What hath happened unto me, my friends? Ye see me troubled, driven forth, unwillingly obedient, ready to go—alas, to go away from YOU! Yea, once more must Zarathustra retire to his solitude: but unjoyously this time…
Zarathustra tells his friends he is driven away against his will by an angry mistress, his stillest hour, and promises to tell them everything.
Read in the book →Do ye know the terror of him who falleth asleep?— To the very toes he is terrified, because the ground giveth way under him, and the dream beginneth. This do I speak unto you in parable. Yesterday at the stillest hour…
In a dream-like terror, as the ground gives way, a voice without sound asks 'Thou knowest it, Zarathustra?' He admits he knows but says he will not speak it and pleads that it is beyond his power.
Read in the book →Then was there again spoken unto me without voice: “What matter about their mockery! Thou art one who hast unlearned to obey: now shalt thou command! Knowest thou not who is most needed by all? He who commandeth great…
The voice calls his refusal to rule his most unpardonable obstinacy. He says he lacks the lion's voice; it replies that the stillest words bring the storm.
Read in the book →It is the stillest words which bring the storm.
The voice answers Zarathustra's lack of a lion's voice with a line about quiet thoughts that guide the world.
Read in the book →And I answered: “I am ashamed.” Then was there again spoken unto me without voice: “Thou must yet become a child, and be without shame. The pride of youth is still upon thee; late hast thou become young: but he who…
Ashamed, Zarathustra again says 'I will not.' Laughter lacerates him, and the voice sends him back to solitude to grow mellow. He lies drenched in sweat.
Read in the book →—Now have ye heard all, and why I have to return into my solitude. Nothing have I kept hidden from you, my friends. But even this have ye heard from me, WHO is still the most reserved of men—and will be so! Ah, my…
Zarathustra says he has hidden nothing and calls himself the most reserved of men. He weeps aloud, no one can console him, and he leaves alone that night.
Read in the book →This is an experiment in interactive reading, and in using AI to help you grow. Thus Spake Zarathustra is notoriously difficult for a modern reader; yet taken as a set of mental exercises, it is guaranteed to transform your thinking by the time you reach the end. Along the way you will have help from the companion, who is always beside the book.
Do you accept the challenge?
What the critics said
Ludovici argues that Zarathustra, though Nietzsche's opus magnum, should not be read first: many chapters are nearly meaningless without knowledge of Nietzsche's life and friendships, and its philosophical views are best clarified by his other works, which he himself regarded as preparation for it.
Ludovici reads 'The Stillest Hour' as an account of Nietzsche's inner struggle before resolving to reveal the more esoteric parts of his teaching, since the deepest feelings crave silence and are held sacred.