Thus Spake Zarathustra - Penn State University

Friedrich Nietzschecareful lest the pastime should hurt one.this last man, O Zarathustra,”—they called out—”makeOne no longer becometh poor or rich; both are too us into these last men! Then will we make thee a presentburdensome. Who still wanteth to rule? Who still wanteth of the Superman!” And all the people exulted and smackedto obey? Both are too burdensome.their lips. Zarathustra, however, turned sad, and said toNo shepherd, and one herd! Every one wanteth the his heart:same; every one is equal: he who hath other sentiments “They understand me not: I am not the mouth forgoeth voluntarily into the madhouse.these ears.“Formerly all the world was insane,”—say the subtlest Too long, perhaps, have I lived in the mountains; tooof them, and blink thereby.much have I hearkened unto the brooks and trees: nowThey are clever and know all that hath happened: so do I speak unto them as unto the goatherds.there is no end to their raillery. People still fall out, but Calm is my soul, and clear, like the mountains in theare soon reconciled—otherwise it spoileth their stomachs.terrible jests.morning. But they think me cold, and a mocker withThey have their little pleasures for the day, and their And now do they look at me and laugh: and while theylittle pleasures for the night, but they have a regard for laugh they hate me too. There is ice in their laughter.”health.“We have discovered happiness,”—say the last men,6and blink thereby.—And here ended the first discourse of Zarathustra, which THEN, HOWEVER, SOMETHING happened which made every mouthis also called “The Prologue”: for at this point the shoutingand mirth of the multitude interrupted him. “Give us the rope-dancer had commenced his performance: hemute and every eye fixed. In the meantime, of course,had27