sleepless torture, haunting him with foul phantoms. They led an owl-monster across his path as an adverse sign, changed his nearest ones into ulcerations, cast filth on his blind course, and embittered his best honey. He also says they seduced his favourite minstrel, who then played a mournful horn.
Chapter 40
What does Zarathustra say about his highest hope and his will's course?
Zarathustra laments that his highest hope remained unspoken and unrealised, and that all the visions and consolations of his youth perished. Yet he asks how his soul rose from those sepulchres and answers with his Will, which silently goes its course on his feet, unchanged through the years. In it still lives the unrealisedness of his youth, sitting hopeful on the ruins of graves.
Chapter 40

XXXIV. SELF-SURPASSING.4 cards

What does Zarathustra say the 'wisest ones' really will when they will truth?
The author argues that what the wisest call 'Will to Truth' is really a will for the thinkableness of all being—making existence bend to the spirit as its mirror. He renames this their Will to Power, and claims even their judgments of good and evil and their estimates of value express this same will.
Chapter 41
According to Life's secret, what is the fundamental nature of all living things?
Life tells Zarathustra she is 'that which must ever surpass itself.' Wherever he found living things he found Will to Power, including in the servant's will to be master. Life says she would rather succumb than disown this: even in succumbing and leaf-falling, life sacrifices itself for power.
Chapter 41
Why does Zarathustra reject 'Will to Existence' as a formula for life?
He argues the formula misses the truth: what is not cannot will, and what already exists cannot strive for existence. Only where there is life is there will—but it is Will to Power, not Will to Life. He adds that much is reckoned higher than life itself, and that reckoning itself speaks the Will to Power.
Chapter 41
How does Zarathustra connect creating good and evil with destruction?
He says good and evil that would be everlasting does not exist; values must ever surpass themselves. Valuing ones exercise power through their values, but a stronger power grows out of them and breaks egg and shell. Whoever must be a creator in good and evil must first be a destroyer and break values in pieces—so the greatest evil belongs to the greatest good.
Chapter 41

Chapter XXXIV. Self-Surpassing.2 cards

What does the commentator say this discourse best expounds?
The commentator states that this discourse provides the best exposition in the whole book of Nietzsche's doctrine of the Will to Power, and refers readers to the Note on Chapter LVII for a thorough treatment of the question.
Chapter 42
Why does the commentator deny Nietzsche was an iconoclast by choice?
The commentator argues that those who class Nietzsche with anarchists or last century's Progressivists fail to understand the high esteem in which he always held law and discipline. His teaching on self-control is offered as evidence of his reverence for law.
Chapter 42

Chapter XXXV. The Sublime Ones.1 cards

According to the chapter, what is the secret of real greatness?
The chapter states that the secret of real greatness is being able to smile while speaking of lofty things and not being oppressed by them. By contrast, one whose hand trembles when laying hold of a beautiful thing has the quality of reverence but lacks the artist's unembarrassed friendship with the beautiful.
Chapter 44

XXXVI. THE LAND OF CULTURE.4 cards

In 'The Land of Culture,' how does Zarathustra describe present-day men's appearance?
Zarathustra says present-day men sit with fifty patches painted on faces and limbs, surrounded by fifty mirrors that flatter and repeat their play of colours. They are written over with characters of the past, pencilled over with new ones, and seem baked out of colours and glued scraps. He calls their own faces the best masks they could wear, since no one could recognise them.
Chapter 45
What does Zarathustra say remains if present-day men are stripped of veils and paints?
He says whoever would strip them of veils, wrappers, paints, and gestures would have just enough left to scare the crows. Zarathustra calls himself the scared crow who once saw them naked and without paint, and flew away when the skeleton ogled at him. He adds that he can neither endure them naked nor clothed.
Chapter 45
Why does Zarathustra call present-day men 'unfruitful' and lacking belief?
Zarathustra says they are unfruitful and therefore lack belief, while whoever had to create always had presaging dreams and astral premonitions and believed in believing. He calls them perambulating refutations of belief itself and a dislocation of all thought, and 'untrustworthy ones.' He also says all periods prate against one another in their spirits, and those dreams were realer than their awakeness.
Chapter 45
Where does Zarathustra seek a home, and what does he love instead of present-day men?
Zarathustra says he has found no home, is unsettled in all cities, and is exiled from fatherlands and motherlands. Present-day men are alien and a mockery to him. He loves only his children's land, the undiscovered in the remotest sea, and bids his sails search for it, promising to make amends to his children for being the child of his fathers.
Chapter 45

Chapter XXXVI. The Land of Culture.3 cards

What does Nietzsche reproach his former colleagues with in this chapter?
The chapter describes Nietzsche's polemic against David Strauss and his school, reproaching his former colleagues with being sterile. It states their sterility results from not believing in anything, and quotes that he who had to create always had presaging dreams and astral premonitions—and believed in believing.
Chapter 46
Why did Nietzsche assail Christian values of pity and neighbour-love?
The chapter says he attacked these values not only because they are slave-values tending to promote degeneration, but because he could only love his children's land—the undiscovered land in a remote sea—since he wished to retrieve the errors of his fathers in his children.
Chapter 46
What does the chapter say Nietzsche's altruism consists of?
The chapter states that in the last two verses Nietzsche reveals the nature of his altruism, and that it differs from Christianity's, as already discussed in the discourse 'Neighbour-Love.' Here he explains his love to mankind: he could only love his children's land, the undiscovered land in a remote sea, wishing to retrieve his fathers' errors in his children.
Chapter 46

XXXVII. IMMACULATE PERCEPTION.4 cards

What does Zarathustra call 'immaculate perception' and whom does he address?
He addresses "pure discerners" and "sentimental dissemblers," calling them covetous. Their claimed immaculate perception is wanting nothing from things, only to lie before them like a mirror with a hundred facets, gazing without desire. Zarathustra argues this is not innocence but defamed desire: they despise the earthly with their spirit while their bowels still love it, so they feel shame.
Chapter 47
According to Zarathustra, where are innocence and beauty truly found?
Innocence is where there is will to procreation; whoever seeks to create beyond himself has the purest will. Beauty is where one must will with one's whole will, willing to love and perish so an image does not remain merely an image. Loving and perishing rhyme, and will to love means readiness for death—unlike the emasculated ogling the pure ones christen "contemplation."
Chapter 47
What curse does Zarathustra pronounce on the 'immaculate ones'?
He curses them to never bring forth, even though they lie broad and teeming on the horizon like the moon that seemed pregnant with a sun. Their desire lacks innocence, and they defame desiring to compensate. He also warns that a God's mask hides a coiling snake, and admits even Zarathustra was once duped by their godlike exterior before coming near and seeing the serpent's filth.
Chapter 47
How does Zarathustra contrast solar love with the moon's love?
The moon's love affair ends at dawn: it is covetous, jealous, and dishonest, slinking cat-like over roofs. Solar love, by contrast, is innocence and creative desire. The sun comes impatiently over the sea, thirsting to suck its depths to her height, so the sea becomes vapour, height, path of light, and light itself. Zarathustra says he loves life and all deep seas like the sun, and knowledge means all that is deep shall ascend to his height.
Chapter 47

XXXVIII. SCHOLARS.4 cards

Why does Zarathustra say he has left the scholars' house?
Zarathustra declares he has departed from the house of the scholars and slammed the door behind him. He says his soul sat hungry too long at their table, and that he never acquired their knack for investigating, which he likens to nut-cracking. He prefers freedom and the air over fresh soil to their honours and dignities, and would rather sleep on ox-skins than on those honours.
Chapter 48
How does Zarathustra characterize scholars as spectators?
He says they sit cool in the cool shade and want in everything to be merely spectators, avoiding where the sun burns on the steps. Like people in the street who gape at passers-by, they wait and gape at thoughts others have thought. When seized, they raise dust like flour-sacks, though it comes from corn and the yellow delight of summer fields.
Chapter 48
What mechanical metaphors does Zarathustra use for scholars?
He calls them good clockworks that indicate the hour without mistake if wound up properly, making only a modest noise. He also compares them to millstones and pestles: throw them seed-corn and they grind it small, making white dust of it. Their fingers understand all threading, knitting, and weaving, so they make the hose of the spirit.
Chapter 48
Why do scholars dislike Zarathustra living above them?
Zarathustra says that when he lived with them he lived above them, so they disliked him. They want to hear nothing of anyone walking above their heads, so they put wood, earth, and rubbish between him and their heads to deafen his tread. He calls this a 'false ceiling,' and says they put mankind's faults and weaknesses between themselves and him.
Chapter 48

XXXIX. POETS.4 cards

Why does Zarathustra say poets lie too much?
Zarathustra says poets lie because they know too little and are bad learners, so they are obliged to lie. They adulterate their wine, muddle their water to seem deep, and believe in the people's "wisdom" as a secret access to knowledge. He also admits he himself is a poet, and that poets dream of many things betwixt heaven and earth.
Chapter 49
What does Zarathustra say about gods and Supermen?
Zarathustra argues that all Gods are poet-symbolisations and poet-sophistications. Poets are drawn aloft to the realm of the clouds, where they set their gaudy puppets and call them Gods and Supermen. He asks whether these are light enough for such chairs, and says he is weary of the inadequate being insisted on as actual.
Chapter 49
How does Zarathustra describe the poets' depth and purity?
Zarathustra calls poets superficial and shallow seas, saying they did not think sufficiently into the depth, so their feeling did not reach the bottom. He says they are not pure enough for him: they muddle their water that it may seem deep, and would prove themselves reconcilers, but are mediaries, mixers, half-and-half, and impure.
Chapter 49
What does Zarathustra find in poets instead of a soul?
Zarathustra says that when he cast his net into the poets' sea meaning to catch good fish, he always drew up the head of some ancient God. He says one finds pearls in them, making them like hard molluscs, but instead of a soul he has often found salt slime. He also says they learned the sea's vanity, calling the sea the peacock of peacocks.
Chapter 49

XL. GREAT EVENTS.3 cards

What does Zarathustra say about the greatest events?
Zarathustra tells the fire-dog that the greatest events are not the noisiest but the stillest hours. He says the world revolves not around inventors of new noise but around inventors of new values, and it revolves inaudibly. He has unlearned belief in 'great events' when there is much roaring and smoke about them.
Chapter 50
What does Zarathustra tell the fire-dog about the state and church?
When the fire-dog asks what a church is, Zarathustra answers that it is a kind of state, and the most mendacious. He says the state, like the fire-dog, likes to speak with smoke and roaring, pretending to speak from the heart of things, and seeks by all means to be the most important creature on earth.
Chapter 50
What does Zarathustra say about overthrowing statues and the heart of the earth?
Zarathustra tells statue-overthrowers it is folly to throw salt into the sea and statues into the mud. The statue's life and beauty grow again out of contempt, and it will thank the subverters. He counsels kings and churches to let themselves be overthrown so virtue may come to them. He says the heart of the earth is of gold.
Chapter 50

Chapter XL. Great Events.1 cards

To whom does Zarathustra address his remarks about 'freedom' and 'Great Events'?
He addresses them to the fire-dog, the creature the chapter identifies as the spirit of revolution. Zarathustra tells the fire-dog that all roar most eagerly for 'freedom,' but that he has unlearned belief in 'Great Events' when there is much roaring and smoke about them.
Chapter 51

XLI. THE SOOTHSAYER.4 cards

What doctrine does the soothsayer say accompanies mankind's great sadness?
The soothsayer describes a doctrine and faith that runs beside the sadness: "All is empty, all is alike, all hath been!" He reports that the best grow weary of their works, that labour seems vain, wine turns to poison, fountains dry up, and the sea recedes. People become too weary even to die, and so keep awake and live on "in sepulchres."
Chapter 52
How does the soothsayer's speech affect Zarathustra physically and emotionally?
Hearing the soothsayer, Zarathustra is touched in his heart and transformed; he goes about sorrowfully and wearily, becoming like those the soothsayer described. He grieves over how to preserve his light through the coming long twilight. For three days he takes no meat or drink, has no rest, and loses his speech, until he finally falls into a deep sleep while his disciples keep anxious watch.
Chapter 52
What does Zarathustra dream while he is afflicted?
He dreams he has renounced all life and become a night-watchman and grave-guardian in the mountain-fortress of Death, guarding glass coffins of vanquished life amid dust and midnight brightness. Carrying rustiest keys, he hears thrice-pealing knocks and cries "Alpa! who carrieth his ashes unto the mountain?" A roaring wind throws a black coffin at him; it bursts and spouts a thousand peals of laughter from caricatures of children, angels, owls, fools, and butterflies.
Chapter 52
How does the disciple Zarathustra loves most interpret the dream?
The disciple says Zarathustra's own life interprets the dream: he is the shrill wind that bursts open the gates of Death's fortress, and the coffin full of many-hued malices and angel-caricatures of life. His laughter will frighten and prostrate the grave-guardians, and he will not disappear when the long twilight and mortal weariness come. The disciple adds that Zarathustra dreamed his enemies, and as he awoke from them, so shall they awaken and come to him.
Chapter 52

