DISCLAIMER
If you find yourself reading this note, please do so knowing that all my thoughts and interpretations of this text are purely personal, and may be wildly incorrect or inconsistent with the authorās intended meaning. As with any philosophy, a lot is up for personal interpretation, and you may not agree with or even like my thoughtsāor indeed, the implicated idealogies/viewpoints/affinity et cetera.
Quick Introduction
Iāll keep it brief. In my past notes Taking Back Control, Taking Back Control - Part 2, I made mention of my attempt at reading more, while simultaneously cutting back on my smartphone usage, and making my consumption of media a more mindful and intentional act. To that end, one of the books I picked up was Thus Spake Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche. A lot of you may be familiar with him, particularly for the concepts of āGod is deadā, and the Ćbermenschāboth of which find their source in this text.
About 25% of the way through the book however, I realized that I was retaining very few/little of the ideas and concepts discussed within, partly due to the complexity of the text, and partly due to my approach, and thatās what I want to change with this. I may have lost a sizeable chunk of ideas from what Iāve already read so far, but I did save some quotes, which I will note down here and reflect upon; continuing on from here, Iāll try to make more active and detailed notes of my thoughts of my reading.
This note is mostly just for me, to see if I come out of this book with coherent thoughts and conclusions, rather than just forget it in a week. If you happen to find yourself interested, please feel free to peruse. Iāll organize by chapter number and title.
Prologue III
Once blasphemy against God was the greatest blasphemy; but God died, and therewith also those blasphemers. To blaspheme the earth is now the dreadfulest sin, and to rate the heart of the unknowable higher than the meaning of the earth! Once the soul looked contemptuously on the body, and then that contempt was the supreme thing:āthe soul wished the body meagre, ghastly, and famished. Thus it thought to escape from the body and the earth. Oh, that soul was itself meagre, ghastly, and famished; and cruelty was the delight of that soul! But ye, also, my brethren, tell me: What doth your body say about your soul? Is your soul not poverty and pollution and wretched self-complacency? Verily, a polluted stream is man. One must be a sea, to receive a polluted stream without becoming impure.
Probably one of the most important introduction of Nietzscheās sentiments from the prologue, we see the famous death of god, as well as the establishment of the theme of placing importance earthly existence over reverence of god or anything metaphysicalāthe real world is the one we live in, and the only one capable of nurturing us, just as we too must nurture and care for it such that it may continue to support our lives and existence.
He calls man a polluted stream, and says that one must be an entire seaāpossess great depth and wisdom in character and experience, to receive this stream and remain unpolluted in himself. I think this eludes to the themes of āthe Supermanā that come later.
3. Backworldsmen
From their misery they sought escape, and the stars were too remote for them. Then they sighed: āOh that there were heavenly paths by which to steal into another existence and into happiness!ā Then they contrived for themselves their by-paths and blood draughts!
From very early on I get a sense for Nietzscheās disdain, or disapproval of god, and those who look to god for salvation or solace. While I donāt necessarily judge or think less of those that do, I too share the sentiment of not wanting to look without for escape from oneās own troubles. He remarks about how their desire for a comfort that they did not possess the means to bring to themselves, drove men to invent the idea of god, and salvation in the next existenceāwhich might sate in the short term, but can (and does) also act as a crutch or an injury, holding us back from achieving peace and comfort for ourselves.
6. The Pale Criminal
But one thing is the thought, another thing is the deed, and another thing is the idea of the deed. The wheel of causality doth not roll between them.
Iām still a little unsure about this one. This comes with the context of a conversation regarding a criminal facing judgement in front of a judge. I think I noted this one down because of the question of what motivates someone to āsinā, or to do anything for that matter.
The difference between the thought and the deed seem clear enough, but what of the idea of the deed? To me itās perhaps what outside observers think of the deed, independent of the motivations or circumstances that led to it. When we contextualize it in a setting of court, itās quite a significant thing. The line between the thought and the deed is what differentiates a desperate man from a criminal in the eyes of the law, and the line between the deed and the idea of the deed is what differentiates a guilty sentencing to an innocent one in the eyes of the judge.
