Summary | Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1883)

What is it about? Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for Everyone and No One (1883) is a philosophical novel by Friedrich Nietzsche. He used Zarathustra's words to express his philosophical belief, including eternal recurrence and the concept of superman (Übermensch). ​

Why bother? Thus Spoke Zarathustra is an important book to understand Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy which brings signification impacts to human history, especially on National Socialism during the era of WWII. Poetic writing makes the reading enjoyable, along with enlightenment opinions. 

Key Ideas In the book Zarathustra is a prophet who left society after 30 and lived alone for ten years. After that, he went back to civilization and expressed his beliefs. Sadly he returned to his solo living after realizing his point of views were not well received. The principal opinion can be summarized in the following: 

• Eternal recurrence: the world will reincarnate endlessly from birth to death, reborn, and diminish again. We know life is a repetitive cycle, but we still would love and live it to our full extent.  
• God is dead, and superman: The idea is to stop believing in external superpowers but to work on building from a human who can be a superman, who has superior capability, a determined mind, and live by his values are different from conventional social beliefs. 

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Favorite Quotes

‘But 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, the deep - into evil.’ - Friedrich Nietzsche