XLII. REDEMPTION.2 cards

What does Zarathustra call a 'reversed cripple'?
Zarathustra says he sees worse things than people missing an eye, ear, or leg: men who lack everything except an excess of one thing—nothing more than a big eye, big mouth, or big belly. He calls these 'reversed cripples,' and cites the man who was all ear on a thin stalk, whom the people called a genius.
Chapter 53
Why is the Will still a prisoner despite willing?
Willing emancipates, but the Will cannot will backwards. Its 'It was' is its teeth-gnashing and lonesomest tribulation: impotent toward what has been done, it becomes a malicious spectator of the past. Because it cannot break time, the imprisoned Will acts foolishly and takes revenge on all that suffers.
Chapter 53

Chapter XLII. Redemption.4 cards

According to the chapter, what are the 'great men' described as?
Zarathustra tells the cripples of other cripples: the great men of this world who have one organ or faculty inordinately developed at the cost of their other faculties. The chapter notes this is doubtless a reference to a fact often noticeable in giants of art, science, or religion.
Chapter 54
What does Nietzsche call 'Redemption' in this chapter?
The chapter states that redemption is the ability to say of all that is past: 'Thus would I have it.' The inability to say this, and the resentment resulting from it, is regarded by Nietzsche as the source of all feelings of revenge and all desires to punish.
Chapter 54
What does Nietzsche claim punishment really is?
The chapter says punishment is, to Nietzsche, merely a euphemism for the word revenge, invented in order to still our consciences. This ties to his view that resentment over the unchangeable past is the source of all feelings of revenge and desires to punish.
Chapter 54
Who, per the chapter, knows neither revenge nor despair?
He who can be proud of his enemies and grateful to them for the obstacles they put in his way; who can regard his worst calamity as the extra strain on the bow of his life, sending the arrow of his longing further than hoped. This man truly has found redemption and can call the worst in his life and himself his best.
Chapter 54

XLIII. MANLY PRUDENCE.4 cards

What does Zarathustra call his first manly prudence?
Zarathustra says his first manly prudence is to allow himself to be deceived rather than stay on guard against deceivers. If he guarded against man, man could not be an anchor to his ball; he would be pulled upward and away toward the Superman. He accepts living blindly among men so his hand keeps belief in firmness.
Chapter 55
Why is Zarathustra more forbearing to the vain than to the proud?
The author argues wounded vanity is the mother of all tragedies, while wounded pride grows something better than pride. The vain are good actors who invent and represent themselves, curing Zarathustra's melancholy and keeping him attached to man as to a drama. He also finds them modest, since they are unconscious of their modesty.
Chapter 55
What is Zarathustra's third manly prudence regarding the wicked?
Zarathustra says he is not put out of conceit with the wicked by others' timorousness. He finds human wickedness below its fame, and asks why rattle-snakes still rattle. He holds there is still a future even for evil, and that greater dragons must come so the Superman may have a superdragon worthy of him.
Chapter 55
What is Zarathustra's last manly prudence toward neighbors?
Zarathustra wants to see his neighbors disguised as 'the good and just'—well-attired, vain, and estimable—and will himself sit among them disguised. He does so that he may mistake them and himself. He calls this his last manly prudence, after longing to soar away from the highest and best ones.
Chapter 55

Chapter XLIII. Manly Prudence.4 cards

According to the chapter, what must one who would not languish among men learn to do?
The chapter states that he who would not languish amongst men must learn to drink out of all glasses, and he who would keep clean amongst men must know how to wash himself even with dirty water. This means adapting outwardly to all company so the inner difference stays hidden.
Chapter 56
How does the chapter define the true individualist, as opposed to the eccentric?
The author argues the true individualist is not the one who wears eccentric clothes or does eccentric things. Rather, the profound man feels his difference from others so keenly that he adapts outwardly in all respects, so the inner difference is overlooked. He is shamefast and bashful, wishing not to be discovered.
Chapter 56
Why does the profound man avoid outward show of his difference from others?
The chapter explains that the profound man, by nature differentiated from his fellows, feels the difference too keenly to call attention to it by outward show. He is shamefast and bashful with those around him and wishes not to be discovered, just as one instinctively avoids lavish display of comfort or wealth before a poor friend.
Chapter 56
What does the chapter say about the superior man wearing a mask?
The chapter presents the injunction that the select and superior man must wear a mask, a theme it says is heard often in Beyond Good and Evil. Here the mask is explained as outward adaptation: the inner difference is concealed so it should be overlooked by those around him.
Chapter 56

XLIV. THE STILLEST HOUR.4 cards

What does Zarathustra call his 'terrible mistress,' and when does she speak to him?
Zarathustra names his 'stillest hour' as his terrible mistress, saying she spoke to him 'yesterday towards evening.' He describes the experience as the ground giving way beneath a person falling asleep—the dream beginning. He tells his friends this so their hearts will not harden against him as he suddenly departs.
Chapter 57
What does the stillest hour repeatedly demand of Zarathustra, and how does he first resist?
The voiceless voice asks whether Zarathustra 'knowest it' and accuses him of not speaking it. He first answers defiantly that he knows it but will not speak it, then weeps like a child and pleads to be exempt, saying it is beyond his power. The voice tells him to speak his word and succumb, regardless of himself.
Chapter 57
According to the voice, what is harder than executing great things, and what does Zarathustra lack?
The voice says executing great things is difficult, but commanding great things is more difficult. It calls Zarathustra's refusal his 'most unpardonable obstinacy,' since he has the power but will not rule. Zarathustra replies that he lacks the lion's voice for all commanding. The voice answers that the stillest words bring the storm.
Chapter 57
Why must Zarathustra return to solitude, according to the final words of the stillest hour?
The voice tells him his fruits are ripe but he is not ripe for his fruits, so he must go into solitude again to become mellow. It also says he must become a child and be without shame, surmounting even his youth. After laughter flees and double stillness falls, Zarathustra lies on the ground sweating, then departs alone at night.
Chapter 57

XLV. THE WANDERER.4 cards

According to Zarathustra, what does one ultimately experience through fate and wandering?
Zarathustra says that whatever fate and experience may overtake him, a wandering and mountain-climbing will be in it, and "in the end one experienceth only oneself." He adds that the time when accidents could befall him is past, and whatever falls to his lot is already his own; his Self returns to him at last after being scattered among things and accidents.
Chapter 58
What does Zarathustra say must happen to the gentlest part of a person on the way to greatness?
On the way to greatness, Zarathustra says the gentlest in a person must become the hardest, and one must mount upon one's own head and beyond one's own heart if all ladders fail. He also says one must learn to look away from oneself to see many things, and that he does not praise the land where butter and honey flow.
Chapter 58
Where does Zarathustra say the highest mountains come from?
Zarathustra says he once asked whence the highest mountains come, and learned that they come out of the sea: that testimony is inscribed on their stones and on the walls of their summits. He concludes that out of the deepest must the highest come to its height, and therefore he must first go deeper down into pain than he ever ascended.
Chapter 58
What does Zarathustra call the danger of the lonesomest one, and how does he react after laughing?
Zarathustra calls love the danger of the lonesomest one—love to anything, if it only live—and mocks his own folly and modesty in love, noting he has always approached terrible things confidently and would caress every monster. After laughing a second time, he thinks of his abandoned friends, upbraids himself, and weeps bitterly with anger and longing.
Chapter 58

XLVI. THE VISION AND THE ENIGMA.4 cards

What does the dwarf whisper about time and truth at the gateway?
The dwarf murmurs contemptuously that "Everything straight lieth" and "All truth is crooked; time itself is a circle." Zarathustra rebukes him as the spirit of gravity for taking this too lightly, then unfolds his own account of the gateway called "This Moment," from which an eternal lane runs backwards and another forwards, so that whatever can happen must have already happened and must return.
Chapter 59
What is the name inscribed on the gateway, and what two roads meet there?
The gateway is inscribed "This Moment." Two roads come together at it: a long lane backwards continuing for an eternity, and a long lane forward, another eternity. They are antithetical and directly abut one another, yet meet at this gateway. Zarathustra asks whether, followed further, these roads would remain eternally antithetical—setting up his thought of eternal return.
Chapter 59
What does Zarathustra call courage, and what does it slay?
Zarathustra calls courage the best slayer—courage which attacks, for in every attack there is sound of triumph. Man is the most courageous animal and has thereby overcome every animal and every pain. Courage slays giddiness at abysses, fellow-suffering (the deepest abyss), and even death itself, saying: "Was that life? Well! Once more!"
Chapter 59
What vision does Zarathustra describe of the shepherd and the serpent?
Zarathustra sees a young shepherd writhing and choking, a heavy black serpent hanging from his mouth, bitten fast in his throat. His hand cannot pull it out, so a cry bursts from him: "Bite! Its head off! Bite!" The shepherd bites hard, spits out the serpent's head, and springs up—no longer shepherd or man, but a transfigured, light-surrounded being who laughed a laughter no human ever laughed.
Chapter 59

Chapter XLVI. The Vision and the Enigma.4 cards

In the parable, what does the snake choking the shepherd represent?
The snake that holds fast to the young shepherd's throat represents the stultifying and paralysing social values that threaten to shatter humanity. The shepherd is the man of to-day, and Zarathustra's cry "Bite! Bite! Its head off!" is the author's exasperated call to mankind to alter their values before it is too late.
Chapter 60
What does Nietzsche mean by "the spirit of gravity"?
According to the chapter, "the spirit of gravity" refers to the oppressive and paralysing sense of guilt and of sin. Nietzsche thought the values of Christianity and Judaic traditions had passed into man's blood and become instincts. The half-dwarf, half-mole creature he calls his devil and arch-enemy is nothing more than the heavy millstone of guilty conscience and the concept of sin hanging round men's necks.
Chapter 60
What does Zarathustra do when he cannot pull the snake from the shepherd's throat?
Zarathustra pulls at the reptile with all his might but in vain. At last, in despair, he appeals to the young man's will, knowing what a ghastly operation he is recommending, and cries, "Bite! Bite! Its head off! Bite!" as the only possible solution. The shepherd bites, spits the head far away, and rises a transfigured, light-surrounded being who laughed.
Chapter 60
What doctrine does Nietzsche announce after casting off the dwarf?
The chapter states that Nietzsche is able to think cheerfully and optimistically of life recurring again and again once he has cast the dwarf from his shoulders. He then announces his doctrine of the Eternal Recurrence of all things great and small to his arch-enemy and in defiance of him. The chapter's commentary calls this a very daring conjecture and doubts Nietzsche properly estimated its worth.
Chapter 60

XLVII. INVOLUNTARY BLISS.4 cards

Why does Zarathustra push away the 'blissful hour' that arrives?
Zarathustra sends the blissful hour away because it comes at the wrong time: he stands ready for his severest pain and his final testing, not for happiness. He tells it to go instead to his children and bless them before eventide. He distrusts the insidious beauty of happiness and life, comparing himself to a jealous lover who pushes the beloved ahead of him.
Chapter 61
What does Zarathustra mean by calling his children 'verdant in their first spring'?
His children are his created thoughts and hopes, still young and growing together like trees in his garden and best soil. Where such trees stand side by one another, he says, there ARE Happy Isles. One day he will take each up and place it alone, so it learns lonesomeness, defiance and prudence and becomes a living lighthouse of unconquerable life.
Chapter 61
What 'abysmal thought' does Zarathustra carry but not yet dare to call up?
Zarathustra speaks of an abysmal thought that is his own thought, which burrows and throbs at his throat; its very muteness seems to strangle him. He has carried it about with him but never ventured to call it up, lacking strength for his final lion-wantonness. He vows that one day he will find the lion's voice to summon it.
Chapter 61
How does the chapter end, and what does Zarathustra say about happiness?
Zarathustra waits all night for his misfortune, but in vain: the night stays clear and happiness comes nearer. Toward morning he laughs and says mockingly that happiness runs after him because he does not run after women—adding that happiness, however, is a woman. The author presents this as Zarathustra's ironic closing remark.
Chapter 61