What we lack in understanding or awareness of the intention behind an action, separates a ācorrectā judgement, from one that is merely objective.
I am a railing alongside the torrent; whoever is able to grasp me may grasp me! Your crutch, however, I am not.
The closing line from the same chapter is important I think. I may be misinterpreting but to me it speaks to the fact that those willing and able to understand his philosophy may very well imbibe it in themselves, but he does not promise to be the one with all the correct answersāsomething largely applicable to all philosophy.
16. Neighbor-love
Ye call in a witness when ye want to speak well of yourselves; and when ye have misled him to think well of you, ye also think well of yourselves.
The name of the chapter, as well as the context to this line make it pretty clear that Nietzsche is speaking of āYes-menā, or the close acquaintances we all have who do not always provide us with an honest view of ourselves. He remarks how people often stick to and love their āneighborsā for selfish reasons such as to feel better of ourselves.
Of course I donāt think we need to surround ourselves with critics and haters all the time to stay grounded, but it is important not to fall into a false sense of security because of the praises and reassurance our friends, family, and neighbors give us.
22. The Bestowing Virtue
The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies, but also to hate his friends. One requireth a teacher badly if one remain merely a scholar. And why will ye not pluck at my wreath? Ye venerate me; but what if your veneration should some day collapse? Take heed lest a statue crush you!
The man of knowledge, according to Nietzsche, must possess the quality of skepticism of even his friends and teachers/idols, not succumbing to the type of veneration that blinds one to the damning parts of such relationships. I find this particularly relevant in todayās political climate, where it feels like no one is willing or able to detach themselves from the stance theyāre defending, well enough to have civil discourse and not give in to emotional reactions. Not naming any names or pointing in any one direction, everybody does it. I only hope that my awareness of this fact has lent me some will not to do the same myself; although I suspect that if I do, I would not be wholly aware of it.
27. The Virtuous
And again there are those who regard it as virtue to say: āVirtue is necessaryā, but after all they believe only that policemen are necessary.
One will come across many who call for the āvirtuesā they stand for to be enforced and mandated, but you should always be wary of such sentiment, because as Zarathustra points outāitās usually more about control and enforcement than it is about anything to do with virtue. Feels apt coming from Nietzsche because Iād probably say that itās most prevalent and perverse in the strongly religious.
33. The Grave Song
How did I ever bear it? How did I survive and surmount such wounds? How did my soul rise again not of those sepulchres? Yea, something invulnerable, unburiable is with me, something that would rend asunder: it is called my Will. Silently doth it proceed , and unchanged throughout the years. Its course will it go upon my feet, mine old Will; hard of heart is its nature and invulnerable. Invulnerable am I only in my heel. Ever livest thou there, and art like thyself, thou most patient one! Ever hast thou burst all shackles of the tomb! In thee still liveth also the unrealisedness of my youth; and as life and youth sittest thou here hopeful on the yellow ruins of graves. Yea, thou art still for me the demolisher of all graves. Hail to thee, my Will! And only where there are graves are there resurrections.
Thus sang Zarathustra .
I totally resonate with this sentiment. I try to live by it most of the time. I know it sounds a bit cringe-worthy now, but Iāve had some really tough times. And yes, Iām young, and I was even younger when I went through those mental injuries. But they were still significant, and it took a lot of strength to get through them. I didnāt come out of it unscathed or free of trauma or bad habits, and it wasnāt a super stoic or admirable recovery. But Iām glad that at the end of the day, I was able to hold on to my will and live to see the better days Iām living in now.
As Zarathustra says, only where there are graves are there resurrections, and sure enough, Iām a totally new, much better person now that Iāve pulled myself back together after that period in my life, and am growing still.
š§ Ongoing note š§
This note is an ongoing one, which means Iāll be adding to it (and potentially making edits to older bits) until Iām done with the book. If you can see this alert, Iām not done yet. Youāve been informed.