XLVIII. BEFORE SUNRISE.4 cards

What does Zarathustra detest more than passing clouds, and why?
Zarathustra says he detests passing clouds—the 'stealthy cats of prey'—because they take from him and the heaven what is common to them: the vast unbounded Yea- and Amen-saying. He also detests the 'mediators and mixers,' half-and-half ones who have learned neither to bless nor to curse from the heart, and says he would rather sit in a tub under a closed heaven than see the luminous heaven tainted by them.
Chapter 62
What does Zarathustra mean by calling himself a blesser and Yea-sayer?
Zarathustra says he strove long so his hands might be free for blessing. His blessing is to stand above everything as its own heaven, its round roof and azure bell of eternal security. He calls blessed whoever blesses thus, since all things are baptized at the font of eternity beyond good and evil, while good and evil themselves are only fugitive shadows, damp afflictions, and passing clouds.
Chapter 62
What does Zarathustra teach about chance replacing an eternal Will?
Zarathustra teaches that above all things stands the heaven of chance, innocence, hazard, and wantonness. He says he gave back 'Hazard' as the oldest nobility, emancipating things from bondage under purpose, and put wantonness in place of an 'eternal Will.' He claims that in everything one thing is impossible—rationality—and that things prefer to dance on the feet of chance.
Chapter 62
How does Zarathustra contrast day with what may be uttered?
As the chapter closes, Zarathustra asks whether the heaven blushes from shame at being two of them, or bids him be silent because day comes. He says the world is deep, deeper than day could ever read, and that not everything may be uttered in presence of day. Then, calling the heaven his happiness before sunrise, he says day comes and they must part.
Chapter 62

XLIX. THE BEDWARFING VIRTUE.4 cards

What does Zarathustra conclude about people after wandering among them?
Zarathustra observes that everything has become smaller: doorways are lower, and he must stoop to pass through them. He laments having to stoop before "the small ones" and longs for home where he will no longer need to. The same day he delivers his discourse on the bedwarfing virtue, arguing that people have shrunk through their doctrine of small happiness and comfort.
Chapter 63
Why does Zarathustra call the small people's moderation cowardice?
The author argues that the small people want comfort above all, and only moderate virtue is compatible with comfort. Their kindness and consideration stem from wanting no one to hurt them, so they anticipate everyone's wishes. Zarathustra insists this is cowardice, though they call it virtue, and that their middle position between dying gladiators and satisfied swine is mediocrity, though they call it moderation.
Chapter 63
How does Zarathustra describe the rulers' hypocrisy among the small people?
Zarathustra says the worst hypocrisy is that even those who command feign the virtues of those who serve, chanting "I serve, thou servest, we serve." He laments the case where the first lord is only the first servant. He also notes that some will genuinely, but most are willed, and many are actors without knowing or intending it, with genuine people always rare.
Chapter 63
What does Zarathustra mean by calling himself godless?
Zarathustra proclaims himself "Zarathustra the godless" in response to teachers of submission who shout it as an accusation. He says his equals are those who give themselves their Will and divest themselves of all submission. He cooks every chance in his own pot, welcoming it as his food only when fully cooked, and urges people to first be such as CAN WILL and love themselves with great love and great contempt.
Chapter 63

Chapter XLIX. The Bedwarfing Virtue.4 cards

What does Nietzsche label modern notions of virtue and moderation?
The author argues that Nietzsche labels modern notions of virtue and moderation as "cowardice" and "mediocrity." The chapter ties this to verse 24 and to Frederick the Great's saying, "I am the first servant of the State," which Nietzsche saw as a bad sign that even rulers had lost the courage of their positions.
Chapter 64
What does Nietzsche blame for undermining the aristocracy of character?
The author argues that Nietzsche blames the Christian "lie of the equality of souls" for most craftily undermining the aristocracy of character. Nietzsche connects this to the belief in the "privilege of the many," which makes revolutions, and claims Christian valuations translate every revolution into blood and crime.
Chapter 64
What does Nietzsche mean by "the great noontide"?
The chapter explains that Nietzsche called the present period—our period—the noon of man's history. Dawn is behind us and the childhood of mankind is over. Now we know, so there is no longer any excuse for mistakes that would botch and disfigure the type man. The expression recurs throughout Nietzsche's works.
Chapter 64
Why does the chapter deny that Nietzsche was an anarchist?
The chapter states that in verse 20 Zarathustra makes yet another attempt to define his entirely anti-anarchical attitude. It argues that if such passages had not been overlooked or deliberately ignored, it would be impossible to understand how Nietzsche ever became associated with that political party, which the chapter calls foul.
Chapter 64

L. ON THE OLIVE-MOUNT.4 cards

How does Zarathustra say he relates to winter, his 'bad guest'?
Zarathustra honours winter but gladly leaves him alone, running with warm feet and warm thoughts to the sunny corner of his olive-mount. There he laughs at his stern guest and remains fond of him, because winter clears his house of flies and quiets little noises, and makes the lanes lonesome. He says a hard guest is winter, but he honours him rather than worshipping fire-idols.
Chapter 65
What does Zarathustra say about the 'long clear silence' and its origin?
Zarathustra asks whether he learned the long clear silence from the winter-sky or it from him, or whether each devised it himself. He argues that of all good things the origin is a thousandfold, and good roguish things spring into existence for joy. He calls the long silence a good roguish thing, and says his silence has learned not to betray itself by silence.
Chapter 65
Why does Zarathustra conceal his happiness behind winter and accidents?
Zarathustra says he shows envious, fire-warmed souls only the ice and winter of his peaks, not the solar girdles his mountain winds around. He puts accidents, winter-privations, bear-skin caps and snowflakes around his happiness so their envy can endure it. He even lets himself be swathed in their pity, sighing and chattering with cold, so they will not see his depth.
Chapter 65
What distinction does Zarathustra draw between two kinds of lonesomeness?
Zarathustra says that to one man, lonesomeness is the flight of the sick one; to another, it is the flight from the sick ones. He lets the squinting knaves around him hear him chattering and sighing with winter-cold, and with such sighing he flees from their heated rooms. They mourn that he will freeze to death at the ice of knowledge, while he runs with warm feet on his olive-mount.
Chapter 65

LI. ON PASSING-BY.4 cards

What does the 'ape of Zarathustra' urge Zarathustra to do at the great city's gate?
The foaming fool, called the ape of Zarathustra, springs forward and blocks his way, telling him he has nothing to seek and everything to lose in the great city. He urges Zarathustra to spit on the city's gate and turn back, calling the city a slum where great thoughts are boiled small and spirit becomes a verbal game.
Chapter 66
How does Zarathustra respond to the fool's reviling of the great city?
Zarathustra interrupts and silences him, saying his speech and species have long disgusted him. He asks why the fool lived so long by the swamp that he became a frog and toad, and says he despises the fool's contempt. Zarathustra calls him a grunting-pig, arguing his foaming comes from wounded vanity and desire for vengeance, not love.
Chapter 66
According to Zarathustra, what is the motive behind the fool's grunting and foaming?
Zarathustra says the fool grunts because no one sufficiently flattered him, so he sat beside filth to have cause for grunting and vengeance. He declares vengeance is all the fool's foaming and that he has divined him well. He adds that the fool's words injure Zarathustra even when the fool is right.
Chapter 66
What parting precept does Zarathustra give the fool, and what does he do next?
After sighing over the great city and saying he loathes it too, Zarathustra gives the fool a parting precept: where one can no longer love, one should pass by. He then passes by both the fool and the great city. He also says such pillars of fire must precede the great noontide, which has its own time and fate.
Chapter 66

Chapter LI. On Passing-by.3 cards

Whom does the chapter call 'Zarathustra's ape'?
The chapter calls 'Zarathustra's ape' Nietzsche's extreme opposite, the type for whom Nietzsche is most frequently mistaken by the unwary. The text says he is one of those at whose hands Nietzsche suffered most during his lifetime, and at whose hands his philosophy has suffered most since his death. Many adopted Nietzsche's mannerisms and word-coinages while sharing nothing with him beyond plagiarised ideas.
Chapter 67
How does the chapter distinguish two kinds of destroyers?
The chapter distinguishes iconoclasts who destroy out of love and are therefore creators from others who destroy out of resentment and revengefulness and are therefore revolutionists and anarchists. The superficial observer and much of the public, not knowing this, confound the two to the detriment of the nobler type. The author argues this confusion wrongly associates Nietzsche with lesser, noisier men.
Chapter 67
Why does Zarathustra interrupt the fool's speech?
Zarathustra interrupts because the fool's speech and his species have long disgusted him. He cries 'Stop this at once,' and declares that out of love alone shall his contempt and his warning bird take wing, but not out of the swamp. The chapter urges this discourse be taken to heart by those too ready to associate Nietzsche with mountebanks and mummers.
Chapter 67

LII. THE APOSTATES.4 cards

What does Zarathustra say the apostates secretly do, despite shame?
Zarathustra confronts those who confess "We have again become pious" and accuses them of praying again. He calls it a shame to pray—not for all, but for himself, the listener, and anyone whose conscience is in the head. He says the faint-hearted devil in them persuades them that "there is a God," so they belong to the light-dreading type.
Chapter 68
According to Zarathustra, why do the apostates turn pious?
The author argues the apostates are cowardly—the great majority, commonplace and superfluous. Their hearts desponded, perhaps because loneliness swallowed Zarathustra and they waited in vain for his trumpet-calls. Few have persistent courage and exuberance with a patient spirit; the rest are cowardly. He tells Zarathustra not to lament but to blow like wind so the withered leaves fall away faster.
Chapter 68
How does Zarathustra describe the gods' end?
Zarathustra says the old Deities did not gloom themselves to death—people fabricate that. Instead they laughed themselves to death when a jealous God uttered "There is but one God! Thou shalt have no other Gods before me!" All the gods laughed, shook their thrones, and exclaimed: "Is it not just divinity that there are Gods, but no God?"
Chapter 68
What do the two night-watchmen say about God and belief?
At the garden-wall, two old night-watchmen debate: one says God cares not sufficiently for his children as human fathers do; the other says he is too old to care. They question whether he has children at all, since no one can prove it unless he proves it himself. They conclude proving is difficult for him and that he stresses believing in him—and that belief saves him.
Chapter 68

Chapter LII. The Apostates.3 cards

Who does Nietzsche describe as "tasters of everything" who plunge into independent thought?
The chapter describes breathless and hasty "tasters of everything" who plunge too rashly into the sea of independent thought and heresy. Having miscalculated their strength, they cannot keep their head above water and soon clamber back to the conventions of the age they intended reforming. The author argues such people lack the strength and deep breathing needed to be truly good or evil.
Chapter 69
What does Nietzsche say is required to be really good or evil?
The chapter states that in order to be really good or evil, some strength and deep breathing is required. The apostates, by contrast, have never been devils and do not become angels. The author argues they lack the capacity for either extreme, which is why they retreat to convention rather than genuinely reforming or rejecting it.
Chapter 69
How does the chapter say supporters of orthodoxy use the apostates?
The chapter states that those more interested in supporting orthodoxy than in being over nice about the kind of support they give it often refer to these apostates as evidence in favour of the true faith. The apostates' retreat from independent thought is thus cited as proof of orthodoxy's correctness, regardless of the quality of that support.
Chapter 69

LIII. THE RETURN HOME.4 cards

How does Zarathustra distinguish forsakenness from lonesomeness?
The author has lonesomeness describe them as two different matters: forsakenness is what Zarathustra experienced among men—standing irresolute beside a corpse, sitting thirsty among the drunken, driven out by the stillest hour. Lonesomeness, by contrast, is his home, where he is "at home and house with thyself" and can speak openly. He is told he was more forsaken among the many than with lonesomeness.
Chapter 70
What does Zarathustra say about talking and understanding among men?
He claims that down among men everything talks and nothing is understood: if one announces wisdom with bells, the shopmen out-jingle it with pennies. Everything falls into water, nothing into deep wells; everything cackles but no one sits quietly to hatch eggs. What was once the secret of profound souls now belongs to street-trumpeters. He calls this human hubbub his greatest danger, now behind him.
Chapter 70
What does Zarathustra identify as his greatest danger among men?
The author has Zarathustra say his greatest danger lay in indulging and pitying, since all human hubbub wishes to be indulged and tolerated. Among men he lived disguised, ready to misjudge himself to endure them, and when they misjudged him he indulged them more than himself. He found those calling themselves "the good" the most poisonous flies, stinging and lying in all innocence, and says pity teaches one to lie.
Chapter 70
How does Zarathustra describe his return to lonesomeness as home?
He calls lonesomeness his home, addressing it as a mother might smile and threaten with a finger. With it all is open and clear, hours run lighter, and all being wants to become words and learn from him how to talk. He says he has unlearned silence and now breathes mountain-freedom, his nose freed from human hubbub, his soul sneezing and shouting "Health to thee!"
Chapter 70

Chapter LIII. The Return Home.3 cards

According to the commentary, what was Nietzsche's greatest danger, and why?
The commentary states that in verse 30 Nietzsche identifies pity as his greatest danger. It contrasts the broad altruism of a law-giver thinking over vast eras with a transient, meaner sympathy for the neighbour. The author argues this neighbourly pity, which Nietzsche suffered from more than his contemporaries, involved enormous dangers for himself and for the next and subsequent generations.
Chapter 71
How does the commentary say Nietzsche's love for his fellows was misunderstood?
The author argues Nietzsche's great love for his fellows, confessed in the Prologue and at the root of all his teaching, eludes the average philanthropist and modern man, who cannot see the wood for the trees. A philanthropy sacrificing the present minority for the majority of posterity evades his grasp, so Nietzsche's philosophy gets shelved as brutal, cold, and hard because it declares Christian values a danger to the future.
Chapter 71
Why does Nietzsche return to loneliness in 'The Return Home'?
The commentary says Nietzsche tried to be all things to all men, being sufficiently fond of his fellows for that. In 'The Return Home' he describes how he ultimately returns to loneliness in order to recover from the effects of his experiment. The chapter is presented as an autobiographical note contrasting the superficiality of the rabble with the peaceful and profound depths of the anchorite.
Chapter 71

LIV. THE THREE EVIL THINGS.3 cards

How does Zarathustra describe voluptuousness for 'free hearts' versus the 'withered'?
Zarathustra says voluptuousness is a sting and stake to hair-shirted despisers of the body and a sweet poison only to the withered. To free hearts it is innocent and free, the garden-happiness of the earth; to the lion-willed it is the great cordial and reverently saved wine of wines, a symbolic happiness of higher hope.
Chapter 72
What does Zarathustra say 'passion for power' does to the heart-hard and to hollow things?
Zarathustra calls passion for power the glowing scourge of the heart-hard and a cruel torture reserved for the cruellest. It is an earthquake that breaks all that is rotten and hollow, a punitive demolisher of whited sepulchres, and a terrible teacher of great contempt that preaches "Away with thee!" to cities and empires.
Chapter 72
What does Zarathustra mean by 'wholesome, healthy selfishness' and what does it banish?
The author argues selfishness springing from the powerful soul with a handsome, triumphing body is wholesome and blessed. It calls "bad" all that is cowardly, despises the ever-solicitous and complaining, and spits on all kinds of slaves—those servile before gods or men—along with submissive, doggish, all-enduring wisdom.
Chapter 72

Chapter LIV. The Three Evil Things.4 cards

Which three 'evil things' does Nietzsche weigh and reinstate in honour?
Voluptuousness (sensual pleasure), thirst of power, and selfishness. The chapter says these are the three forces in humanity which Christianity has most garbled and besmirched, and Nietzsche endeavours to restore them to their former places of honour.
Chapter 73
What kind of voluptuousness does Nietzsche's philosophy defend?
The chapter says Nietzsche aims to give healthy, normal men innocence and a clean conscience in their desires. It is not an applause of vulgar sensualists who respond to every stimulus with passions out of hand, but a defence of healthy innocent voluptuousness for the clean healthy man.
Chapter 73
Whom does the chapter say Nietzsche's selfishness does NOT justify?
Not the mean, selfish individual whose selfishness is a pollution (citing Aphorism 33 of 'Twilight of the Idols'), and not the weak, sick, or crippled who gratify thirst of power by exploiting happier, healthier individuals. The aim is to give the clean healthy man a clean conscience in his manhood and its desires.
Chapter 73
Why is Nietzsche's philosophy described as esoteric and for whom?
The chapter states his philosophy is quite esoteric and can serve no purpose with the ordinary, mediocre type of man. The author argues Nietzsche's object was to save higher men from foundering on a compromise between their own genius and traditional conventions, since greatness requires exceptional freedom to experience himself.
Chapter 73

LV. THE SPIRIT OF GRAVITY.4 cards

What must one learn before one can fly, according to Zarathustra's teaching?
Zarathustra teaches that whoever wishes one day to fly must first learn standing and walking and running and climbing and dancing: "one doth not fly into flying." He describes himself as having learned waiting only for himself, and above all standing, walking, running, leaping, climbing and dancing.
Chapter 74
How does Zarathustra say one must learn to love oneself?
Zarathustra teaches that one must learn to love oneself with a wholesome and healthy love, not the love of the sick and infected, so that one may endure to be with oneself and not go roving about. He calls this the finest, subtlest, last and patientest of all arts, and says one's own treasure-pit is last excavated.
Chapter 74
What does Zarathustra say about those who call everything good?
Zarathustra says he does not like those who call everything good and this world the best of all, calling them all-satisfied. He says all-satisfiedness that tastes everything is not the best taste, and honours refractory, fastidious tongues and stomachs that have learned to say "I" and "Yea" and "Nay." To chew and digest everything he calls swine-nature.
Chapter 74
What does Zarathustra mean by the spirit of gravity?
The spirit of gravity is what makes earth and life heavy for the man who cannot yet fly, like the ostrich that runs fast but thrusts its head into the heavy earth. Zarathustra says it apportions heavy words and worths—"good" and "evil"—almost in the cradle, forbids children to love themselves, and makes man carry too many extraneous things.
Chapter 74

Chapter LV. The Spirit of Gravity.3 cards

What does Nietzsche call the art of learning to love oneself?
Nietzsche calls learning to love oneself "of all arts the finest, subtlest, last, and patientest," and insists it is no commandment for today and tomorrow. He argues an inner transformation is necessary, since people have too long lost themselves in friends and entertainments to find themselves quickly at another's bidding.
Chapter 75
How does Nietzsche describe the modern man's fear of solitude?
Quoting his earlier "Thoughts out of Season," Nietzsche says modern creatures would rather be hunted down, wounded, and torn to shreds than live alone with themselves in solitary calm. Being alone with oneself terrifies the modern soul; it is his one anxiety and ghastly fear. The author argues this feverish scurry for entertainment shows the modern man secretly despises himself.
Chapter 75
What does Nietzsche mean by saying he is a law only for his own?
In the last verse Nietzsche declines to coerce or overpersuade. He states: "I am a law only for mine own, I am not a law for all. This—is now MY way,—where is yours?" The author thus presents his teaching as a personal path rather than a universal command binding everyone.
Chapter 75

LVI. OLD AND NEW TABLES.3 cards

According to Zarathustra, who alone determines what is good and bad?
Zarathustra teaches that no one yet knows what is good and bad except the creating one, who creates man's goal and gives the earth its meaning and future. Only the creator effects that anything is good or bad. He bids his listeners upset the old academic chairs of this infatuation and laugh at their moralists, saints, poets, and Saviours.
Chapter 76
How does Zarathustra define redemption in this chapter?
Zarathustra calls redemption the transforming of every 'It was' until the Will says 'But so did I will it! So shall I will it!' He teaches creating the future and redeeming the past by creating, composing into unity what is fragment, riddle, and fearful chance in man. He awaits his own redemption so he may go to men one last time.
Chapter 76
What does Zarathustra say about the 'good' and truth?
The author argues that few can be true and those who can will not, and that the good least of all can be true: 'Good men never speak the truth,' since the spirit, thus to be good, is a malady. The good yield and obey, and whoever obeys does not listen to himself. All that the good call evil must come together for one truth to be born.
Chapter 76

Chapter LVI. Old and New Tables. Par. 2.1 cards

How does Nietzsche define life in paragraph 10, against Spencer?
The commentary calls this perhaps the most important paragraph: a protest against reading a moral order into life. Nietzsche says life is essentially immoral. He rejects calling life 'activity' or Spencer's 'continuous adjustment of internal relations to external relations' as a democratic idiosyncrasy. Life is Will to Power: essentially appropriation, injury, conquest of the strange and weak, suppression, severity, obtrusion of forms, incorporation, and at mildest, exploitation. Adaptation is merely secondary re-activity.
Chapter 77

LVII. THE CONVALESCENT.3 cards

How long does Zarathustra lie as if dead, and how do his animals care for him?
He lies as one dead for seven days, neither eating nor drinking, pale and trembling. The eagle fetches food and lays it on his couch—berries, grapes, rosy apples, herbage, and pine-cones—while two lambs lie at his feet. The animals never leave him day or night.
Chapter 78
What does Zarathustra say about words and tones after waking?
He tells his animals that hearing their talk refreshes him, since where there is talk the world is a garden. Words and tones are rainbows and seeming bridges between eternally separated souls; each soul has its own world. He calls speaking a beautiful folly, and says it is delightful that we forget there is no outside-of-me when we hear tones.
Chapter 78
What does Zarathustra identify as the disgust that strangled him, and what do the animals say is his fate?
His disgust is that even the greatest man is all too small and all too human, and that the small man returns eternally—the soothsayer's "all is alike, nothing is worth while." The animals say he is the teacher of the eternal return, that all things return eternally, and that he must sing new lays to bear this fate.
Chapter 78

Chapter LVII.).4 cards

According to the chapter, why did Nietzsche reject man as evolution's highest being?
The chapter states Nietzsche accepted the Development Hypothesis as an explanation of the origin of species but did not halt where most naturalists halted. He did not regard man as the highest possible being evolution could reach: physical development may have reached its limit, but mental or spiritual attributes have not. If things have become what they are, he contends, no limit can be described to man's aspirations.
Chapter 79
What ideal does the chapter say Nietzsche set for man, given his evolutionary past?
The chapter argues that if man struggled up from barbarism and still more remotely from the lower Primates, then his ideal should be to surpass man himself and reach Superman, as especially shown in the Prologue. The chapter presents this as Nietzsche's contention, not as established fact.
Chapter 79
What kind of society does the chapter say Nietzsche as a sociologist aims at?
The chapter states Nietzsche aims at an aristocratic arrangement of society and would have us rear an ideal race. It says he could not even think men are equal, quoting the preachers of equality passage: 'Men are not equal.' He sees inequality as a purpose to be served and a condition to be exploited, not as an obstacle.
Chapter 79
What does the chapter say Nietzsche sees in human inequality?
The chapter says Nietzsche sees precisely in inequality a purpose to be served and a condition to be exploited. It quotes 'Beyond Good and Evil' that every elevation of the type 'man' has been the work of an aristocratic society believing in gradations of rank and differences of worth, and will always be so. The chapter presents this as Nietzsche's view.
Chapter 79

Chapter LVII. The Convalescent.3 cards

What does Nietzsche's Zarathustra call his 'abysmal thought,' and why does he recoil from it?
Zarathustra calls the Eternal Recurrence of all things his abysmal thought and names himself the advocate of the circle. Yet after hailing this deepest thought he cries 'Disgust, disgust, disgust!' The commentator suggests this is because Nietzsche's own life was too full of disappointments, illness, unsuccessful struggles and snubs for him to contemplate eternal repetition without loathing.
Chapter 80
How does Nietzsche's 'Struggle for Power' differ from Darwin's 'Struggle for Existence'?
Nietzsche transforms the Struggle for Existence, which the commentator calls a passive and involuntary condition, into the Struggle for Power, described as active and creative. He argues want is not as common as supposed and that some other force must be operative; the Will to Power is that force, with the instinct of self-preservation only one of its indirect and most frequent results.
Chapter 80
Why does the chapter argue that depriving a man of his 'wickedness' may harm him?
The chapter treats good and evil as purely relative values, so what is wicked in one environment may be virtuous in another. If a man represents the ascending line of life, he may be condemned as wicked in a society on the descending line. Depriving him of his wickedness may therefore violate his wholeness, like lopping off a leg.
Chapter 80

LVIII. THE GREAT LONGING.4 cards

In this chapter, what does Zarathustra say he gave his soul instead of obedience?
Zarathustra says he took from his soul all obeying, knee-bending, and homage-paying, and himself gave it the names "Change of need" and "Fate." He also calls it "the Circuit of circuits," "the Navel-string of time," and "the Azure bell," presenting the soul as self-directed rather than submissive.
Chapter 81
What does Zarathustra identify as his final gift to his soul?
After saying he has given everything and his hands are empty, Zarathustra declares that bidding the soul to sing was his last thing to give. He urges it to sing a passionate song rather than weep, until all seas turn calm to listen to its longing.
Chapter 81
How does Zarathustra describe the soul's current state of abundance?
He describes the soul as standing forth exuberant and heavy, like a vine with swelling udders and full clusters of brown golden grapes—filled and weighted by happiness, waiting from superabundance, yet ashamed of its waiting. Its over-fulness stretches out longing hands.
Chapter 81
What does the soul say about giving and receiving, and how does Zarathustra respond?
The soul asks, smiling with melancholy, which of them owes thanks: does the giver not owe thanks because the receiver received, is bestowing not a necessity, and is receiving not pitying? Zarathustra says he understands this melancholy smile: the soul's over-abundance itself stretches out longing hands.
Chapter 81

LX. THE SEVEN SEALS.4 cards

What refrain closes each of the seven sections of this chapter?
Each section ends with a triple exclamation: the speaker asks how he could not be ardent for Eternity and for the "marriage-ring of rings—the ring of the return," then declares he has never found a woman he would want children by except the one he loves: "for I love thee, O Eternity!" The line is repeated verbatim seven times, tying eternal recurrence to love.
Chapter 83
How does section 4 describe the mixing of opposites, and what unites them?
The speaker imagines drinking from a foaming spice-and-confection bowl in which all things are well mixed, and mingling furthest with nearest, fire with spirit, joy with sorrow, harshest with kindest. He calls himself a grain of the saving salt that makes everything in the bowl mix well, since a salt unites good with evil and even the evilest is worthy as spicing.
Chapter 83
What does 'avian wisdom' say about words in section 7?
Having flown into his own heaven on his own pinions and swum in luminous distances, the speaker reports avian wisdom's teaching: there is no above and no below, so one should throw oneself outward and backward. It then asks whether all words are made for the heavy and whether all words lie to the light ones, concluding: "Sing! speak no more!"
Chapter 83
What does the closing note say about pity, quoting the devil?
The chapter's closing passage asks where greater follies and more suffering have occurred than with the pitiful, and warns all loving ones who lack an elevation above their pity. The devil tells Zarathustra that even God has his hell—his love for man—and later says God is dead: "of his pity for man hath God died," citing Zarathustra II, "The Pitiful."
Chapter 83

LXI. THE HONEY SACRIFICE.4 cards

Why does Zarathustra say his happiness is like molten pitch rather than a wave?
His animals ask if he lies in a 'sky-blue lake of happiness.' Zarathustra corrects the simile: his happiness is heavy, presses on him and will not leave him, like molten pitch rather than a fluid wave. He then laughs off his own word 'pitch,' saying that as with all ripening fruits, it is the honey in his veins that thickens his blood and stills his soul.
Chapter 84
What does Zarathustra reveal the 'honey sacrifice' really is once he is alone on the summit?
Aloft and alone, he admits that speaking of sacrifices and honey-sacrifices was 'merely a ruse in talking' and a 'useful folly.' He does not sacrifice but squanders what is given him, a squanderer with a thousand hands. The honey he desired was only bait—sweet mucilage that draws growling bears and strange evil birds, the best bait huntsmen and fishermen require.
Chapter 84
How does Zarathustra describe the world and his fishing for human beings?
He says the world seems to him not a gloomy forest of animals but a fathomless, rich sea full of many-hued fishes and crabs, rich enough that gods might long to become fishers. Especially the human sea: he throws out his golden angle-rod, calling 'Open up, thou human abyss,' and uses his own happiness as bait to allure the strangest human fish up to his height.
Chapter 84
Why does Zarathustra wait on the mountain instead of going down to men, and what is he waiting for?
He calls himself a drawer, trainer and training-master who counselled himself 'Become what thou art,' and says men may now come up to him, for he still awaits the signs that it is time for his down-going. He waits crafty and scornful, having unlearnt patience because he no longer 'suffereth,' trusting his fate to give him time for merriment and mischief.
Chapter 84

Chapter LXI. The Honey Sacrifice.3 cards

Why does the chapter say readers may be tempted to laugh at the last eight verses?
Because in England people almost always laugh when a man takes himself seriously at anything except sport. The chapter says there is no reason the reader should not be hilarious, but adds that a certain greatness is requisite both to be sublime and to have reverence for the sublime.
Chapter 85
What does the chapter claim would happen if artists did not earnestly believe in their own 'Hazar'?
Nietzsche earnestly believed the Zarathustra-kingdom, his dynasty of a thousand years, would one day come. The chapter argues that if he had not believed it so earnestly—if every artist had not believed so earnestly in his Hazar of ten, fifteen, a hundred, or a thousand years—we should have lost all our higher men, who would have become pessimists, suicides, or merchants.
Chapter 85
How does the chapter contrast Nietzsche's prophetic seriousness with the minor poet and philosopher?
The chapter says the minor poet and philosopher has made us shy of the prophetic seriousness that characterized an Isaiah or a Jeremiah. It calls this shyness surely our loss and the minor poet's gain—suggesting the loss of prophetic seriousness costs humanity while benefiting the minor figure.
Chapter 85

LXII. THE CRY OF DISTRESS.4 cards

What does the soothsayer say he has come to do to Zarathustra?
The soothsayer tells Zarathustra he has come to seduce him to his last sin, which he names as PITY. He raises both hands and answers "from an overflowing heart" when Zarathustra asks what his reserved last sin is called. This follows the soothsayer's earlier teaching that all is alike and nothing is worth while.
Chapter 86
Whose cry does the soothsayer identify, and what is Zarathustra's reaction?
The soothsayer says the cry comes from THE HIGHER MAN, who calls for Zarathustra. Zarathustra is horror-stricken, asks what the higher man wants, and his skin covers with perspiration. He then resolves to seek the higher man in the forests, saying the higher man is in his domain and shall receive no harm there.
Chapter 86
How does Zarathustra answer the soothsayer's claim that there are no Happy Isles?
Zarathustra exclaims "Nay! Nay! Three times Nay!" and says he knows better: there are still Happy Isles. He calls the soothsayer a sighing sorrow-sack and a rain-cloud, says he is drenched in his misery like a dog, and shakes himself off to become dry again. He then leaves to seek the higher man.
Chapter 86
What arrangement do Zarathustra and the soothsayer make for the evening?
The soothsayer predicts Zarathustra will have him back in his cave by evening, sitting patient and heavy like a block. Zarathustra accepts, saying whatever is his in the cave belongs to his guest, and that if the soothsayer finds honey he should lick it up like a growling bear. Both will be joyful, and the soothsayer shall dance to Zarathustra's lays as his dancing-bear.
Chapter 86

Chapter LXII. The Cry of Distress.4 cards

Who tempts Zarathustra, and toward what sin, in this chapter?
The old Soothsayer tempts Zarathustra, declaring he has come to seduce him to his last sin—pity. The narrator connects this to Schopenhauer's ethics, where pity ranks highest among virtues, consistent with a pessimistic worldview. The Soothsayer appeals to Nietzsche's sympathy for higher men, crying that it is the higher man who calls for Zarathustra.
Chapter 87
How does Zarathustra respond to the Soothsayer's pleading?
Zarathustra is almost overcome by the Soothsayer's pleading, as he had been once before in the past, but he resists him step by step. At length he can withstand him no longer; on the plea that the higher man is on his ground and therefore under his protection, Zarathustra departs in search of him.
Chapter 87
Whom does Zarathustra leave in the cave as a guest, and in what role?
Zarathustra leaves Schopenhauer in the cave as a guest. The narrator notes that Schopenhauer is, in Nietzsche's opinion, a higher man. Zarathustra departs in search of the higher man who calls for him, leaving Schopenhauer behind rather than taking him along.
Chapter 87
What does the narrator say Schopenhauer's ethics elevate, and why consistently?
The narrator states that in Schopenhauer's ethics pity is elevated to the highest place among the virtues, and that this is very consistent, seeing that the Weltanschauung is a pessimistic one. The chapter presents this as the background against which the Soothsayer tempts Zarathustra toward pity.
Chapter 87

LXIII. TALK WITH THE KINGS.4 cards

Why are the two kings traveling with a laden ass?
The kings say they are on their way to find the higher man, who is higher than they though they are kings, and they convey the ass to him, since the highest man shall also be the highest lord on earth. They tell Zarathustra they are recognized by his words, which severed the thickest darkness of their hearts.
Chapter 88
What do the kings say about the populace and present nobility?
The right king laments that good society and nobility are false and foul, above all the blood, thanks to old evil diseases and worse curers. He says the sound peasant is at present the noblest type and should be master, and calls the populace a hodgepodge in which everything is mixed with everything.
Chapter 88
What does the right king say is the sorest misfortune in human destiny?
He says there is no sorer misfortune in all human destiny than when the mighty of the earth are not also the first men, for then everything becomes false, distorted, and monstrous. If the mighty are even the last men, more beast than man, then the populace rises in honor until populace-virtue claims to be virtue alone.
Chapter 88
How does Zarathustra respond to the kings' warlike talk of their fathers?
Zarathustra feels no little desire to mock their eagerness, since they are evidently very peaceable kings with old refined features, but he restrains himself. He directs them to his cave and says a cry of distress calls him away, adding that the virtue remaining to kings today is called ability to wait.
Chapter 88

Chapter LXIII. Talk with the Kings.3 cards

Whom does Zarathustra meet on his way in this chapter?
Zarathustra encounters two kings, described as "higher men of his time" who are above the average modern type. Their instincts tell them what real ruling is, and they despise the mockery they have been taught to call "Reigning." Zarathustra asks them to accept the shelter of his cave, then proceeds on his way.
Chapter 89
What complaint do the two kings make about their position?
The kings say, "We ARE NOT the first men, and have nevertheless to STAND FOR them: of this imposture have we at last become weary and disgusted." They resent having to represent as first men those who are not first, and they are tired of and disgusted by this imposture.
Chapter 89
What do the kings call the sorest misfortune in human destiny?
The kings tell Zarathustra: "There is no sorer misfortune in all human destiny than when the mighty of the earth are not also the first men. There everything becometh false and distorted and monstrous." So the sorest misfortune is when those who hold power are not also the best or first among men.
Chapter 89

LXIV. THE LEECH.3 cards

What does the spiritually conscientious one claim as his domain of knowledge?
He tells Zarathustra that he does not presume to investigate the leech to its ultimate basis, which would be immense. What he masters and knows is the brain of the leech, and he calls that his world. For its sake he cast everything else aside, and he says his black ignorance lies close beside his knowledge.
Chapter 90
Why did the conscientious one lie by the swamp, and how does he interpret Zarathustra's arrival?
He lay there like a fisher for the sake of the leech, and his outstretched arm had already been bitten ten times. When he hears Zarathustra's name he calls it happiness and a miracle, praising the day that enticed him into the swamp and calling Zarathustra the great conscience-leech and the best, livest cupping-glass.
Chapter 90
What does Zarathustra offer the wounded conscientious one at the end?
Seeing ten leeches had bitten the naked arm and blood still flowing, Zarathustra says the evidence teaches him the man himself. He proposes they part but meet again, invites him to be a welcome guest at his cave that night, and wishes to make amends to his body for treading on him. A cry of distress calls him away.
Chapter 90

Chapter LXIV. The Leech.4 cards

How does the chapter characterize the scientific specialist Zarathustra meets?
The specialist is described as a "spiritually conscientious" man who honestly and scrupulously pursues investigation in one department of knowledge, as Darwin did. He is a slave of science, bleeding from the violence he has done to himself through his self-imposed task, and he speaks proudly of his little sphere of knowledge—his hand's breadth of ground on Zarathustra's territory, philosophy.
Chapter 91
What does the specialist say about honesty and blindness?
He says: "Where mine honesty ceaseth, there am I blind and want also to be blind. Where I want to know, however, there want I also to be honest—namely, severe, rigorous, restricted, cruel, and inexorable." His honesty is thus bounded: outside his domain he chooses blindness, and within it he demands severity and rigor.
Chapter 91
How does Zarathustra respond to the leech/specialist?
Zarathustra greatly respects this man and invites him too to the cave, among the higher men he wishes to save. He then vanishes in answer to another cry for help. So the specialist is honored for his conscientiousness rather than dismissed, even though his knowledge is narrow.
Chapter 91
What limits does the specialist place on his own knowledge?
He confines himself to a small sphere—a "little hand's breadth of ground" on Zarathustra's territory of philosophy. He is restricted and rigorous within that sphere, and deliberately blind beyond it, refusing to claim honesty where his honesty ceases.
Chapter 91

LXV. THE MAGICIAN.4 cards

What role does the old man admit he was performing for Zarathustra?
The old man says he was representing "the penitent in spirit"—the poet and magician who turns his spirit against himself and freezes to death through bad science and conscience. He claims Zarathustra himself once coined this expression, and that he used the performance to test Zarathustra.
Chapter 92
How does Zarathustra expose the magician's lament as a performance?
Zarathustra strikes the wailing man with his staff, calling him a stage-player, false coiner, and liar from the heart. He says he knows the magician and will make his legs warm. The old man springs up and admits he did it only for amusement, as part of his art, to put Zarathustra to the proof.
Chapter 92
What does Zarathustra say the magician's confession reveals about him?
Zarathustra argues the magician must always deceive, being equivocal in many senses, and that even his confession is neither true nor false enough. He says the magician has become disenchanted with himself and reaped disgust as his one truth, though he honors him for admitting he is not great.
Chapter 92
What does Zarathustra say about finding great men today?
Zarathustra tells the magician he has seen no great man, since the acute eye is now insensible to greatness—it is the kingdom of the populace. Many inflate themselves and are called great, but the wind comes out at last, like a frog bursting. He calls seeking greatness today a fool's errand.
Chapter 92

Chapter LXV. The Magician.3 cards

Whom does the commentator identify as the type behind the Magician, and why?
The commentator identifies Wagner as the type, arguing that Nietzsche's intimate knowledge of perhaps the greatest artist of his age made choosing Wagner almost inevitable. Nietzsche had loved Wagner's music since his teens and idealized him before they met, so his early enthusiasm was uncritical. The commentator cites 'Wagner in Bayreuth' as the best proof of this infatuation.
Chapter 93
What qualities does the commentator say Nietzsche grew to loathe in Wagner?
The commentator lists Wagner's pronounced histrionic tendencies, his dissembling powers, his inordinate vanity, his equivocalness, and his falseness. Zarathustra tells the Magician that seeking greatness honours him but also betrays him: 'Thou art not great.' The commentator notes the poem echoes Wagner's own poetic manner and was written after the final break.
Chapter 93
Why is the Magician still sent as a guest to Zarathustra's cave?
According to the commentator, Zarathustra sends the Magician as a guest because in his heart he believed until the end that the Magician was a higher man broken by modern values. So despite exposing the Magician's falseness and denying his greatness, Zarathustra still treats him as a higher man worthy of hospitality.
Chapter 93

LXVI. OUT OF SERVICE.2 cards

How does the old pope explain the death of the old God?
The old pope says the God who was once harsh and revengeful became old, soft, and pitiful, 'more like a grandfather than a father,' sitting shrivelled in his chimney-corner, world-weary and will-weary, until 'one day he suffocated of his all-too-great pity.' He also hints the God did not come by his son except by secret ways, saying 'at the door of his faith standeth adultery.'
Chapter 94
How does Zarathustra respond to the pope's account of the God's death?
Zarathustra says it could have happened that way 'AND also otherwise,' since when Gods die they die many kinds of death. He declines to condemn the dead God further, saying he loves everything bright and honest, but calls the old God equivocal and indistinct, a potter who took revenge on his pots because they turned out badly—a sin against good taste.
Chapter 94

Chapter LXVI. Out of Service.3 cards

According to the chapter, how does the image of God change as the people change?
The chapter describes the God of Israel as a jealous, revengeful God, a power that can be pictured and endured only by a hardy, courageous race rich enough to sacrifice and lose in sacrifice. As the people appropriate this image, it degenerates: He becomes a God of love, soft and mellow, a lower middle-class deity who is pitiful.
Chapter 95
Why can the God of love no longer require sacrifice, and what happens instead?
The chapter says He can no longer be a God who requires sacrifice because we ourselves are no longer rich enough for that. The tables are turned: He must sacrifice to us. His pity becomes so great that He sacrifices something to us—His only begotten Son. Carried to its logical conclusion, this process ends in His own destruction.
Chapter 95
How does the chapter say God meets His end, and who declares it?
The chapter states that the process, carried to its logical conclusions, must ultimately end in God's own destruction. The pope declares that God was one day suffocated by His all-too-great pity. Zarathustra then recognizes another higher man in the ex-pope and sends him as a guest to the cave.
Chapter 95

LXVII. THE UGLIEST MAN.4 cards

What riddle does the ugliest man ask Zarathustra to solve?
He calls out to Zarathustra to read his riddle and asks, "WHAT IS THE REVENGE ON THE WITNESS?" He then demands that Zarathustra say who he is. The question frames the ugliest man's identity around a wrong done to a witness who saw him, which Zarathustra later names as the murdered God.
Chapter 96
Whom does Zarathustra identify the ugliest man to be, and on what grounds?
Zarathustra declares, "THOU ART THE MURDERER OF GOD!" He explains that the ugliest man could not endure the one who beheld him through and through, so he took revenge on that witness. The ugliest man confirms this, saying the God who beheld everything, including man, had to die because man cannot endure such a witness.
Chapter 96
Why does the ugliest man flee from pity and seek refuge with Zarathustra?
He says it is the pity of others he flees, not their hatred or bailiffs, which he would mock. He calls pity obtrusive and offensive to modesty, and claims unwillingness to help may be nobler than the virtue that rushes to do so. He seeks Zarathustra because Zarathustra passed him by in silence and blushed rather than offering alms of pity.
Chapter 96
What warning does the ugliest man give Zarathustra about Zarathustra's own pity?
He urges Zarathustra to warn himself against his own pity, noting that many suffering, doubting, despairing, drowning, and freezing people are on their way to him. He also warns Zarathustra against himself, saying he has read Zarathustra's best and worst riddle and knows the axe that fells him.
Chapter 96

Chapter LXVII. The Ugliest Man.4 cards

Why does the ugliest man say God must not exist?
The ugliest man reveres beauty so intensely that his own ugliness outrages him and must be hidden from every eye. If a God existed, He would be ubiquitous and omniscient, so His pity could not be evaded. Therefore, the chapter states, for the really great ugly man God must not exist. He flees from pity, which he reads as want of reverence and shame before his misery.
Chapter 97
What feelings does the chapter say are correct before great misery?
The chapter states that the only correct feelings in the presence of any great misery are shame, reverence, and embarrassment. It contrasts these with obtrusive, gushing pity that approaches misery without a blush, which the author argues is only another form of self-glorification, expressed in the sentiment 'Thank God that I am not like thee.'
Chapter 97
Why does Zarathustra honour the ugliest man rather than pity him?
The ugliest man despises himself, and Zarathustra's Prologue declared love for the great despisers because they are great adorers and arrows of longing for the other shore. Zarathustra therefore sees height in the man's self-contempt, honours him, and invites him to join the other higher men in the cave. The ugliest man is also called the murderer of God.
Chapter 97
What does the chapter say Nietzsche wants instead of blushing for his fellows?
In the presence of the ugliest man, the author blushes for his race, and his own altruism—the kind that might have prevented this man's existence—strikes him with force. The chapter says he will have the world otherwise: a world where one need not blush for one's fellows, hence the appeal to love only the children's land, the land undiscovered in the remotest sea.
Chapter 97

LXVIII. THE VOLUNTARY BEGGAR.4 cards

Why did the voluntary beggar flee to the poorest, and how did they receive him?
He had cast away great riches, was ashamed of his wealth and of the rich, and fled to the poorest to bestow on them his abundance and his heart. But they received him not, so he went at last to the animals and the kine.
Chapter 98
What does the voluntary beggar say humans should learn from the kine?
He says that unless we be converted and become as kine, we shall not enter the kingdom of heaven, and that from them we ought to learn one thing: ruminating. He adds that gaining the whole world without learning to ruminate profits nothing and leaves one's great affliction, disgust, unrelieved.
Chapter 98
What does the beggar identify as the present great affliction, and what does he say about the poor?
He calls the great affliction DISGUST — hearts, mouths and eyes full of it. He speaks of a great, evil, long, slow mob-and-slave-insurrection spreading, says the lower classes now provoke all benevolence and petty giving, and declares it is no longer true that the poor are blessed; the kingdom of heaven is with the kine.
Chapter 98
How does Zarathustra respond to the beggar's severe words about the rich?
Zarathustra smiles and silently shakes his head, saying the man does violence to himself with such severe words, since neither his mouth, eye nor stomach were given such severity. He calls him a plant-eater and root-man, perhaps a corn-grinder, averse to fleshly joys and fond of honey — which the beggar confirms.
Chapter 98

Chapter LXVIII. The Voluntary Beggar.4 cards

How does Nietzsche compare Buddhism to Christianity in The Antichrist?
The chapter states Nietzsche compared Buddhism exhaustively with Christianity in Aphorism 20 of The Antichrist, and the result was very much in favour of the older religion, Buddhism. He recognised Buddhism as a religion for decadents, but held that its decadent values emanate from the higher, not the lower, grades of society, as in Christianity.
Chapter 99
Why did Nietzsche reject Renan's view of Christ as 'le grand maitre en ironie'?
The chapter says Nietzsche disagreed entirely with Renan's view that Christ was 'le grand maitre en ironie.' In Aphorism 31 of The Antichrist he purged his picture of the Humble Nazarene of bitter and spiteful outbursts, which may have been added by Apologists and Sectarians who needed a wrangling and abusive deity rather than nice psychological points.
Chapter 99
What two conflicting halves in the Gospel Christ does Nietzsche keep distinct?
The chapter says Nietzsche kept distinct two conflicting halves in the character of the Christ of the Gospels, which no sound psychology can ever reconcile: sentiments sometimes noble and at other times vulgar. He could not credit the same man with both, so he presented a portrait of the Saviour purged of all impurities, which the chapter says rendered military honours to a foe.
Chapter 99
What does verse 26 recall about marriage, and whose words are echoed?
The chapter states that in verse 26 we are vividly reminded of Herbert Spencer's words: 'Le mariage de convenance is legalised prostitution.' The remark is attributed to Spencer, not to Nietzsche or Zarathustra, and the chapter offers it as an echo prompted by the verse rather than as the narrator's own definition of marriage.
Chapter 99

LXIX. THE SHADOW.3 cards

Why does Zarathustra first run away from his shadow?
Zarathustra runs because a sudden irritation comes over him at the crowd gathering in his mountains; he says his lonesomeness is gone and his kingdom is no longer of this world. He tells himself his shadow should just run after him while he runs away from it, and only later shakes off this irritation as folly.
Chapter 100
What does the shadow mean by 'Nothing is true, all is permitted'?
The shadow reports this as what it said to itself after unlearning belief in words, worths, and great names, plunging head and heart into the coldest water. It describes the result as losing its goodness, shame, and belief in the good, and the innocent lies of the good. The author presents this as the shadow's own confession, not as Zarathustra's teaching.
Chapter 100
What warning and offer does Zarathustra give the shadow?
Zarathustra warns the shadow that having lost its goal, it has also lost its way, and that unsettled wanderers may at last find even a prison blessed, like captured criminals who sleep quietly. He warns a narrow, rigorous faith may capture it, then invites it up to his cave for rest and a home that evening.
Chapter 100

Chapter LXIX. The Shadow.4 cards

What danger does Zarathustra warn the free spirit and wanderer against?
Zarathustra warns that a narrow faith may capture the wanderer, since everything narrow and fixed now seduces and tempts him. He says the wanderer's danger is not small and warns that a worse evening may follow a bad day. The specific danger is that even a prison may seem a blessing, because its bars at least keep him in a place of rest.
Chapter 101
What does the shadow say after too much has become clear to it?
The shadow cries that nothing is true and all is permitted, then becomes mere wreckage. It laments that too much has become clear, that nothing matters anymore, and that nothing living is left that it loves. It asks how it could still love itself, whether it still has a goal, and where its home is.
Chapter 101
How does the chapter describe the shadow's restless searching?
The shadow says it has already sat on every surface and has become thin, almost equal to a shadow. The chapter presents this as the condition of brave, broad-minded spirits who haunt great thinkers and leaders, sometimes losing all aims, hopes, and trust in a definite goal, ending without a way, a goal, or a home.
Chapter 101
Why might a prison seem a blessing to the shadow?
Zarathustra explains that even a prison may seem a blessing to such a man because the bars keep him in a place of rest, and a place of confinement, at its worst, is real. This is the danger he names: the wanderer, having lost goal and home, may be seduced by anything narrow and fixed.
Chapter 101

LXX. NOONTIDE.3 cards

At noontide, what does Zarathustra choose instead of picking grapes?
Reaching for a cluster of grapes to quench his thirst, Zarathustra feels a stronger urge to lie down beside the old vine-wrapped tree at perfect noontide and sleep. He does so, and immediately forgets his thirst. The narrator cites Zarathustra's proverb, "One thing is more necessary than the other," and notes his eyes stay open, never tiring of the tree and the vine's love.
Chapter 102
How does Zarathustra describe sleep's effect on his soul at noontide?
He calls sleep light and feather-light, like wind dancing on the sea: it closes no eye but leaves his soul awake. It touches him with a caressing hand and constrains him, so his soul stretches out, weary after wandering among good and ripe things. He likens it to a ship drawing into the calmest cove, weary of long voyages and uncertain seas.
Chapter 102
How does the chapter end regarding how long Zarathustra actually slept?
Zarathustra wakes twice: he tells himself to get up, then falls asleep again while his soul defends itself, and finally a sunbeam on his face frightens him upright. He rises as if from strange drunkenness and sees the sun still exactly above his head. The narrator states one may rightly infer that Zarathustra had not slept long at all.
Chapter 102

LXXI. THE GREETING.4 cards

What does Zarathustra discover about the cry of distress he heard?
After searching all day, Zarathustra hears the great cry of distress again as he nears his cave, and realizes it comes from inside his own cave. There he finds all the higher men he passed during the day assembled together, and understands that the cry was theirs—the higher man he sought in vain now sits in his own cave.
Chapter 103
What two gifts does Zarathustra first offer his despairing guests?
Zarathustra offers first security: in his home no one shall despair, and he protects each guest from his wild beasts. Second, he offers his little finger—and once they have that, the whole hand and his heart with it. He welcomes them with laughter, calling his cave their resting-place for the evening and night.
Chapter 103
How does the king on the right interpret Zarathustra's greeting?
The king says they recognize Zarathustra by how he gave his hand and greeting, and that he humbled himself before them almost to the hurt of their reverence—yet with such pride that it uplifts them. He compares Zarathustra to a tall, hardy pine that grasps for dominion, and says their cries of distress are now over.
Chapter 103
Why does Zarathustra tell the higher men they are not what he waited for?
Zarathustra says they may be higher men but are neither high nor strong enough for him; he does not indulge his warriors, and they would spoil his victories. He calls them only bridges and steps, with crooked, misshapen parts no smith could straighten. He waits instead for laughing lions—his children—not for men of great longing and loathing.
Chapter 103

Chapter LXXI. The Greeting.3 cards

According to the commentator, what did Nietzsche fight for regarding those who do not want to live?
The commentator contends that Nietzsche fought for all who do not want to live unless they learn again to hope—unless they learn from him the great hope. Zarathustra's address to his guests is offered as clear evidence of how he wished to help them, though his method is rebuke and spurning rather than indulgence.
Chapter 104
How does Zarathustra say he treats his warriors, and what does this imply for his guests?
Zarathustra states, 'I do not treat my warriors indulgently,' and asks how his guests could then be fit for his warfare. The commentator reads this as rebuke and spurning, noting no word of love comes from his lips. Elsewhere Zarathustra says a man should be a hard bed to his friend, so alone can he be of use.
Chapter 104
What does the commentator mean by saying Nietzsche would be a hard bed to higher men?
The commentator explains that Nietzsche would make higher men harder, since to be a law unto himself a man must possess the requisite hardness. Zarathustra waits for higher, stronger, more triumphant, merrier ones, built squarely in body and soul. The hard bed image comes from Zarathustra's claim that a man should be a hard bed to his friend to be of use.
Chapter 104

LXXII. THE SUPPER.4 cards

Why does the soothsayer interrupt Zarathustra's greeting, and what does he demand?
The soothsayer presses forward claiming one thing is now more necessary to him than all others: a word at the right time. Reminding Zarathustra that he invited him to table, he complains that the guests have thought only of freezing, drowning, and suffocating, but not of his own danger—perishing of hunger and thirst. He demands wine rather than water.
Chapter 105
How is the wine and bread problem resolved before the supper?
The silent king on the left says he and the king on the right brought enough wine—a whole ass-load—so only bread is lacking. Zarathustra laughs that anchorites have no bread, quotes that man does not live by bread alone, and offers two lambs to slaughter and cook with sage, plus roots, fruits, and nuts. He adds that anyone wishing to eat must help with the work, even kings.
Chapter 105
How does the voluntary beggar react to Zarathustra's proposed feast?
The voluntary beggar jokingly objects to the flesh, wine, and spices, calling Zarathustra a glutton and asking whether one goes into caves and high mountains to make such repasts. He says he now understands Zarathustra's teaching 'Blessed be moderate poverty' and why he wishes to do away with beggars. Zarathustra replies cheerfully that he is a law only for his own, not for all.
Chapter 105
What does Zarathustra say about being a law, and what does the king on the right reply?
Zarathustra says he is a law only for his own, not a law for all; whoever belongs to him must be strong of bone and light of foot—joyous in fight and feast, no sulker, ready for the hardest task as for the feast, healthy and hale. The king on the right marvels that a wise man should still be sensible and not an ass; the ass answers 'Ye-a' with ill-will.
Chapter 105

LXXIII. THE HIGHER MAN.3 cards

What does Zarathustra say the populace believes on the marketplace?
Zarathustra says the populace blinks and declares "We are all equal"—that there are no higher men, since man is man before God. He tells the higher men to leave the marketplace, because no one there believes in higher men. He adds that this God has now died, and before the populace the higher men will not be equal.
Chapter 106
According to Zarathustra, what question does he ask that the careful do not?
The most careful ask how man is to be maintained. Zarathustra asks, as the first and only one, how man is to be SURPASSED. He says the Superman is at his heart, not man—not the neighbour, the poorest, the sorriest, or the best. He loves in man that he is an over-going and a down-going.
Chapter 106
What does Zarathustra teach about good and evil in man?
Zarathustra teaches that man must become better and eviler, saying the evilest is necessary for the Superman's best. He reports that the wisest ones told him "Man is evil" as consolation, and he hopes it is still true, since evil is man's best force. He rejoices in great sin as his great consolation.
Chapter 106

Chapter LXXIII. The Higher Man. Par. 1.4 cards

Whom does Nietzsche bid to depart from the market-place, and why?
Nietzsche bids the higher men to depart from the market-place. The chapter notes he had once thought of appealing to the people, the crowd in the market-place, but ultimately had to abandon that task. The commentary reads this as confirming that his teaching was meant to be esoteric and for higher man alone, not for the crowd.
Chapter 107
What maxim rules the class of men driven by self-preservation?
The chapter says that for this class of men all impulses and desires owe to the instinct of self-preservation, and the struggle for existence is the only spur. To them it matters not in what shape or condition man be preserved, provided only he survive. The ruling maxim here is the transcendental maxim that "Life per se is precious."
Chapter 107
What does the chapter say about emotion and knowledge in the scientific mind?
The chapter quotes: "Freedom from fever is still far from being knowledge." Where a man's emotions cease to accompany him in his investigations, he is not necessarily nearer the truth. It cites Spencer's Autobiography preface: in the genesis of a system of thought, the emotional nature is a large factor, perhaps as large as the intellectual nature.
Chapter 107
What is Nietzsche's final command to the higher men about laughter?
The chapter describes Nietzsche's protest against the democratic seriousness (Pobelernst) of modern times. "All good things laugh," he says, and his final command to the higher men is "LEARN, I pray you—to laugh." All that is good, in Nietzsche's sense, is cheerful; to crack a joke about one's deepest feelings is the greatest test of their value.
Chapter 107

LXXIV. THE SONG OF MELANCHOLY.3 cards

How does the old magician describe his 'melancholy devil'?
Left alone with the higher men, the old magician says his evil spirit of deceit and magic, his melancholy devil, attacks him. He calls it an adversary to Zarathustra from the very heart, and says it wishes to conjure before them now. He struggles with it in vain, and addresses all the higher men who, like him, suffer from the great loathing since the old God died and no new God lies in cradles.
Chapter 108
What does the magician's song accuse the 'truth-wooer' of being?
The song taunts one who claims to woo truth, answering: nay, merely a poet, a brute insidious, plundering, grovelling, that must lie wittingly and wilfully, lusting for booty, masked and self-hidden, himself his booty. It denies he is a still, cold, godlike statue guarding temples, portraying him instead as roving with cattish wantonness, eaglelike and pantherlike in his desires, and laughing as he rends the sheep in mankind.
Chapter 108
How does the song end, and what does the speaker wish for himself?
The song closes with the speaker describing himself as having sunk one day from his own truth-insanity and fervid day-longings, weary of day and sick of sunshine, sinking eveningwards and shadowwards, scorched and thirsty by one sole trueness. He asks his burning heart whether it still remembers that thirst, and cries that he should be banned from all the trueness—mere fool, mere poet.
Chapter 108

LXXV. SCIENCE.4 cards

In this chapter, what does the conscientious one say science actually is?
The conscientious one argues that science is fear made subtle, spiritual, and intellectual. Fear, he claims, is man's original and fundamental feeling, and the prolonged ancient fear of wild animals—including the beast man conceals in himself—has at last become intellectual and is now called science.
Chapter 109
How does Zarathustra overturn the conscientious one's claim about fear and science?
Zarathustra replies that fear is an exception among them, while courage, adventure, and delight in the uncertain constitute the entire primitive history of man. He argues man became man by envying the wildest, most courageous animals and robbing them of their virtues, and that this courage, grown subtle and intellectual, is what is now called science.
Chapter 109
What does the conscientious one say he seeks, and why did he come to Zarathustra?
He says he and the higher men seek different things: he seeks more security, which is why he came to Zarathustra, calling him the most steadfast tower and will in a time when everything totters. He suspects the others instead long for more insecurity, horror, danger, and the life of wild beasts.
Chapter 109
How does the magician respond after the crowd laughs and Zarathustra's name is shouted?
The magician laughs too and claims his evil spirit is gone, reminding them he had warned it was a deceiving spirit, especially when it shows itself naked. He admits he did not create it or the world, calls for good cheer, predicts Zarathustra will soon love and praise him again, and says Zarathustra loves his enemies but takes revenge on his friends.
Chapter 109

LXXVI. AMONG DAUGHTERS OF THE DESERT.4 cards

What does the shadow say the old magician and the pope have done?
The shadow says the old magician has given them "of his worst for our good," and that the good, pious pope now has tears in his eyes and has "quite embarked again upon the sea of melancholy." He warns that the kings, too, only keep up a good air because they are watched; left alone, the bad game of damp melancholy would begin again.
Chapter 111
Why does the shadow praise the air in Zarathustra's cave?
The shadow says Zarathustra alone makes the air around him "strong and clear," and that after seeing many lands and learning to test many kinds of air, his nostrils taste their greatest delight with Zarathustra. He begs Zarathustra to abide with them, so that weak, womanly spirits do not attack them anew at dessert.
Chapter 111
What is the refrain of the shadow's desert song, and what does he say about the desert?
The refrain is "THE DESERTS GROW: WOE HIM WHO DOTH THEM HIDE!" Sitting in the smallest oasis, the singer says he is near the desert yet still far from it, having been swallowed by the oasis's sweet-smelling mouth. He calls himself like a date, brown and sweet, and says he comes out of Europe, which doubts more eagerly than any elderly married woman.
Chapter 111
How does the song describe the palm tree, and what does the singer mourn?
The singer compares the palm tree to a dance-girl who bows, bends, and bobs on her haunches, standing too long and dangerously on a single leg. He searches vainly for the other leg and concludes she has lost it, wailing "Hu! Hu! Hu!" and wondering whether it weeps forsaken or was gnawed by a leonine monster.
Chapter 111

LXXVII. THE AWAKENING.4 cards

What does Zarathustra call the best sign that the higher men are recovering?
Zarathustra takes it as the best sign that the higher men become thankful. He says they empty their hearts, good times return, they keep holiday and ruminate, and soon they will devise festivals and put up memorials to their old joys. He concludes joyfully that they are convalescents, and that the disgust has departed from them.
Chapter 112
What does Zarathustra first believe about the higher men's recovery, and how is he corrected?
Zarathustra rejoices that the higher men are merry and have unlearned their cries of distress, though not yet their crying. He credits his warrior-food and strong sayings with awakening new desires and hopes in them. But when the cave falls silent and smells of incense, he looks in and finds them all on their knees worshipping the ass.
Chapter 112
Which higher men kneel to worship the ass, and what does the ass say?
All the higher men kneel like children and credulous old women: the two kings, the pope out of service, the evil magician, the voluntary beggar, the wanderer and shadow, the old soothsayer, the spiritually conscientious one, and the ugliest man. The ugliest man gurgles a pious litany praising the ass, and after each stanza the ass brays YE-A.
Chapter 112
What qualities does the litany attribute to the ass it worships?
The litany praises the ass as burden-carrying, servant-formed, patient, and never saying Nay. It says he speaks not but ever says Yea to the world, conceals his spirit, wears long ears, goes straight and crooked ways beyond good and evil, spurns no one, and loves she-asses and fresh figs. After each stanza the ass brays YE-A.
Chapter 112

Chapter LXXVII. The Awakening.2 cards

What does Nietzsche think his followers do with the belief he restored to them?
Nietzsche believes he has helped his followers become convalescent and restored to them belief in believing—confidence in having confidence in something. But he argues they misuse this restored faith: in the first flood of their enthusiasm, they bow down and worship an ass, rather than directing their new confidence toward genuine self-overcoming.
Chapter 113
What historical accusations against early Christians does the chapter connect to the ass worship?
The chapter notes Nietzsche was likely thinking of pagan accusations against early Christians, who were supposedly not only eaters of human flesh but also ass-worshippers. It cites Roman graffiti found on the Palatino showing a man worshipping a cross with an ass's head, and references Minucius Felix's Octavius, Tacitus's Historiae, and Tertullian's Apologia.
Chapter 113

LXXVIII. THE ASS-FESTIVAL.4 cards

Why does the old pope say it is better to adore God as an ass than not at all?
The pope tells Zarathustra that he is more enlightened in divine matters and that adoring God in this form is better than in no form at all. He argues that whoever said 'God is a Spirit' made the greatest stride toward unbelief, and his old heart leaps because there is still something to adore on earth.
Chapter 114
What does the ugliest man say he learned from Zarathustra about killing?
The ugliest man answers Zarathustra's accusation by quoting him: 'he who wanteth to kill most thoroughly, LAUGHETH,' and 'Not by wrath but by laughter doth one kill.' He calls Zarathustra a rogue, a hidden one, a destroyer without wrath, and a dangerous saint. He also says he gave the ass wine to drink.
Chapter 114
What does the spiritually conscientious one say makes God worthy of belief in this form?
He says there is something in the spectacle that does good to his conscience. Perhaps he dare not believe in God, but God seems most worthy of belief in this form: God is said to be eternal, and one with so much time takes his time, being as slow and stupid as possible. He warns Zarathustra that even he could become an ass through superabundance of wisdom.
Chapter 114
What does Zarathustra declare his guests want instead of the kingdom of heaven?
Zarathustra calls his guests wags and buffoons who became pious like little children, praying and folding their hands. He tells them to leave his cave and cool their child-wantonness outside. Quoting that one must become as little children to enter the kingdom of heaven, he says: 'we do not at all want to enter into the kingdom of heaven: we have become men,—SO WE WANT THE KINGDOM OF EARTH.'
Chapter 114

LXXIX. THE DRUNKEN SONG.4 cards

What does the ugliest man say he would tell death after this day with Zarathustra?
The ugliest man declares he is for the first time content to have lived his entire life, saying one day and one festival with Zarathustra taught him to love the earth. He resolves to say unto death: "Was THAT—life? Well! Once more!" and asks the other higher men whether they too would say it.
Chapter 116
According to the roundelay, how do joy and woe compare in depth?
The song states the world is deep and deeper than day could read, and that its woe is deep—but joy is deeper still than grief can be. Woe says "Hence! Go!" while joy wants eternity, wanting itself, recurrence, and everything eternally like itself.
Chapter 116
What does the song say one must affirm to will all woe as well?
The song asks whether one ever said Yea to one joy; if so, one said Yea to all woe, since all things are enlinked and enamoured. Whoever ever wished a moment to come twice thereby wanted all things to return—all anew, all eternal—and so loved the world eternally.
Chapter 116
What does the grape-vine's praise of the vintner's knife illustrate about the mature and immature?
The vine says whatever has become perfect and mature wants to die, blessing the vintner's knife, while everything immature wants to live. The song adds that whatever suffers wants to live so it may become mature, longing for heirs and children; joy, by contrast, wants no heirs—it wants itself and eternity.
Chapter 116

LXXX. The Sign.4 cards

According to the Introduction, what idea finally induced Nietzsche to set forth his views poetically?
The Introduction states that although the figure of Zarathustra and many leading thoughts had appeared earlier in Nietzsche's dreams and writings, the work did not actually come into being until August 1881 in Sils Maria. It was the idea of the Eternal Recurrence of all things that finally induced him to set forth his new views in poetic language.
Chapter 117
What does the Introduction say the word 'rearing' means in 'the rearing of the Superman'?
The Introduction notes the phrase is often misunderstood. By 'rearing' is meant the act of modifying by means of new and higher values—values which, as laws and guides of conduct and opinion, are to rule over mankind. The doctrine is best understood alongside the Order of Rank, the Will to Power, and the Transvaluation of all Values.
Chapter 117
How does the Introduction describe the Superman as a possibility, not a distant fancy?
The Introduction insists the type must not be regarded as a fanciful figure, a nebulous hope for some remote period, or a new Darwinian species. Rather, it is meant to be a possibility which men of the present could realise with all their spiritual and physical energies, provided they adopted the new values.
Chapter 117
What leading principle of the new system of valuing does the Introduction state?
The Introduction says a new table of valuations must be placed over mankind—that of the strong, mighty, and magnificent man, overflowing with life. Stated briefly, the leading principle of this new system of valuing would be: 'All that proceeds from power is good, all that springs from weakness is bad.'
Chapter 117

LXXX. THE SIGN.4 cards

What does the lion's arrival signify to Zarathustra?
Zarathustra calls the lion's roar "THE SIGN" and declares "MY CHILDREN ARE NIGH." He weeps and sits motionless while the lion licks his tears and doves caress him. The lion's coming marks that his work is ripe and his hour has come, prompting him to leave his cave "glowing and strong, like a morning sun coming out of gloomy mountains."
Chapter 118
What does Zarathustra identify as his "last sin," and how does he resolve it?
Recalling the soothsayer's warning that he came to seduce him to his last sin, Zarathustra cries out "FELLOW-SUFFERING WITH THE HIGHER MEN!" He then declares that this pity "hath had its time," rejects striving after happiness, and affirms: "I strive after my WORK!" He resolves to answer the great noontide rather than remain bound by compassion.
Chapter 118
How do the higher men react when the lion roars at the cave door?
Having awakened and formed a procession to greet Zarathustra, the higher men hear the lion's roar at the cave door. The lion springs toward the cave roaring wildly, and the higher men cry aloud "as with one voice," flee back, and vanish in an instant—leaving Zarathustra alone and astonished.
Chapter 118
According to Ludovici's appendix, why is Zarathustra a poor first book for Nietzsche beginners?
Ludovici argues its mysterious title and subtitle draw unprepared readers, who understand less than half and stop by the second or third part. He says the book is Nietzsche's opus magnum but not the first beginners should read, since it draws on his life and experiences in an obscure allegorical form; he recommends other works, such as Joyful Science and Beyond Good and Evil, as preparation.
Chapter 118

Chapter LXXX. The Sign.2 cards

What does Zarathustra say he strives after instead of happiness?
Zarathustra declares, 'Do I then strive after HAPPINESS? I strive after my work!' He dismisses his suffering and fellow-suffering as things that 'hath had its time,' announces that the lion has come and his children are nigh, that Zarathustra hath grown ripe, and calls on the great noonday to arise.
Chapter 119
Who wrote the editorial notes appended to this chapter, and what does he admit about them?
The notes are signed Anthony M. Ludovici, London, February 1909. He states that he knows the notes are open to much criticism, says he would be grateful to anyone who shows him where and how he has gone wrong, and points out that, as they stand, he has not given the Notes their final form.
Chapter 119

Source and licence

Text used: Project Gutenberg eBook #1998 (Public domain in the United States). Generated from the full text; cards paraphrase the source.

Version: Public domain edition. Retrieved 2026-10-23. Cards reviewed 2026-10-23.

These cards paraphrase the text for study. They are not a substitute for reading the book, and they do not reproduce long passages.

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All questions and answers

According to the Prologue's commentary, what does 'Herdsmen' stand for?

What does 'the good and just' refer to throughout the book?

What does the commentary say about the phrase 'A robber shall Zarathustra be called by the herdsmen'?

What does the last paragraph of the Prologue, verse 7, foreshadow?

According to the commentator, what did Nietzsche wish to determine rather than save the world?

What objection to Nietzsche's project does the commentator report, and how might Nietzsche answer it?

What does the commentator say Nietzsche knew about exceptional men from his own experience?

What is Nietzsche's strongest temptation in Part IV, and where does it come from?

What three metamorphoses of the spirit does Zarathustra designate?

What is the great dragon called, and what does it say?

What can the lion do, and what can it not yet do?

What is the child, and why is it needed beyond the lion?

What does the dragon 'Thou shalt' represent, and what glitters on its scales?

According to the chapter, what two lessons does the discourse teach?

How does the chapter portray Nietzsche's relation to anarchy?

Why did Nietzsche choose Zarathustra as his mouthpiece?

How long did it take Nietzsche to write each part of Zarathustra?

How does Nietzsche describe the experience of inspiration in Ecce Homo?

Why was the fourth part of Zarathustra printed privately?

In the wise man's teaching, what daily practices are required to sleep well?

What does the wise man say about having all the virtues?

What does Zarathustra conclude the wise man's wisdom really is?

According to Zarathustra, what created all gods and backworlds?

What does Zarathustra say the ego speaks of, even when it raves?

What does Zarathustra say the sick and perishing borrowed for their heavenly world?

How does Zarathustra treat the sickly and the convalescent who cling to delusions?

According to Zarathustra, what is the relationship between body and soul?

How does Zarathustra describe the body relative to spirit and ego?

What does the Self command the ego regarding pain and pleasure?

According to Zarathustra, what happens when a person names and caresses their virtue?

How do virtues originate from passions, according to the chapter?

What does Zarathustra say about having one virtue versus many?

What does Zarathustra say about jealousy among virtues?

What distinction does Zarathustra draw between thought, deed, and the idea of the deed?

According to Zarathustra, what did the criminal's soul actually want, contrary to the red judge's explanation?

How does Zarathustra describe the pale criminal as a man, and what does the body's suffering become?

What does Zarathustra tell the judges their slaying should be, and what terms does he prefer?

According to Zarathustra, what kind of writing does he love, and what does writing with blood produce?

What does Zarathustra claim happens when everyone is allowed to learn to read?

How does Zarathustra describe proverbs and the readers they suit?

What does Zarathustra say about the spirit of gravity and how it is slain?

In Zarathustra's tree analogy, what happens as a man seeks height and light?

What does Zarathustra say about discovering a soul?

What does Zarathustra tell the youth about still seeking freedom?

What danger does Zarathustra name for the noble man, and what does he urge?

Who are the 'preachers of death' Zarathustra describes?

How does Zarathustra refute those who say 'Life is refuted'?

What does Zarathustra say about people absorbed in rough labour and the momentary?

What does Zarathustra say about loving peace, and why?

What distinction does Zarathustra draw between soldiers and warriors?

According to Zarathustra, what is good, and what has done more great things than charity?

What does Zarathustra call the highest thought, and how does obedience relate to it?

What sign does Zarathustra give as the mark of the state?

Where does Zarathustra say the man who is not superfluous begins?

How does Zarathustra describe the actor's methods of proving and convincing?

Why does Zarathustra tell his friend to flee from the small and pitiable ones?

What does Zarathustra say about the experience of deep fountains and where greatness dwells?

What does Zarathustra counsel instead of slaying one's instincts?

How does Zarathustra reinterpret fellow-suffering in this chapter?

How do the naturally chaste ones described at the chapter's end regard chastity?

In Zarathustra's account, what role does the friend play for the anchorite?

What does Zarathustra say one should have in one's friend?

What does Zarathustra say about showing oneself naked to a friend?

What does Zarathustra claim about women and friendship?

What does Zarathustra say is the origin of good and bad values?

What does Zarathustra say a people calls good, and what does its table of excellencies express?

What is still lacking for humanity, according to Zarathustra at chapter's end?

What does Zarathustra say neighbour-love really is?

Why does Zarathustra say the THOU is older than the I?

What does Zarathustra advise instead of neighbour-love?

What does Zarathustra say about the friend versus the neighbour?

According to Zarathustra, what must one show before going into isolation?

What distinction does Zarathustra draw between freedom from and freedom for?

What does Zarathustra warn will happen to the individual in solitude?

Whom does Zarathustra name as the worst enemy of the creating one, and what must one become?

According to Zarathustra, what is the one solution to everything in woman?

What does Zarathustra say the true man wants, and why does he want woman?

What does the old woman give Zarathustra as her parting 'little truth'?

How does the old woman respond to Zarathustra's speech about women?